Hey, just got a excaliber dehydrator. Hopefully ask a few questions.

1. Should I rinse the meat off with water before dehydrating or wipe down with paper towels to get the marinade off?
2. Whats a real good recipie for jerky? Right now, I am marinating the following.
3. Should I wait and see how it tastes before putting crushed peppers on. I am not a huge fan of flaming hot things. But like a nice kick.
4. Also, I do not understand the cure stuff? Do I put this on before hydrating? Is it nessessary or just dry it the way it is?
5. Is the cure just to preserve it longer, or flavor or is my marinade the cure?
6. Lastly, anybody else have this excaliber 9 rack model? It says just takes 4-6 hours. But everything i have seen takes like 15 hours. What do you think of it? Not sure if i need that much room for dehydrating. Maybe the 4 rack would be better. Will it dry just as quick as the 9 rack?
7. A friend recommends not doing the strips of meat cause too time consuming, but only using deer burger and the jerky shooter. What do you guys think? Would it be chewy?


1/4cup soy
1/4 cup worchester
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon course pepper
1/2 cup ketchup