Making beef jerky at home with a dehydrator is easy. If you have the time, making your own beef jerky saves your money and makes a great healthy low fat high protein snack. A good dehydratoris essential in the jerky making process. There are several models of beef jerky dehydrators. Here’s how to tell the good ones from the cheap ones.
Fan Placement
A dehydrator that distributes the air flow evenly will produce even and fast drying. If you see a unit with a fan at the bottom, it won’t have uniform drying.
Temperature Control
Look for a unit that can control the temperature. A good dehydrator will have a nice range of temperature such as 95 to 160 degrees.
Dehydrator Size and Expandability
A versatile dehydrator is compact to fit on your kitchen counter with the option to expand the amount of trays. This allows you to customize the dehydrator to how much beef jerky you want to make.
Timer
You would think a timer is a standard feature on a dehydrator, but not all models have them. This is a must feature so you don’t have to worry about keeping track of how long the dehydrator has been on.
Dishwasher Safe Parts
Make sure the dehydrator says the trays and accessories are dishwasher safe for easy cleaning. If not, the parts may warp if you wash them in the dishwasher.
Beef Jerky Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 to 2 pounds flank steak
- 2/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 2/3 cup soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Directions
Trim the flank steak of any excess fat, place in a zip-top bag, andplace it in the freezer for 1 to 2 hours in order to firm up.
Remove the steak from the freezer and thinly slice the meat with the grain, into long strips.
Place the strips of meat along with all of the remainingingredients into a large, 1-gallon plastic zip-top bag and move aroundto evenly distribute all of the ingredients. Place the bag into therefrigerator for 3 to 6 hours.
Follow your dehydrator instructions for drying times. Drying time may vary due to meat size. The jerky is finished when it is firm and dark.