dehydrator for making jerkey

Kernix said:

Can anyone suggest a good model. I don't think the one I bought is very
good.

Jim

I have a Ronco dehydrator that cost about $ 40. It makes satisfactory
jerky. One surprising thing to me, when I first made jerky, was how
much weight it loses. 5-lbs of raw meat will yield about 2 pounds of
jerky.

Rusty

Kernix said:

Can anyone suggest a good model. I don't think the one I bought is very
good.

Jim

What model did you buy? I know you are interested in a table top
dehydrator, but it is really easy to make the real thing on your bbq
whatever. We make jerky on a BBQ smoker/pit.. and it is as good as I have
ever had anywhere and I have tried a LOT of jerky. I usually use venison
and you can't actually tell it is not beef. I have noticed that the deer
in the back yard TAKE OFF when they get a whiff of that venison on the
pit. lol

Kernix said:

Can anyone suggest a good model. I don't think the one I bought is very
good.

Jim

I bought a cheap convection model from an Import store in Austin (Harbor
Freight) for about 30 bucks.

I make perfect jerky in it in 18 to 24 hours on 6 trays.

Mine does not even have a fan but anything over 24 hours make it crispy,
it works so well.

What did you get?

Om

Rusty said:

Kernix said:

Can anyone suggest a good model. I don't think the one I bought is very
good.

Jim

I have a Ronco dehydrator that cost about $ 40. It makes satisfactory
jerky. One surprising thing to me, when I first made jerky, was how
much weight it loses. 5-lbs of raw meat will yield about 2 pounds of
jerky.

Rusty

Or less. :-)

It made me appreciate the price of commercial jerky a lot more!

Om

OmManiPadmiOmelet said:

Rusty said:

Kernix said:

Can anyone suggest a good model. I don't think the one I bought is very
good.

Jim

I have a Ronco dehydrator that cost about $ 40. It makes satisfactory
jerky. One surprising thing to me, when I first made jerky, was how
much weight it loses. 5-lbs of raw meat will yield about 2 pounds of
jerky.

Rusty

Or less. :-)

It made me appreciate the price of commercial jerky a lot more!

Om

If I had to guess I would have said 1/10 the original weight, but
various websites say about half the original weight. I haven't weighted
the final result myself. I just have the original weight from the
market's price sticker.

Rusty

I'm not sure of the model but it also has 6 trays I think and hot air
is blown up from the top. It takes at least 12 hours. I was hoping to
get the time down.

Kernix said:

Can anyone suggest a good model. I don't think the one I bought is very
good.

Jim

Excalibur is an excellent dehydrator. There are 2 models; one has 4
trays and the other has 9 trays, and they are not expandable.

I have a Nesco FD-50, a.k.a. "Snackmaster Pro" and it is also a very
good dehydrator. I've expanded mine to about 8 trays.

IIRC, I get about one pound of jerky from 3 pounds of beef.

(You ought to the shrinkage when you dehydrate diced bell peppers.)

Best regards,
Bob

Rusty said:

OmManiPadmiOmelet said:

Rusty said:

Kernix wrote:

>Can anyone suggest a good model. I don't think the one I bought is very
>good.
>
>Jim

I have a Ronco dehydrator that cost about $ 40. It makes satisfactory
jerky. One surprising thing to me, when I first made jerky, was how
much weight it loses. 5-lbs of raw meat will yield about 2 pounds of
jerky.

Rusty

Or less. :-)

It made me appreciate the price of commercial jerky a lot more!

Om

If I had to guess I would have said 1/10 the original weight, but
various websites say about half the original weight. I haven't weighted
the final result myself. I just have the original weight from the
market's price sticker.

Rusty

My personal experience has been about 20%.

5 lbs. to 1 lb.

It depends on how you like it.

Om

Kernix said:

I'm not sure of the model but it also has 6 trays I think and hot air
is blown up from the top. It takes at least 12 hours. I was hoping to
get the time down.

Well, based on personal experience, if it takes more than 24 hours, you
need a different dryer. :-)

Hope that helps?

The one I have now is not fan driven.
It's strictly convection.

IMHO a good fan unit might be better, but mine gets pretty warm.

Om

zxcvbob said:

Kernix said:

Can anyone suggest a good model. I don't think the one I bought is very
good.

Jim

Excalibur is an excellent dehydrator. There are 2 models; one has 4
trays and the other has 9 trays, and they are not expandable.

I have a Nesco FD-50, a.k.a. "Snackmaster Pro" and it is also a very
good dehydrator. I've expanded mine to about 8 trays.

IIRC, I get about one pound of jerky from 3 pounds of beef.

(You ought to the shrinkage when you dehydrate diced bell peppers.)

Best regards,
Bob

<snork>

Try onions. ;-)

"zxcvbob" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Kernix said:

Can anyone suggest a good model. I don't think the one I bought is very
good.

Jim

Excalibur is an excellent dehydrator. There are 2 models; one has 4 trays
and the other has 9 trays, and they are not expandable.

I have to agree with Bob. I have an Excalibur and it is excellent

Ophelia

"OmManiPadmiOmelet" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

zxcvbob said:

Kernix said:

Can anyone suggest a good model. I don't think the one I bought is very
good.

Jim

Excalibur is an excellent dehydrator. There are 2 models; one has 4
trays and the other has 9 trays, and they are not expandable.

I have a Nesco FD-50, a.k.a. "Snackmaster Pro" and it is also a very good
dehydrator. I've expanded mine to about 8 trays.

IIRC, I get about one pound of jerky from 3 pounds of beef.

(You ought to the shrinkage when you dehydrate diced bell peppers.)

Best regards,
Bob

<snork>

Try onions. ;-)

OH yes but they stink the house out🙂))

O

Kernix said:

Can anyone suggest a good model. I don't think the one I bought is very
good.

Jim

the one i have is a *harvest maid* and i have had it for a long time. i
don't even know if they are available any longer. but it has been very
reliable no problems whatsoever.

the heat is blown up from the bottom to circulate the round stackable
trays. i find when i make jerky i have to rearrange the trays a couple
times for even drying, as the ones on the bottom which are closer to
the heat source dry the fastest.

and since the trays are round, and in order to make good use of the
tray space, i always end up with curved jerky pieces! 🙂

the next time i make it, i am going to weigh the batch after drying, to
see the difference in wet weight to dry weight. myraide

jay said:

Kernix said:

Can anyone suggest a good model. I don't think the one I bought is very
good.

Jim

What model did you buy? I know you are interested in a table top
dehydrator, but it is really easy to make the real thing on your bbq
whatever. We make jerky on a BBQ smoker/pit.. and it is as good as I have
ever had anywhere and I have tried a LOT of jerky. I usually use venison
and you can't actually tell it is not beef. I have noticed that the deer
in the back yard TAKE OFF when they get a whiff of that venison on the
pit. lol

thats funny! on the other hand, my dogs become my best friends when the
jerky is drying, never leaving my side, and staring at me intensely in
the kitchen when i check the progress......hoping oh hoping for a
handout! myraide

Mine gets hot - and it sounds like there's a fan so I assume - there is
definitely hot air blowing from the bottom.

Kernix said:

Can anyone suggest a good model. I don't think the one I bought is
very good.

Jim

I have a 2 year old Nesco I bought at WalMart and love it.
http://www.nesco.com/products/?category=300&subcat=100&id=40

--

Joe Cilinceon

Ophelia said:

"OmManiPadmiOmelet" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

zxcvbob said:

Kernix wrote:

>Can anyone suggest a good model. I don't think the one I bought is very
>good.
>
>Jim
>

Excalibur is an excellent dehydrator. There are 2 models; one has 4
trays and the other has 9 trays, and they are not expandable.

I have a Nesco FD-50, a.k.a. "Snackmaster Pro" and it is also a very good
dehydrator. I've expanded mine to about 8 trays.

IIRC, I get about one pound of jerky from 3 pounds of beef.

(You ought to the shrinkage when you dehydrate diced bell peppers.)

Best regards,
Bob

<snork>

Try onions. ;-)

OH yes but they stink the house out🙂))

O

I just rememeber my mom putting a 50 lb. bag of onions into 2 quart
jars.......

Om

Kernix said:

I'm not sure of the model but it also has 6 trays I think and hot air
is blown up from the top. It takes at least 12 hours. I was hoping to
get the time down.

one way to decrease the drying time is to use thinner slices of meat. i
have the butcher slice them for me, and tell him i want them three
sixteenths of an inch thick.

sometimes they slice them thicker or the end pieces are thicker, and
these take until late morning or early afternoon to dry if i start the
dehydrator around 10 pm.

the thinner sliced pieces are usually dry in eight or nine hours.
myraide

ps i always use the highest heat setting too.

Kernix wrote:
:: Can anyone suggest a good model. I don't think the one I bought is
very
:: good.
::
:: Jim

Here's mine. I have to remove the 2 middle racks and hang the jerkey
from the top rack with strings.

http://www.stumpssmokers.com/Produc1.jpg

Best I've ever had.

BOB
--
Raw Meat Should NOT Have An Ingredients List