Ground venison in dehydrator

[Tman6493]

I’ve got deer that was ground. 100% venison. Cured and seasoned over night. Placed in dehydrated at 160. Everything on YouTube said 6 hours or until it’s done. Most times were n the ball park.

Just checked it and 3 hours in it seems done to me. Using a Cabelas 10 tray. 160 is max. Any advice or opinions. Don’t see how that’s possible. It’s only 1 tray of 1 pound of strips as a test run.

 

[Redfeather]

The smaller batch could get done alot quicker than 6hrs,so 3hrs is possible. The 6 hr time is for alot more meat (loaded down full dehydrator)which is gonna slow air flow down & take longer.May be done faster or slower but you'll have to experiment to see.


I've got 3 dehydrators going right now with 30 trays of jerky & I doubt mine will be done by morning.

 

[Little FR]

I dehydrate mine at 95 for 14hrs bring it up to higher temp last hr. I do slab jerky only.

The issue with the ground meat is it has multiple surfaces for bacteria to settle on. As long as your confident it got up to temperature internally your good. Ground jerky doesn’t last as long either. It’s all preference though.

 

[Velvet ears]

My 10 tray dehydrator takes about 4 hours on the tray closest to the heat source. I normally remove that tray and rotate the others. 6 hours total it all is done. I dont like it real soft and chewy.

 

[Tman6493]

Thank you all for the quick replies. I’m experimenting with Black Friday sale gifts. It was 1 pound on the top rack. It is cooked enough to bend the strip without breaking. Definitely cooked enough to be safe. Wish I did more to share tomorrow but with it being my first try I didn’t expect it to taste this good.

 

[Tman6493]

To experiment more I’m going to let it go another hour just to see how it turns out. But here is 3.5 hours so far.

 

[Velvet ears]

To experiment more I’m going to let it go another hour just to see how it turns out. But here is 3.5 hours so far.

I like mine well done. It would need at least an hour for me.

 

[Velvet ears]

I have been wanting to buy a grinder and a jerky gun. Do you remove all the silver lining and stuff just like you would cutting it in strips? I'm trying to find a quicker way to make it.

 

[Tman6493]

I have been wanting to buy a grinder and a jerky gun. Do you remove all the silver lining and stuff just like you would cutting it in strips? I'm trying to find a quicker way to make it.

Cabela’s has the #5 on sale for $70 usually 100 right now. I removed all the stuff I wouldn’t want. It was very quick and easy

 

[Little FR]

I oughta be ashamed to show y’all this but it’s an extreme example.

This was especially fatty. It was about my 30th pound that day and didn’t clean it up much.

When it gets like that I usually dehydrate it then pull most of the fat off then put those pieces to the side to eat immediately. The fat will go rancid within a week.

If you grind you really have to clean it up good. The fat will spoil it all. The silver will usually pack up in screen on your grinder. When I grind I get all I can but it won’t ruin it.

 

[Velvet ears]

Cabela’s has the #5 on sale for $70 usually 100 right now. I removed all the stuff I wouldn’t want. It was very quick and easy

Thanks. I was thinking bigger. Like commercial size. I want to throw a big chunk of meat in it and it gulp it down as fast as I can feed it.

 

[Redfeather]

Thanks. I was thinking bigger. Like commercial size. I want to throw a big chunk of meat in it and it gulp it down as fast as I can feed it.

I've got a 1HP #22 Cabelas Carnivore & it take longer to clean everything up afterwards than it does to grind meat. It's a "BEAST".Only setback I see on it is, if you have to move it very far it's a pain because it's HEAVY.

 

[Tman6493]

I let what wasn’t picked go 5 hours and that’s as far as I would ever want it. Now it’s tougher to pull apart but still not hard to eat. I think what I went with will work at 3 pounds to 6 hours about perfect. Will give it a try over the weekend. Thanks again y’all.

 

[WildmanWilson]

A big batch will stay cool longer and have more evaporation to slow the drying. I know the USDA will tell you to hit 160 but that’s misleading. At that temperature it kills the bacteria almost instantly. What they don’t tell you is heating it to a lower temperature, say 140, will kill everything as well it just takes a longer period. It’s why cooking a hamburger is different because you don’t cook a burger for 4 hours like you do jerky. So you must hit the higher temperature to be safe. This along with the added cure and salt makes it all safe and good to go.

 

[Feedman]

I always rotate the trays in the dehydrator.