Dehydrating with The_blue - Easy beef Jerky

Gonna be picking up some topside this afternoon so I can make another batch of biltong. I took some out of the freezer yesterday, and I've finished it all already. Love biltong so much, it really does remind me of home :)
 
fornowagain: i've built the box you have (ish), how do you regulate the temperature? i can see a far in your set up and air holes. Do you have a thermostat or is the fan always on?

what size is the fan and the holes?

thanks.
 
My biltong box, recognise the difference? I made it this weekend by a rough 3d sketch and measurements.


I'm no carpenter so it doesnt look at all that tidy but it'll certainly do. Used a 230V fan to extract air out the top. The box is made from 10mm plywood. Happy to share dimensions with anyone interested.

Just trying it with 1kg of beef to make sure I like the recipe.
 
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Bumping this as I bought a dehydrator last week.

First batch made using the_blues original recipe, and few of the thinner bits dried enough this morning, took them into work and shared out and got positive reviews all round. Load more finishing up at home for a few more hours on the chunkier pieces! Nice and easy and so tasty! Going to be making a batch a week at this rate!
 
I got a dehydrator last week too. Made a batch of my own recipe which tbh, is very similar to The Blues with the addition of liquid smoke. Got another in as I type this, bits are a little thick this time, was a crap bit of meat! See how it goes in the morning. I don't mind giving my jaw a workout so long as it tastes great (that's what she said!).

Also, been using the dehydrator for courgette crisps with garlic and chipotle. They are awesome and my dad has an almost endless supply of courgettes from his allotment.
 
I got a dehydrator a couple weeks ago. I had some free Amazon vouchers so treated myself. I've done a couple lots of jerky so far, my first with a cracking piece of topside which I'd sliced a bit too thick. The second lot I used a cheaper piece of brisket which I cut a lot better but had loads more fat to cut off. Does the liquid smoke make much difference? A lot of the recipes I found online seemed to recommend using it.

Hopefully my chillies will have ripened soon so I'll get to dehydrate them too!
 
Street said:
Does the liquid smoke make much difference? A lot of the recipes I found online seemed to recommend using it.
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TBH, I don't think it adds much, if anything! Next time I'm going to try some smoked paprika in the marinade. That should add some smokeyness and a bit of sweetness.
 
"Good" smoke flavour is a great thing so I'd definitely try it out. Don't go crazy though or you'll regret it :p

You can get smoke flavour in different ways though - as Punt says. Smoked paprika, salt, etc, can all be good sources.
 
I've been reading this with interest this week and the good new is I've checked and my Bradley tempreture will go as low as 50c so I'm off to Cardiff market to morrow to get me a nice bit of beef :D
 
I just did a batch with smoked paprika, didn't put a lot in but theres a hint of smoke, more so then with the liquid smoke I used last time. I over dried it but still nice :)

I'm going to try a teryaki batch next time.
 
I've done a teryaki jerky, which was basically beef marinated with a bottle of teryaki sauce and a handful of chilli flakes. It turned out great, like the sweetness. And I didn't over dry it this time, which was nice. It was also a cheap piece of beef, not a lot of gristle but plenty of fat throughout. Now I appreciate the fat will go bad first but to be honest, it doesn't last long enough and I like the flavour :)

Next up will be a sriracha jerky. I love the sauce and I like my jerky with bit of a kick.
 
Epic thread bump alert!

Has anyone tried jerky with mince?

I only ask because I have all the marinade ingredients for various styles but no meat in the fridge/freezer except mince so I did a quick google and it seems like a thing so thought I'd give it a go.
 
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