[quote]vvsonikvv wrote:
how did the jerky come out?
i think im about to get that nesco dehydrator from walmart and one of the jerky guns and start making my own. It seems theres a huge initial investment, $40 for dehydrator $20 for gun. Then you always have to buy seasoning and meat… How long would it take to make up for costs in beef jerky from sam’s club?
but either way it sounds good. What recipe did you use?
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It came out really good. I’m very pleased. Much less sodium and tastier. The dehydrator comes with 4 stackable trays. I jerked up 4 lbs of lean ground meat and it was crowded so I went online and bought another 2 trays for the next time I jerk it up. Unfortunately, they didn’t sell the accessories (i.e. extra trays) at Walmart. I bought the seasonings at Walmart as well but you can make your own from the thousands of recipes online.
Yeah there is an investment but if you eat jerky regularly the ROI is there. My pay back will be quick since I rely on jerky quite a bit when I’m out on the road. Your ROI depends on how much jerky you eat on a weekly basis.
Let’s figure it out. It costs at least $5 per bag (1/4 lb of jerky per bag). Let’s say I eat 2 bags per week. That’s $10 dollars per week. The dehydrator and jerky gun costs about $55. You can get lean meat for $3 per pound (or less); my meat was actually more expensive since I got high quality stuff at $4.4 per lb. Let’s use $4 per lb just to be conservative and to include any spices and cure you would have to buy. Each pound gives you about 1/2 lb of jerky.
So if you ate a l/2 lb of jerky per week your payback would be 9.5 weeks. That’s pretty darn good. The downside is you have to be willing to jerk your own meat which takes some time. For 4 lbs of meat my prep time was less than an hour. Since I now know what I’m doing it will be less next time. Then you have to let the meat dry. 4 lbs took approximately 9 hours. Less meat will take less time. I’m definitely glad I got this thing. Now I just have to keep my wife and son from eating all of it so I won’t have to make some every 3 days
[quote]vvsonikvv wrote:
how did the jerky come out?
i think im about to get that nesco dehydrator from walmart and one of the jerky guns and start making my own. It seems theres a huge initial investment, $40 for dehydrator $20 for gun. Then you always have to buy seasoning and meat… How long would it take to make up for costs in beef jerky from sam’s club?
but either way it sounds good. What recipe did you use?
[/quote]
I am also, curious as to how your dehydrator worked for you. I also want to see if it’s worth investing in one for myself. Good luck Randman!
i know you can do straight up beef, or ground beef. So does the ground beef come out like slim jim? or actually like pemmican brand beef jerky?
Also… if anyone knows, are the nutritional numbers the same before and after dehydration? besides all the spices and all. I mean if its just water leaving, the protein, fat, carbs should be the same? Meaning high protein yummyness!
[quote]vvsonikvv wrote:
i know you can do straight up beef, or ground beef. So does the ground beef come out like slim jim? or actually like pemmican brand beef jerky?
Also… if anyone knows, are the nutritional numbers the same before and after dehydration? besides all the spices and all. I mean if its just water leaving, the protein, fat, carbs should be the same? Meaning high protein yummyness!
alright. i think im in for one.[/quote]
The ground beef came out sort of like a slim jim. Especially since I used the attachment on the jerky gun for large, cylindrical meat sticks. You can also use the flat attachment to make it look more like flat, pressed jerky. My way probably added to the drying time but I want large chunks of dried meat.
The nutritional value shouldn’t change. If you look at packaged beef jerky, it’s like 16 grams of protein per ounce. That’s a lot of protein per ounce because your removing all moisture.
I found this discussion very interesting and am interested in giving jerky-making a try. However, the safety concerns with handling raw ground beef caused me to check up on a few items. I came across this from the agriculture dept. on food safety that I thought fellow jerky makers would be interested in. The key suggestion being:
“For ground beef jerky prepared at home, safety concerns related to E. coli O157:H7 are minimized if the meat is precooked to 160 degrees F prior to drying.”
Has anybody considered this? And if so, what’s the best way to precook the meat? Stir-fry it in a pan until the temperature reaches 160 degrees F?
Here’s the link to the USDA page in case anybody is interested.
Well the Nesco machine I got from Walmart has a temperature gauge that you can set as high as 155 degrees Faranheit which is the suggested temperature for making jerky. If you’re that paranoid about it you can cook in the oven for an hour 1st at 160 degrees and then put in the dehydrator for the rest.
meat sticks, meat sticks
Roly poly meat sticks
meat sticks, meat sticks
eat them up yum
I took a meat stick
Out to see a movie
Didn’t have to pay
To get it in
How exactly is that a “downside” and who wouldn’t be willing to?
Man, just think: home made buffalo jerky treats any time you want 'em…does it get any better than that? I mean, really…could it? I 'spose if you had a lifetime supply of free Grow!, maybe. But that’s about it.
