Water needed? 5lb meat

[Jonathon]

Joe Hell Yeah, depending on the tumbler I would say an hour is overkill. When I use the KMV even if I am going for tender jerky I dont go past 20-25 minutes max. With the Express I might go as long as 45 minutes just to make sure I am getting as much pick up as possible.

[Joe Hell]

Jonathon I was planning on doing another batch this weekend. Perhaps I will split it into two and record the results. My only reason for the full hour was the guy that gave me the tumbler said that’s was the amount of time that he used when making jerky with it.

[Jonathon]

Joe Hell If it wasnt under a vacuum it could actually hurt doing it that long as the solution would/could foam up but with it being under vacuum that isnt going to happen. I don’t think you will see any real difference but just overkill, as always though would be interested in the results!

[GalvanAP]

as Joe Hell advised in an earlier thread, after holding for 12hrs or overnight after tumbling, is there a need to “pad” the meat before putting it on the dehydrator, or just go from bag to dehydrator.

[Joe Hell]

GalvanAP I’ve never dried the meat prior to smoking or dehydrating. I will bring my jerky up to the 160 degrees needed to kill bacteria prior to dehydrating. Most of the time that has meant a long and slow warm up in the smoker. The last batch I made I achieved this by using my dehydrator racks over a sheet pan in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. It seemed to work very well and sped up the process considerably. Keep in mind that oven temps will vary.

[GalvanAP]

Joe Hell

OK good to know. I have been turning on the dehydrator (set at 160) and after 10-15 min, I would put on the meat. Around the 4 hr mark, Id remove it and be finished

you’re staying you place it in the over at 350 for 10 (varies), then place on dehydrator? Or do you even use the oven if you are using straight dehydrator?

[Joe Hell]

GalvanAP I’ve only used the oven method once. My dehydrator racks are just a hair larger than my largest sheet pan so I filled the rack with the jerky and then placed it in the oven until it reached 160. Then transfer the rack to the dehydrator until I reached the desired moisture content…or lack thereof. I’m not saying it’s the best way to do it but it seemed to work really well for me. I plan to try it again this weekend.

Previously I would use my smoker for both the ‘cook’ and the drying but it took forever. I would probably start with the Walton’s video tutorial and go from there.