Hi all,
I recently bought a big Weston brand Stainless steel dehydrator and was excited to make jerky for the first time, but quickly became confused about how to do so after reading the warnings about possible e-coli contamination.
I have read countless recipes (and read countless forums discussing this without any agreements) that say just marinade the meat overnight, pat dry and then put in the dehydrator at the highest temp until done, usually 155 degrees, such as is the highest setting on my new dehydrator.
Here is the conundrum.
There is a strong warning in the instruction manual that came with my dehydrator (as well as on the government safety recommendations for curing/drying meats) that states the meat MUST be previously heated to at least 165 degrees as measured internally with a meat thermometer BEFORE it goes into the dehydrator to ensure no contamination or bacteria is present that can make you sick.
My dehydrator as well as just about all of them I've looked at only go up to 155 degrees. Why not just make them go high enough to do jerky without having to use my oven first? I don't get it.
So, I bought an eye of round roast and sliced it thinly, them marinated overnight in the fridge with a popular recipe (soya sauce, brown sugar, spices ect ect) and then put it on a cookie sheet and placed in the oven for over an hour, but still could not get the internal temp of the meat (yeah, try to measure it with a meat thermometer when sliced so thin!!) to show 165 degrees.
Finally, after they were all crispy critters already, I just said the heck with it and put it in the dehydrator. After only a couple hours, I had hard crispy "beef chips"...LOL
I decided there must be a better way, so this time I tried again but put the whole marinade and meat in the oven in a glass corning wear and cooked until the liquid itself showed about 170 degrees, THEN put it on the dehydrator rack.
I did it this way thinking it would not dry out, which it didn't, but doing it this way resulted in all the meat curling up and almost impossible to lay flat on the dehydrator racks, and also, it was like all the marinade just "cooked out" of it, resulting in a boring flavor.
On top of this, the beef pieces still ended up turning into beef chips after only an hour.
I'm afraid to try again, roasts aren't cheap, and I don't want to ruin another one until I can figure out how to get the meat safe to eat by raising it to the recommended temperature before it goes into the dehydrator.
What do you think? What should I do??
Thanks!!
Chris
I recently bought a big Weston brand Stainless steel dehydrator and was excited to make jerky for the first time, but quickly became confused about how to do so after reading the warnings about possible e-coli contamination.
I have read countless recipes (and read countless forums discussing this without any agreements) that say just marinade the meat overnight, pat dry and then put in the dehydrator at the highest temp until done, usually 155 degrees, such as is the highest setting on my new dehydrator.
Here is the conundrum.
There is a strong warning in the instruction manual that came with my dehydrator (as well as on the government safety recommendations for curing/drying meats) that states the meat MUST be previously heated to at least 165 degrees as measured internally with a meat thermometer BEFORE it goes into the dehydrator to ensure no contamination or bacteria is present that can make you sick.
My dehydrator as well as just about all of them I've looked at only go up to 155 degrees. Why not just make them go high enough to do jerky without having to use my oven first? I don't get it.
So, I bought an eye of round roast and sliced it thinly, them marinated overnight in the fridge with a popular recipe (soya sauce, brown sugar, spices ect ect) and then put it on a cookie sheet and placed in the oven for over an hour, but still could not get the internal temp of the meat (yeah, try to measure it with a meat thermometer when sliced so thin!!) to show 165 degrees.
Finally, after they were all crispy critters already, I just said the heck with it and put it in the dehydrator. After only a couple hours, I had hard crispy "beef chips"...LOL
I decided there must be a better way, so this time I tried again but put the whole marinade and meat in the oven in a glass corning wear and cooked until the liquid itself showed about 170 degrees, THEN put it on the dehydrator rack.
I did it this way thinking it would not dry out, which it didn't, but doing it this way resulted in all the meat curling up and almost impossible to lay flat on the dehydrator racks, and also, it was like all the marinade just "cooked out" of it, resulting in a boring flavor.
On top of this, the beef pieces still ended up turning into beef chips after only an hour.
I'm afraid to try again, roasts aren't cheap, and I don't want to ruin another one until I can figure out how to get the meat safe to eat by raising it to the recommended temperature before it goes into the dehydrator.
What do you think? What should I do??
Thanks!!
Chris