Dehydrator fun

hondabbq

 I posed the question a while back about ground beef jerky.  
I purchased a cabelas 12 rack dehydrator. 
I made the jerky the other day and wanted to try snack sticks. 

I made 10 lbs of jalapeño, garlic and cheddar sticks. 
I started them at 140f and bumped to 150 after an hour and 160f after another hour. They were finished in 4.5 hours. 

I quenched half and just cooled the other other half at room temp, just for comparison sake. 

StillH2OEgger

There is a ton of great food to be found on this site, but those photos really make me drool. Wow! Great work.

hondabbq

StillH2OEgger said:

There is a ton of great food to be found on this site, but those photos really make me drool. Wow! Great work.

Thank you sir. 

mEGG_My_Day

They look awesome!!

lkapigian

Awesome!..........Now I need one

GATraveller

Great thread.  Verdict - quenched or cooled?

nolaegghead

Looks great!

hondabbq

GATraveller said:

Great thread.  Verdict - quenched or cooled?

Verdict is still out. 
Ill cast my vote once they have bloomed over night. 

All the quenching does does according to my reading is prevents wrinkling compared to cooled at room temp. 

Is is that correct @nolaegghead

nolaegghead

That's what I heard.  And maybe helps the color, dunno.  Did you use collagen casings?

What extruder did you use?  I have a LEM jerky canon and LEM 5# piston stuffer.

hondabbq

nolaegghead said:

That's what I heard.  And maybe helps the color, dunno.  Did you use collagen casings?

What extruder did you use?  I have a LEM jerky canon and LEM 5# piston stuffer.

I did use collagen casings. 

I have a Cabelas 11 lb stuffer, and a Cabelas 15" jerky cannon. 

Lol. Looks like I'm a Cabelas whore. 
The stuffer was on sale and has metal gears. My first was a cheapie with plastic gears. 
The dehydrator was on sale $100 off and I had a $100 gift card I won in a golf tourney so it was a relatively cost effective jumping off point for a larger 12 rack dehydrator. The cannon was 33% off at the same time as thevdehydrator was on sale. 

tarheelmatt

You're a jerky making mofo! Those look great and the flavor sounds great too 

lkapigian

@hondabbq , mind sharing the stick recipie/ process ..great post, thanks for sharing

hondabbq

lkapigian said:

@hondabbq , mind sharing the stick recipie/ process ..great post, thanks for sharing

This being my first try at the jerky thing, I bought a jalapeño Hi Mountain jerky kit and just followed the instructions for mixing and cooked/ dehydrated at 160f for 5 hours. I made 5 lbs (raw) of jerky. 

I had had some of the jalapeño seasoning left over from the jerky kit, and just added some garlic and black pepper and the cheese. I had 5 lbs of pork and 5 lbs of lean beef. I added 20 oz of grated old cheddar. I used the Hi Mountain care. 2 cups of water and mixed until sticky. I stuffed into 21 mm casings.  I put the sticks in at the same temp of 160f.  

I was was surprised at the time it took for both batches being roughly the same time. The jerky I stacked the trays in the slots all together and left the empty racks in as well. 
With the sticks, I left the empty trays out and also double spaced the racks with sticks. I assumed with the thickness of the sticks it would have taken longer than the jerky. I'm assuming the changes made in racking them was the difference. 

DoubleEgger

GrateEggspectations

hondabbq said:

nolaegghead said:

That's what I heard.  And maybe helps the color, dunno.  Did you use collagen casings?

What extruder did you use?  I have a LEM jerky canon and LEM 5# piston stuffer.

I did use collagen casings. 

I have a Cabelas 11 lb stuffer, and a Cabelas 15" jerky cannon. 

Lol. Looks like I'm a Cabelas whore. 
The stuffer was on sale and has metal gears. My first was a cheapie with plastic gears. 
The dehydrator was on sale $100 off and I had a $100 gift card I won in a golf tourney so it was a relatively cost effective jumping off point for a larger 12 rack dehydrator. The cannon was 33% off at the same time as thevdehydrator was on sale. 

It somehow doesn't feel right to read a sober-toned reference to a "15" jerkey cannon" on a weeknight. Seems like more of a weekend post. 

Griffin

Very impressive!!

hondabbq

GATraveller said:

Great thread.  Verdict - quenched or cooled?

Well, to me no discernible difference in texture. Only slight difference as mentioned was the slightly less wrinkling of the quenched ones, and I mean only slightly. Other than that pretty much the same all around. 

Moleman

Can you please explain more about making jerky and the sticks. I'm definitely interested and looking at some of the equipment but I don't want to jump in feet first if I have to be smart enough to split atoms. Thanks for your time. 

nolaegghead

Moleman said:

Can you please explain more about making jerky and the sticks. I'm definitely interested and looking at some of the equipment but I don't want to jump in feet first if I have to be smart enough to split atoms. Thanks for your time. 

Ground meat jerky is about as easy as making meatloaf.  Mix the spices/cure with ground meat.  Load in stuffer/jerky cannon, extrude, dehydrate, eat. 

hondabbq

Moleman said:

Can you please explain more about making jerky and the sticks. I'm definitely interested and looking at some of the equipment but I don't want to jump in feet first if I have to be smart enough to split atoms. Thanks for your time. 

The biggest thing to be concerned about is food safety. Understanding the curing process and pros and cons of curing, what to do and what not to do. Some things you have to learn on your own with what equipment you have. I made a few mistakes along the way, but now most meat projects work out based on basic knowledge and previous experiences. 

Ive made hundreds of pounds of sticks, but not in a dehydrator. Made them in the egg, home oven, pellet grill, propane smoker, proofer (at work). It's not a stretch to adjust to make a decent product once you have a few batches under your belt. If your only using one piece of equipment to cook small adjustments are easy to get the results yiur looking for. 

I just read a lot before I jumped in. Smokingmeatforums.com has a lot of good information. Reading what to do, and reading threads where guts made mistakes so you don't follow the same path. 

ChokeOnSmoke

Moleman said:

I'm definitely interested and looking at some of the equipment 

This is the equiptment I use for making jerky
@hondabbq looks damn good though, well done.

milesvdustin

Jerky cannon FTW!!! Ivmake deer jerky same way. 

lkapigian

@hondabbq so I am getting ready to order the Cabela's and on page 17 of their manual it says after dehydrating ( meats) to 160, finish off in an oven @ 165 for at least 30 minutes, seems they would have a setting that goes to 165 and not double the work...........or is this Cabela's just Covering Their @ss?

hondabbq

lkapigian said:

@hondabbq so I am getting ready to order the Cabela's and on page 17 of their manual it says after dehydrating ( meats) to 160, finish off in an oven @ 165 for at least 30 minutes, seems they would have a setting that goes to 165 and not double the work...........or is this Cabela's just Covering Their @ss?

There is extensive conversations on this topic on the smokingmeatforums site.

From my reading that is if not using any cure. There was some page ( I looked but I cant find it) about the reason for doing that was to ensure all pathogens were killed prior to consuming. A lot of guys don't do this step and have never had an issue but the potential is there.

 I use cure in my sticks and jerky to ensure there is no health issues with botulism.

And yes they are just covering their A$$. 

lkapigian

hondabbq said:

lkapigian said:

@hondabbq so I am getting ready to order the Cabela's and on page 17 of their manual it says after dehydrating ( meats) to 160, finish off in an oven @ 165 for at least 30 minutes, seems they would have a setting that goes to 165 and not double the work...........or is this Cabela's just Covering Their @ss?

There is extensive conversations on this topic on the smokingmeatforums site.

From my reading that is if not using any cure. There was some page ( I looked but I cant find it) about the reason for doing that was to ensure all pathogens were killed prior to consuming. A lot of guys don't do this step and have never had an issue but the potential is there.

 I use cure in my sticks and jerky to ensure there is no health issues with botulism.

And yes they are just covering their A$$. 

Thanks @hondabbq I usually add cure 1 to my sausage ETC, Think I am pulling the trigger on the 80L although the 160 is not much more---I know a bit over kill...On the topic of Cure- I know 1 Teaspoon per 5# but what formula do you use if doing a "Marinade" or is it the same??

hondabbq

I have not made jerky in the traditional sense using full muscle meat.

If I am not mistaken, just like when making a brine, you have to add the weight of the marinade plus the meat weight and add cure to that total.

DaveRichardson

Dang, @hondabbq, that looks AMAZING!