I'm getting ready to do another batch of beef jerky this week but I thought I'd try my hand at some turkey jerky too.  I will be attempting that with a boneless turkey breast roast (probably not ideal but that is all that was available).  Now based on everything I've read so far by those who've done it, there seems to be conflicting information regarding whether to cook it first or not due to bacterial concerns.  It doesn't seem to me like it would be real jerky if it was cooked first but at the same time I don't want to make anyone sick either

Anybody else ever make turkey jerky and if so, what would you suggest?  This will be done in a dehydrator btw.

What are you planning to use as a drier?

I dry in  my oven. When it's dry, turn up the heat to 200 or so and cook the dried jerky for 10 minutes.

I last made jerky with lean ground beef and everyone loved it, I was shocked as to how good it was.  It also got cooked at the end with no ill results.
I rolled it into half sized sheet pans about 1/4 inch thick and seasoned it.  Five pounds of meat made three sheets.  Scored it with a knife and dried it
in the oven.  Texture of commercial snack sticks and good flavor.


My next will be with my new favorite meat, Ground Turkey from Sam's club.  2.70/lb for 97/3.
Sounds dry and gross but since I made my first burger with it, I have been eating nothing else.

The next batch will be rolled onto sheets and seasoned only with Montreal Steak Seasoning.  I have not done that yet.

Thanks for the replies.  I think it makes a lot of sense to cook it a while at the end for a bit in the oven for safety.  I use an excalibur dehydrator and I think it only goes to 165 so putting it in the oven at 200 or so sounds like a good idea.

I ended up making about 5 lbs of beef jerky last week and was going to do turkey too but realized that the breast roast that I had wasn't going to be a great choice for the purpose. I ended up cubing it up and will probably make a turkey and noodle soup with it this week (I froze it after cubing).  I think just a regular turkey breast is what would work best but they didn't have any when I bought the roast.

I've always made my jerky out of whole muscle cuts (and very much prefer eye of round for beef) and haven't ever tried to do ground versions (don't have a jerky gun) but I have a buddy that makes his with ground chuck I believe (and venison) that is really good and so I intend to try that too at some point.

I just bought a jerky gun and am kicking myself for not having done it sooner.


I've also made chicken jerky/leather from chicken breast. It was a lot chewier than beef. I also dried it at 165 and kept it in the fridge. No one got sick.


 

eta: you need a jerky gun

I made some jerky from thin sliced chicken breast once, which has the same safety temp guidelines as turkey.  I didn't cook it, just set my dehydrator at it's highest temp (155F) and had no issues.