MYO Jerky questions

The Nesco ones work just fine. Get one and a large roll of parchment paper (NOT wax paper) for lining trays – IMO much easier to use than the dumb plastic liners they sell. I buy my rolls of parchment paper at Costco for pretty cheap.

I use a Lequip dehydrator myself. I just happen to like the styling (it is rectangle) and works well in my kitchen.

Sarah, the dumb plastic liners are upturned at the outside edge. That seems a lot better than anything that lies flat.

Dehydrators are especially neat if you have an excess of solar electricity available, because you can dry your food for free.

–B.G.–

Nick…

I have both a Nesco FD 75 PR and a 9-Tray Excalibur… and they are great units. Really price point is the biggest determining factor. I did several years of food drying (I also dry herbs, make my own yogurt and potpourri and dry school snacks) with the Nesco. I also wrote the first book with it and each recipe was triple tested. The Excalibur was used quite a bit for the second book as was the Nesco.

Before these two units I had a Nesco/American Harvest FD 50 and I've since given it to my sister – it is still going strong after 11 years.

Basically you need a fan and thermostatic control.

Also Open Country and Nesco are made by the same company and if you get a Nesco get the fruit roll trays… it's worth the extra cost and not having to deal with the p-i-t-a of cutting parchment to fit. In fact I sometimes use the lipped Nesco fruit roll trays in my Excalibur because they contain runnier foods much better. That said, parchment works well too… but if you are doing a lot of drying it can add up.

Nick, we have a Nesco 75 and an Excalibur. Both work well. I like the Nesco and it's plastic trays for soups and stews. I prefer the Excalibur for non-liquid foods purely for its bigger volume and faster drying. Not sure there is a big enough difference to justify the higher price of the Excalibur.

FWIW, my favorite jerky recipe (so far), is our Korean inspired Kalbi Jerky:
http://the-radtkes.blogspot.com/2011/03/jerky-days.html

Bob, you just don't take the liquid to the edge is all……btw why I hate the plastic liners is food always sticks to them and I end up wasting the food picking it off. Where as with parchment paper a flick of the paper and the food pops off, even with fruit rolls.

Sarah, I guess there is plastic and then there is plastic. Food doesn't seem to stick unreasonably to my plastic liner (I have only one). Waste is a bad word around my house.

I do have some siliconized parchment paper, but I haven't needed to use it in the dehydrator.

–B.G.–

Thanks everyone. I will do a little more research on these brands. The Nesco is highly rated by almost 500 customers (~ 4.5 out of 5).

Never had a problem with my good4u dehydrator.
Having a thermostat and timer is nice.

I don't have an issue with sticking very often… but when I do I use a bit of advice that was given to me by a sales guy at Nesco.

Pop the plastic liner tray into the freezer for 10 minutes or so. Because the food and plastic expand and contract at different rates when cold, the food will pop right off. Easy peasy… piece of cake.

Well my wife is out shopping for a Nesco 75 PR right now, which is why I am posting instead of working on the Action Plan presented prior to me prior to her departure. The hydrator is really for her Paleo diet and I see it as an opportunity to make backpacking food and save some money.

"The hydrator is really for her Paleo diet "

I think you will get much more good out of a dehydrator.

–B.G.–

Bob,

You hit it. Now the challenge is to get her to prepare the backpacking foods :)

I am going to go along with the diet to support her, but have some concerns that I will probably end up weighing under 150lbs, but it does seem the diet actually will allow your body to determine exactly where it needs to be weight-wise. We shall see. First project will be beef jerky or maybe some wild game jerky. Heck I might even start bringing a 'real' stove and cook meals like I did a long time ago.

The tip about cutting across the grain is right on. It makes the resultant jerky much easier to bite/chew especially if it is a wee bit too dry. As to thickness, I tend to get my best results when I’m careful to slice the meat around 1/4″ thick. A nice razor sharp chef knife is helpful for getting repeatable safe slices. When Cooks Illustrated tested the field (twice actually) the winner both times was the humble Victorinox Fibrox 40520. We have two and can’t imagine life without them.

Also, parchment paper works well for things such as grains, legumes (even lentils) and meat that are small – I don't like wasting my time with the plastic mesh screens. The parchment paper allows nothing to drop through ;-)

I am serious in that go to Costco. You can get a mega roll of P. Paper for under $6 that is the size of 4 rolls at the store. It is nice paper and can be reused a couple of times in the dehydrator (unless it is a wet sauce like pasta sauce or salsa).

And no cleaning screens or liners in a sink that isn't big enough to handle them (if you are like me and have a double sink, they are never wide enough for proper soaking).

Each to their own.

"I don't like wasting my time with the plastic mesh screens."

This might be important. My plastic liner is solid, not mesh.

–B.G.–

Slicing Beef or whichever meat for jerky. Do it when its frozen. Makes your life so much easier. Yes, even if you have a slicer, its easier when its frozen for consistent cuts. Bit chilly on the hands, but so much easier.

Marinate in whatever, but with salts! Lots of salt otherwise won't last. VERY KEY HERE AS WELL> Marinade for at least a day. If marinade flavor is too strong for you, dilute it with water/vinegar etc. High salt content will kill most of the bacteria. Some "jerky recipes"(garbage recipes) say to marinade for a couple hours at most. This is wrong. It will not kill the bacteria and your meat will go RANCID!

Cut all fat off otherwise your jerky will mildew/go rancid

When Jerky is drying dab/dry off all raised oils/fats from said meat otherwise will mildew and mold/rancid.

Jerky is good for years. Won't taste good, but if it is actually dried, will be good for YEARS without putting it in anything other than a fairly dry environment.

Jerky taste for me anyways is "good" for about 3 months and then it goes downhill.

Nearly anything and everything can be dried and reconstituted in water.

Bob wrote: "This might be important. My plastic liner is solid, not mesh."

I too was referring to the solid trays. The freezing technique that I mentioned earlier for the food popping off works on the mesh as well but I rarely (and I mean very rarely) have to do that.

You see, if you look closely at the mesh screens, you'll notice that they have a right side and a wrong side. If you use the less textured/smoother side, you won't have sticking issues… just saying.

Also, parchment doesn't allow as good airflow for drying veggies, fruits, herbs, and such so the mesh is preferable in many cases.

I agree with Laurie here. Unless its a sauce, I don't want a solid tray. Solid trays = longer drying times as well. Washing with the ol' pressure washer fixes the "screen" types right quickly. Jerky trays I don't even bother to clean. Its nothing but salt deposits for the most part. Nothing a little hot soapy water won't fix. Heck I don't even have a dish washer and its not bad.

After veggies/fruits clean up is even easier.

PS. I still like the guys using a air vent screen suspended in an oven or layered in a MYO jerky box. No need to spend big money for these things. 1st time out… Yea good Idea, once you find out said "normal" driers are WWAAAAYYYY to small to actually provide quantity of food… Make your own and reap the benefits.

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The ice-chest is a great idea!! Thanks for that. It is a pain in my small sink.

May sound a bit odd….. but the bathtub works better. Throw all the screens in, fill the tub up enough to cover the trays with hot soapy water, let them soak a bit, wipe to ensure everything is loose, pull the drain, then turn on the shower head to rinse! Presto, clean trays….. and an excuse to have to clean the tub!

To Bob – there are both types. Mesh and solid. As I said it is a personal preference – I have other things to do with my time than clean them – and lord knows I am not using my bathtub, all the way upstairs to soak 'em ;-)

I don't dry a ton of food – only what I cannot find ready to go (I buy a lot from Harmony House Foods). I dry pasta, rice, odd veggies, etc but when it comes to say carrots, onions, legumes, etc? I just buy from HHF. It is a high end product and I do nothing but wait for the Man In Brown to show up with my goodies ;-)

And jerky is my husbands thing. He likes eating it, so he makes it :-D

I dehydrate a lot of foods, but I don't like the taste of dried raw meat. Dried cooked meat is better to my palate. Dehydrating in a 190F oven on slotted broiling pans overnight, with the oven door very slightly open with a folded hot pad, works better for me. The jerky tastes cooked and is bone dry and brittle.

If you are looking for plastic trays to cover the standard mesh screen trays that most deyhdraters come with I would recommend the polyethelene plastic flexible cutting "boards". For $5 you get a package of 3 of them. They are approx 14 long and 10 wide.(inches)

Food does not stick to them. To get any say dried strawberry off for making your own poptarts, just bend the flexible plastic sheet and they will pop right off. No freezing necessary! I have personally never had anything actually stick to them.

I have done, jerky on them, strawberry, bannana, pumpkin and Mind blank here, but you get my drift. To clean you can stick them in the dishwasher.

Note: I have noticed that drying time is extended using plastic sheets though as others have noted cleanup is easier. I tend to focus more on throughput time as I tend to dry quite a bit of food.

Enjoy!