what's the secret to beef jerky

Mine always turns out quite dry when I make it. Any suggestions?

mtmomj said:

Mine always turns out quite dry when I make it. Any suggestions?

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I would love to learn how to make this My husband loves this plus it does with his diet.

Beef Jerky


1 lb. round steak
4 tbsp. soy sauce
4 tbsp. Worcestershire
1 tbsp. ketchup
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. onion salt
1/2 tsp. salt

Remove all fat from the meat and place in freezer. When it is semi-frozen, cut it into 3/8 to 1/4 inch strips. Meat cut against the grain will be tender and break easily, meat cut with the grain will be chewy. Marinate in the above sauce for at least 1 hour. Drain in a colander and place on dehydrator trays. Do not overlap the meat and turn once while drying. Dry at 145 degrees for 8-10 hours. It is ready when it bends like a willow without breaking. Store in refrigerator.

Thanks for the tips. I've never tried putting them in the freezer!

Isn't there some sort of dehydrating salt that's suppose to be put in the dehydrator? I bought one and after failing miserably at everything I tried to dehydrate (except bananas) I gave it away. But I remember that there was some sort of mixture that had to be put in there with the food.

Also, what type of meat are you using for the jerky? The cut is apparently important because when I go to buy the meat for my father-in-law (the new dehydrator owner) he's always very specific about which part of the cow I get. And also asks that the butcher cut it for me/him. I just say I'm making jerky, give them the meat and they know the right way to cut it for me.

Any jerky i've had has been pretty dry. Do you have your own food dehydrator? Maybe experiment with the meat on different level trays and for different drying times.

what if you were to open up the dehydrator and put some sort of wet seasoning mixture on every hour or so? Do you think that would hinder the process too much? Or could it possibly help make it be a little less dry??

And I agree with the different meats on diff levels & times....

Have you tried deer meat for this? We have a friend in Arizona that sends us jerky once a year and he uses deer. While I never thought I'd EAT deer.... It's pretty dang good. Maybe I'll have to get ahold of him and see how he does it. But I'm thinking it involves stuff only a "mountain man" has access to.

Thanks for the tip I can't wait to try this.

I haven't made anything in my dehydrator for a couple of months, but I am definitely going to try out these suggestions and see what happens!

rt49andellis: We actually do use deer for jerky...we have for years and love it that way (incredibly dry or not, haha)! Actually, that is about the only way I will eat deer meat.

I'm going to be giving some of these a try too! Man, I do love some good deer jerkey.

My family loves beef jerky. I think I might have to invest in a dehydrator. I think it would be neat to have beef jerky and dried fruits.