My first try at ground jerky...

[Wattles]

used about 3.5 lbs of venison and 1.25 lb of lean beef.  Con Yeager sugar cure and hillbilly jerky seasoning.

i went to cabelas friday and this commercial 80L unit was 70 bucks off so i had to have it after reviewing several threads on here which seemed to all highly recommend this unit. 

i was going to cold smoke then dehydrate but i decided to try it just this way first,,,next batch ill cold smoke first.

thank you all for sharing your expertise on here.  im mostly a reader but will post when i make stuff.  any/all criticism and pointers welcomed!!!





my first question, and i might post this as its own thread,,,has anyone else who has this dehydrator noticed it takes over an hour to get up to heat??? 

[Mr Walleye]

I'm assuming you are referring to that with a load. I usually preheat the dehydrator to help with that. Anytime you put a whole bunch of cool meat surface in your going to take a bit to get back to temp.

By the way, you got a great buy!

Hey, nice lookin' dog in the first photo too!  ;) Chocolate Lab??? Looks like he's enjoying the sunshine!

Mike

[Wattles]

LOL
overlooked the reflection in the pic...yea, choc lab, her name is Emma.  she is 11.  G R E A T dog.  overweight like her owner though!
her buddy, Haley is our Yellow lab and she is 13.  she spends most of her days sleeping.  ill try to get a pic of her up sometime.

thanks for the preheating advice.  i kinda figured my cold meat outa the fridge was the issue but with only a 5 lb load i didnt expect an hour warmup to 145*.

[FLBentRider]

Mine takes a while to come up to temp, but I figured it was due to the fact that the element was at the bottom and the sensor is near the top, so the food cools the air on the trip from the element to the sensor.

I have 2 pineapples in there now, I picked up another six at the store today. Only $2.99US each..

[Up In Smoke]

wattles,
as mike said preheating is the way to go.
i have done some ground jerky and you will not be disappointed.
FLB, care to share a little info on the pineapples?

[FLBentRider]

FLB, care to share a little info on the pineapples?

I just cut them up - consistent thickness pieces are a good thing - and put them in the dehydrator for about 24 hours @ 135-145F.

They come out all shriveled up, not like the candied kind at the store. To make the candied kind, you would cut it up the same, but boil them in sugar syrup for 45 minutes, then cool and dehydrate. I have not tried to make the candied kind, just read the recipes.

When I did the first batch about a month ago, pineapples were $4.99US each. for $2.99US each I can do a larger load.

[Up In Smoke]

thanks...gonna give that a try for sure!

[Wattles]

only took 5 hours.
4 @ 145 and 1 @ 160.

the paper bags work great, thank NEPAS for that tip.





PS  i microwaved the paper bags for 1 minute first to kill anything that might be hiding in em

[NePaSmoKer]

Jerky looks great wattles.

nepas

[Mr Walleye]

Mmmmmm... Jerky... Looks great Wattles!  ;)

Now the problem... Will ya be able to make it faster then you can eat it!  :D

Mike

[FLBentRider]

Now the problem... Will ya be able to make it faster then you can eat it!  :D

I'm not sure that is possible. I would need a bigger kitchen and a bigger dehydrator!

[Tenpoint5]

Now the problem... Will ya be able to make it faster then you can eat it!  :D

I'm not sure that is possible. I would need a bigger kitchen and a bigger dehydrator!

I'm with you FLB not to mention a bigger truck to haul me around.

[NePaSmoKer]

Haha  :D

Ya'll quack me up

nepas

[Wattles]

now i just GOTTA make more!

so far im impressed with Con Yeager Hillbilly Jerky mix.  VERY good flavor.  a mildly spicy garlic ring bologna flavor if you will. 

next batch will get an hour of cold smoke then 4-5 hours in the dehydrator.

[NePaSmoKer]

Con Yeager does make good jerky and snack stick mix. Try the summer sausage mix too, Mallards has it with the casings for like $8 and some change.

nepas