Woke up today with a mission, the urge to jerk my 4lbs of meat.  With two hands I handled my meat and mixed in some spices, filled my meat pump, and pumped it until out came...2 lbs of meat.  Then I switched tips on the meat pump and pumped it again and again until out came...2 more lbs of meat.
By this time my hands were all red and bloody but I was on a roll.  I took my 4 lbs of meat that's been pumped and decided to dehydrate it.



After about 6 hours of jerking, I've had enough, my meat's been jerked enough, here's the result:



As you can see, my 4lbs of meat shriveled up





Here's the meat pump, looks like a caulk gun:



Here's the sum total of what was left of my meat:



While my meat was still warm I put most of it in a jar for future use:



But like a good neighbor, I gave some of my meat some as a gift for the neighbors next door who made me cookies last Christmas



Jerky rules!

Nice spoof.  



But I'm gonna have to call IBTL.

i'de like a piece of your jerked beef.

Bah! Original title was much better.

The description somehow makes this seem way less appetizing that it might normally have been.

I am not sure I ever want to eat beef jerky again, after that!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quoted: Bah! Original title was much better.

+1 ~  If you're gonna take the risk, man, jump in with both feet. Don't chicken out after a couple minutes!

Speaking of chicken. Maybe ya should've made chicken jerky not beef jerky.

Quoted: Quoted: Bah! Original title was much better. If you're gonna take the risk, man, jump in with both feet. Don't chicken out after a couple minutes! Speaking of chicken. Maybe ya should've made chicken jerky not beef jerky.

I chickened out. just getting back after a 1 week lock out , better safe than sorry for now.

FWIW, original title was "I jerked my meat today, with PICS!"

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Bah! Original title was much better. If you're gonna take the risk, man, jump in with both feet. Don't chicken out after a couple minutes! Speaking of chicken. Maybe ya should've made chicken jerky not beef jerky. I chickened out. just getting back after a 1 week lock out , better safe than sorry for now. FWIW, original title was "I jerked my meat today, with PICS!"

Yeah, I saw it. Thus my first post.

FWIW department, my dehydrator is an American Harvest, bought out by Nesco.  I got the Jerky Works kit from Walmart, check it out here here

The burger meat + spices method works pretty good, makes great jerky, as you experiment, you can buy cheap cuts of meat like London Broil, marinte it yourself, and make jerky that way too

A buddy of mine made jerky in the gas oven...he'd just marinate the meat, slice it up then, put it on a cookie sheet, and leave it in there for about 6/8 hours at 200.  Came out *really* good.  

I've always wanted to get a dehydrator...I may just have to break down and snag one this year.  If you don't mind my asking, how much was yours?  

prices at www.nesco.com/products/?category=300&subcat=100#100
Mine's about 5 years old and is a Snackmaster I think, American harvest, they got bought out by Nesco, got it a  Wallymart.   I bought 2 extra trays for it.

Edit:  mine looks exactly like this, in fact I think it's the same model this

Wow, that looks great.  Have you tried to make larger pieces?

Quoted: Wow, that looks great.  Have you tried to make larger pieces?

with the jerky gun and ground beef, you can make bigger slim jim type sticks, the jerky gun comes with 3 tips.

About a year after I bought the dehydrator I read they were going out of business and the spices for the jerky gun dried up so I made jerky out of london broil with some success.  The key is to slice the meat so it's uniform in thickness so it all dehydrates at the same rate.  I cut mine by hand and it came out all different thickness but ok too.

You can buy jerky cure online, google for sausage making supplies, but with non ground meat like london broil, marinate it with boatloads of salt, add pepper for flavor, throw in chili powder, worchestchire sauce, anything salty, then to even it out, throw in some sugar like molasses or brown sugar, that's the real key, otherwise you just got salty dried up meat.

Marinate overnight, drip most of the juices off then slap it on the dehyrdator.  Flip the pieces over after 1 hour and rotate the trays at the same time and after that you're good to go, after  5-8 hours it'll be done, the thinner  the faster it finishes.

Key to making jerky with a dehydrator is to make sure it has enough heat, my unit goes up to 145F.

Quoted: Woke up today with a mission, the urge to jerk my 4lbs of meat.  With two hands I handled my meat.....

Dude, am I the only one getting the subliminal message here ?

Ben

FWIW, you can get the guys in the meat department in Wal-Mart to slice the meat for you on a deli slicer, just pick out a London Broil or a roast and be sure to tell them to slice it with the grain of the meat, not across the grain. 3/16th of an inch thick is about right for jerky.

Have had an American Harvest for about 12 yrs. Don't use it very much these days, except when tomatoes are ripe in the garden, or cheap at the store.

Just a word of warning, the 'aroma' of drying tomatoes is different than when they are cooked...I leave the unit plugged in on the patio because the smell is not pleasant.

Also, starting the drying process at room temperature or low heat prevents will help the food dry evenly and thoroughly. I highly recommend a dehydrator with variable heat settings, and a fan.

Gwen in L.A.