Ye olÂ’ dehydrator has been loaded with meat products and is drying. ItÂ’s been approximately three hours since I started. IÂ’ve wiped the excess grease off of the meat a couple of times now. The directions say to do so, since IÂ’ve never made my own jerky before, I thought I better just do it unquestioningly.

I’ve checked the dryness of the meat a couple of times now. It’s still pretty pliable and “moist”. Like moister then Slim Jim beef jerky. Which is way too moist for my liking. Looking at it, I figure I have another hour or two left before it’s done. I’m afraid if it goes too long I’ll make roofing shingles.

Now, a friend of mineÂ’s mother makes her own jerky. ItÂ’s some real good stuff. A couple of months ago she over dehydrated it and it was crispy. Yes, crispy. It was like biting into a thick meat potato chip. Now, the taste wasnÂ’t bad, actually it tasted pretty dang good. It was just interesting to eat meat that crunched.

After this batch, IÂ’ve got some pepperoni flavored curing right now. IÂ’ll keep you updated as things progress through out the day.

UPDATE 17:52: Okay, the meat has been drying for almost 6 hours now. It is still way too moist. I will continue drying.

UPDATE 20:08: About 20 minutes ago I pulled off the trays, it is done. It took about 8 hours to get the texture that I like. I'm trying again tomorrow with a second batch. Some things I've learned from this first experiment. When checking the dryness I need to check every tray. Apparently the trays to the bottom dry faster then the ones on top. Drying meat is greasy, I actually did wipe down the excess grease but dang! I have enough rendered fat here to make historically accurate soap! As for the taste, not bad. I think it needs more garlic, either that or diced jalepanos.

Posted by: Contagion at 03:14 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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