A must read for Jerky Lovers, a homemade dehydrator!

Nice setup! I used my oven for drying last time and it came out quite good (didn't want to have to scrub those stupid trays...)
Just wanted to give you my recipe. Its not really a "recipe" because I usually just wing it. Its sweet, salty, tasty and spicy if you'd like.

Soy sauce
Blackstrap mollasses
Coriander, clove and ginger (ground)
Franks redhot ( or any hot sauce)
A squeeze of ketcup and a dash of orange juice.

Sometimes I add asian 5 spice or a chinese star anise to the marinade, it giives it a bit of an asian liquorice-y flavor.

I highly reccomend using the soysauce as a base for your marinade, and the ginger and cloves, as they help with the preservation process.

Another awesome thing to dry is candied orange peel ( slice the peel and cook for about an hour in sugar water. Then dry it- I dip them in suger before drying. ) Not too good for you but they are delicious and hey you were gonna throw the peel away, so why not?

Bananas and apples dry really well.

I am impressed OP

Great idea and gives me something to think about, then build.

I'll be damned...even this little old hippie Lady can make this one. S&F for the most innovative, must have, gadget

Des

My recipe includes soy sauce, worchestershire (sp) sauce, tomato sauce, tabasco, water, garlic, onion, salt & pepper and pace picante sauce. I marinade the meat for 24 hours. I use the cheapo dehydrators from walmart - have two. Takes 8 to 10 hours to dry 3 lbs of meat. I actually used to sell mine. The tabasco gives it a real kick without it being too hot. For hotter, I put the meat in the dehydrator and then sprinkle crushed red pepper on top before it dries.

reply to post by Druid42


Very intelligent. Other than needing power for the heater, It's a very good idea. Maybe a battery powered heater would be better in case of a long term power outage. I don't even know if they make battery powered heaters. The cardboard was smart though. I have dried meat in my oven, but then again there is the power problem again. Plus, It is messy and much harder to dry as much as you can in this your creation because you can't hang as many. You can hang some by buying bamboo skewers (soak in salt water prior to hanging) cut to the exact length of your oven and positioned between the tracks of the oven pan cage. Anyway, Good job. ~SheopleNation

OK...phase II...how about a solar power panel instead of the heater in the event of no power.

reply to post by Destinyone


Not a bad idea, but with it having to be placed outside, with cardboard you would have weather, moister and insects to deal with. If you're talking about running that solar power from your unit to inside your home, then you most likely are talking about a much more expensive task. I would bet that if you live in a warm area, one could dry food in some kind of sun catching device though. I am not very educated in the science of solar energy, so not sure how powerful they work while behind a window in your home. Also, No sun = no power. So if one lives in a cloudy area such as Wshington state, they might go hungry. You can always dry food with fire (coals) and smoke at the end of the day. ~SheopleNation

reply to post by SheopleNation

I live on top of the mountain in a rural area. Nice and sunny spring through fall...make a bunch of jerkied meats fruits and veggies during the hot season. Store it for the winter. I like. Also thinking of using the OP's box design without the lid, using a system of mirrors/polished metal to collect and direct heat. Use sheer netting to keep the bugs out.

I am really liking this thread.

Venison Jerky


Hunting season starts soon!

OP.....AWESOME! I been having homemade jerky on the mind for awhile now and couldn't by a dehydrator, was trying to figure out a homemade smoking, drying setup and you did for me!
Thanks!

reply to post by reitze


BTW, that stuff is soo good that its gone within a couple days. It might be a good long term concept if you were to process a whole deer that way - but then a bigger smoker or something like that would be better. It helps to have a slicer. Also, rather than hamburger-grind-venison and a jerky shooter I've found it works fin with "stew meat" (the pre-grind from processing). I cook it for about 12 hours on 160 degrees.

Originally posted by undo
so technically, if you had a holder for a hair dryer, like a blow dryer, you could rig something like this up on a smaller scale?

i'd like to make fruit jerky and veggie jerky.

Excellent idea. Smaller box, of course, and be sure to monitor it, but yeah, it would work, and you'd have your dried fruit and veggies in about 4 hours.

Oh wow, now this is something different on ATS.

As I absolutely LOVE beef jerky, I've got to keep this info handy. I may do this for my next project!

Originally posted by notsosunny
This is just great and exactly what I was looking for.
I was wondering ...

If I put two or three skewers and a piece of something like aluminium screening on the skewers....do you think it would work?

That way I can dry slices of bananas and such.

I have one of these small heaters and I want to start tomorrow.

Thank you so much!!

I never thought of screening, but heck yeah, that'd serve as a perfect tray on top of two or three skewers.

Seems there are hundreds of variations of this simple theme. Amazing.

Originally posted by felonius
reply to post by Druid42

 

You sir,

are a freakin genius!!!

I only have one question.

Can you come up with a cheap source of meat LOL!

I've seen where you can use pig but I'm just too chicken to try (sorry for the joke but i'm actually serious).

have you done this? What was your method for safety? I've done a ton of beef and venison.

I've done a pork roast before, sliced thin to ensure proper drying. Tasted like jerky, lol. Never tried chicken. Uhm, the best source of cheap meat is to befriend a hunter!

Recipe? I usually never wrote it down but the basics were like yours.

Plenty of salt (preservative), a lot of black pepper (I like it with kick), Worcestershire, soy.

It just occured to me, in place of syrup, why not honey? Honey is antibacterial and will inhibit growth.

Honey works great too. I was experimenting with a sticky glaze, and I got it!

Funny, you make beer and I make wine.

whats your beer recipe if you dont mind?

I am thinking about doing a homebrew thread. Beer recipes are even more varied than jerky recipes. Depends on the style you like. Homebrewing is nearly as easy as jerky making.

reply to post by Druid42


Thanks for this thread. This is a refreshing change from all the various end of the world threads. It's made me kind of hungry

-rrr

Originally posted by argentus
reply to post by Druid42

 

Good on you Druid, for introducing and getting us thinking about dehydration. One of the hardest things in my experience to dehydrate are tomato seeds; there is a fine balance between heat, air movement and humidity that makes for drying a delicate seed such that it can be used to grow a plant.

Drying seeds would be another excellent application of such a simple design. The trick is to use the lowest temperature possible, anywhere from 100-120 deg F. I've dried my own seeds, but usually on a window sill in full sun, between two layers of paper towel.

Good job. BTW, your jerkey looks to have that perfect glaze that makes it last a long time. My Mom taught me how to make pemmican and she also made jerkey. If it is properly salinated and has a baked glaze, that is almost bacterially impervious and can be stored away for a very long time and still be fit to eat. Can't tell for certain, of course, but your jerkey has the appearance of that baked glaze.

Mom always said, "make sure you cut all the fat off the beef before making jerkey. It won't do you any good; it won't do anything but turn rancid."

Yep, I got the glazing effect I wanted. The whole family loves this batch.

Your mom was right too. Fat does not dry, and I always trim as much as I can away.

Thanks for your comments!

Originally posted by AngryAlien
That's really cool. Perhaps for your next project you could try to make a solar version of this, similar to a solar oven. That would be really helpful for when there's no power.

...hum great idea. lets all think about this. a solar one is an excellent idea. Has anyone else seen the heaters made with coke or beer cans painted black. This may be a possibility. These heaters are self heating and really cool. I am sure they would get hot enough.....just a thought.:-)

Originally posted by Destinyone
reply to post by SheopleNation

 

I live on top of the mountain in a rural area. Nice and sunny spring through fall...make a bunch of jerkied meats fruits and veggies during the hot season. Store it for the winter. I like. Also thinking of using the OP's box design without the lid, using a system of mirrors/polished metal to collect and direct heat. Use sheer netting to keep the bugs out.

I am really liking this thread.

I'm thinking you could collect/buy/find enough mirror to make a reflector oven. I like that idea, would work fine in sunlight, and dry in a half a days time.

Great I was trying to figure out how to make one and you gave me just what I prayed for.

You forgot the special ingredient for Pioneer Beef Jerky "Gun Powder". Hee hee!

thanks