Cooking & Food The $10 Jerky Maker 2014-08-09

COOL, thanks.

I saw the picture of the dryer in the "what did you put away" thread and I was going to ask about it.

I've saved the PDF for later viewing.

 

you can make a drip shield easily using a 46 oz juice can. Cut the end off where you punctured the can to pour out of it. Now use tin snips to cut away half of the verticle sides of the can down the sides from the open end to the intact base. When you are done you will have an intact base and a half moon drip shield that can be bolted under the pancake electrical box and the angle support. I would love to include some sort of picture or drawing, but lack that capability. PM me if you are to confused by my ramblings and we can work out some other more direct means of discourse to talk you through it.

 

The wife just asked, what about making a homemade smoker box? Anybody got any plans they've tried?

 

1-20 gallon trash can, 1- 110v hot plate, and a can of water with your favorite smoking "chips".
Cut a small hole in the side near the bottom of the can, insert the hot plate, put the can of water/wood flavoring chips on the hot plate....
Using stainless steel racks suspended on the inside, or by using hooks or straight wires from side to side, hang or lay the meat to be smoked in side, Put the cover on, plug in the hot plate.
It's best to have a thermometer (oven or meat type),going thru the can to monitor the heat levels, so they can be adjusted as needed.
Use a new can!
Or, you can also use a 30 gallon steel drum, or 55 gallon drum, and do the same thing, or build a small firedoor in the bottom, with a firegrate, and use wood or charcoal to do the above. You can "hot" smoke, or "cold" smoke whichever you prefer, by adjusting the heat level inside the cans!

 

I have one and have done a couple of batches...werks great. I used Alton Brown's Jerky marinade as a base starting point

 

Made this and marinated my beef in Yoshida Sauce and then sprinkled with Montreal Steak Seasoning...was skeptical but it turned out delicious!!!!

 

Loved this thread...I made one a few years ago for large batches of venison jerky...it was a little more then $10, but still not the $200-300 for the big commercial ones that the chain stores charge.

I work in an RV plant so much of this material is scrap that is thrown away. Plywood construction with aluminum lined walls. Heat source is two small electric burners and a tanning bed fan circulates the air. I can dehydrate up to 10lbs of venison at once with this set up.




Here you can see the heating elements and the fluorescent light grids as I use as drying racks...you can also see they were a tad too long on my trial run as they melted just a bit!



Everything loaded and ready to go.



Running about 166 here. Typically ran between this and 175. Rotated the racks after every hour and turned the meat over 1/2 way through. Ran this amount for about 5 1/2 hours total.



End product, ready to be trimmed and vacuum sealed.







Two hot plates combined $30
Drying racks $15
Tanning bed fan $10
Misc (ext. cord, plug, wire, handles, wthr strip, etc) $5

Total $60.

 

I use a similar set-up in my oven - however, I do not use a light bulb. Light destroys vitamins so after some research (and a serendipitous Good Eats episode (Withering Bites)) I use a ceramic reptile heater. It costs about $20.00 on Amazon, but the local pet stores have them for around $15.00. It radiates infra-red heat without any light. Being ceramic, it is a bit more resistant to drips, drops, and being jostled. Adding a small, low speed fan improves circulation inside the dehydration vessel of choice.

Zoo Med Repticare Ceramic IR Reptile heater
Coleman Ten Fan - Battery Powered

This set-up is also excellent for drying fruits and veggies in an oven rig!

 

Are you running just the one bulb and what temps do you achieve? Wonder if this would work on a 12 Battery system with a small solar array back charging. I would think the draw from the light would be far less than a hot plate but may have to extend the drying times.

 

Flip: 115-125 degrees, with the oven door cracked about 1 inch open. The heater I posted draws 100 watts.

Melbo: you should check out the Good Eats Blowhard 5000 -
1 Box fan
3 brand new paper (MUST BE PAPER) air filters
2 Bungee cords

NO bulbs, NO heat.

check it out:
Part I
YouTube - Good Eats - S09E03P01 - Urban Preservation II - The Jerky
Part II
YouTube - Good Eats S09E03P02 - Urban Preservation II - The Jerky
Oh, and AB teaches a person how to make their own liquid smoke! Pretty cool stuff. This is the next method I am going to try. . .