[quote]Phill wrote:
<<< youll want to put the oven as LOW as it will go less then 200 if possible and slowly dry it out over night or longer
Phill[/quote]
Yessir, you beat me to it. Put the oven on broil overnight and you’ll be lucky to have powderized charcoal by morning.
Yhea if you could rig up a lil fan thats not heat sensitive to around 150-200 degrees like a comp fan and put it in the oven as well it would make the process all the better as well
Im lucky in that I habe a BIG old school dehydrator its just a box with fan and very small heating element from like a toaster oven 
Phill
[quote]Chef Lisa Marie wrote:
…What man doesn’t want to use bungee cords and air filters while cooking? [/quote]
beautiful. just fucking beautiful. you are one hot chick !
I bought a dehdrator a while back, and have so far not made jerky (but am definately gunna after being motivated by this thread- kudos indeed to OP)
i have made bags and bags of dried fruitwhen they are in season. I’ve also dried yogurt and mushrooms.
One thing i like to do when all my fruit trees (apricot, orance, nectarine) are full of ripe fruit (and before the birds get them) is to make dried fruit strips (or rollups) from both plain and mixed fruit.
Take the fruit, puree it, (add spices too if you want) and spread it onto sheets (baking paper in the oven would do a similar job)
Just try to mix a drier fruit (such as bananna) with a wetter fruit (such as orange) to evan out the consistancy.
Once done, the purees make a thin sheet (which is a bit sticky - if you wipe the sheet with a mild tasting oil it lets the fruit mixture peel off easier), which is very plastic, so just cut it with scissors, and you have your own rollups/fruit strips.
I’ve not tried to mix the wet puree with a protien powder - but maybe the yogurt might do well …
I have a dehydrator and it works quite well, definitly a good investment if you plan on making jerkey often.
Another great tool for making dried things in the oven is silicone sheets. You can get them at any baking/culinary supply store or online. The brand name is Silpat for the ones I use. They are super durable. I’ve had mine for years and use them quite often.
Fruit, meat, cookies or whatever you’re making just slides right off the sheet pan. It also prevents it from over browning. I use it to dry left over fruit in my oven.
Quite inexpensive also.
Did I mention great for baked goods, especially cookies.
OK back to the meat…
How did you pack it? Do you have a vacuum sealer?
That sounds great! What kind of beer goes bes with jerkey? Stout? Porter? LOL!
I posted some new Rub recipes here that I got out of the Times:
http://www.T-Nation.com/tmagnum/readTopic.do?id=1678932
Check them out…
A few of them sound like they would be super for jerkey. I was thinking of trying the warm curry one for sure.
So, are you going to try any different cuts of meat next time?
Anything you would do differently?
[quote]bushidobadboy wrote:
Not cheap, but I suppose I can dry out fruit too.
Any other ideas to make the dehydrator ‘pay’ for itself in terms of dry foodstuffs?
[/quote]
herbs like tarragon, basil, sage etc. you can grow in pots and dry what you don’t use fresh. these are great to have through the winter and will beat anything you can buy. also chili peppers.
i grew about 10 plants 2 years ago and still have dried chilis from that crop ! i also braid them up and give them to people i know who cook. they look great and everyone can use dried chili.
[quote]bushidobadboy wrote:
Also, your avatar disturbs me.
You look like a bride who’s been jilted at the altar, and is about to wreak revenge on the best man (me), lol!
Reminds me not to give cast-iron cookware to anyone getting married…
Bushy[/quote]
Sorry! It was for a photo shoot for Roller Derby so I was trying to look oh I don’t know…tough/sexy I guess. I guess I missed the mark on both counts there.
Well, I hope this makes up for it. Here’s some links to recipes for a food dehydrator recipes.
Seems there are lots of great things to make in that thing besides just meat and dried fruits. The “Butterfinger Bites” kind of caught my eye on the second link, but, I haven’t really looked through them much.
http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes/dehydrator
http://www.everythingkitchens.com/dehydratorrecipes.html
http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,food_dehydrator_for_jerky,FF.html
http://www.stretcher.com/stories/980910b.cfm
http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,food_dehydrator_for_jerky,FF.html
How long can I preserve the jerky (homemade)? I’d like to make some for my trip, but I am sure the homemade jerky isn’t edible as long as the ones in stores. Trip means room temperature not in a fridge. Because it takes so long to dehydrate, I have to do it on the weekend 1 week before departure. Is it edible for like 2 weeks after? Or is it all about the package?
First time I’d do the original and simple, just salt and pepper method. Should I have it stay overnight in the salt-water (like marinade) or just sprinkle it? I didn’t find any simple recipes, only with soy-sauce, sugar etc. I read that pepper is best sprinkled (I love hot pepper), so it will stick to the jerky and nothing will be lost.
[quote]bushidobadboy wrote:
Yeah once the organic hedgehog and venison arrive, I’m gonna jerk the shit outta them!
[/quote]
Wait, did you just say hedgehog? I’m really hoping I am thinking of a different beastie…