Tom_L

I second trying the cold drying method, if you have the space.

Dehydrating meat is completely different from air-drying meat.

I have also read that food dehydrators can be unsafe.

RisnerPSE

Whatever you do dont buy one the rotates or spins. I have had 2 and both broke down within 3 or 4 uses.

bigtim6656

this wa son the foodnetwork so good eat will elton brown great show and he knows his stuff

i was going to try the method but just got a 30 dollar bass pro model dhyrater
i have talked to a few people that have done the fax method but what worryed me was with out heat there is nothing to kill the bad stuff

but he said by doing it cold method it drys it and does not cook it like reguler models which heat the meat to 170 degrees

wildchild04

The food Network will air the fan drying episode Sept 14 at 11pm and Sept 15th at 2am Eastern

dubbleA

Up until the days of refrigeration, salt was used for keeping meats from spoilage. In this day and time we use the term "cure" for the word of preserving meat. Modern cures are either sodium nitrite/nitrate or potasium nitrate added along with salt to the meat to prevent bacteria/spoilage. These are actually a type oftoxin and can be harmful if not used properly. The amount of nitrites are so small, that in orderto cure 100lbs of meat they are added to salt as a carrying agent. The most common cure is availible on most meat markets and is pink in color. Most comercial jerky mixes have this included. I always use a cure for making jerky and dry sausages that are not cooked.

I prefer to cold smoke the meats and then if further drying is required it will be hung in an air conditioned room with a small fan to circulate the air.


Here's a pic of some venison being smoked/cured..........

jerseyhunter

Thats where the cures/ nitrates come in. Once soaked/mixed in it prevents botulism.

Hunterbrum

I have the Gardenmaster and it works great. It is expandable up to 16 trays.

http://cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?id=0013250510825a&navCount=0&podI d=0013250510825&parentId=cat570005&masterp athid=&navAction=jump&cmCat=search_redir&a mp;catalogCode=IH&rid=&parentType=index&am p;indexId=cat570005&hasJS=true

Big Guy01

I have a dehydrator but prefer to use my "smokey Mountain" Smoker. I just put a fine screen on the grills, fill her up with jerky strips set it on low . It holds 130-150 f for about 4-5 hrs and the jerky is done. You can even apply smoke to it which really boosts the flavour.
Right now I have a batch (50 lbs) of tomatoes in my smoker. I'll end up with smoked sun dried tomatoes

Steelcity

I also saw the episode of good eats where he makes jerky and personally cant wait til i have time to try it, He is a real pro when it comes to food, i bet the jerky made that way turns out great

Parrot Head

I got the 80 liter one from Cabelas commerical grade. It it nice. Have had it for 2 years. WHen I got it the front door was broke. All glass. I could tell without even opening the box. I called Cabelas the lady had the UPS guy there the next day to pick it up and I had my new one overnighted on them. Good company.