Making Jerky, Canning, Drying Fruit - The Lost Art Of Preserving

[Mina]

Does anyone make their own jerky, beef or otherwise? How about drying fruits or vegetables? If so, do you use an oven or a dehydrator? Have any good recipes? How long do things keep - and do you vacuum package them? There's plenty of information on the internet, but I would love to hear about your experiences!

We are considering buying a dehydrator from Cabela's this summer (for those outside the US, they are a huge outfitter/outdoor goods shop, with an extensive catalog as well as retail stores). We're interested in making our own jerky - probably from beef - as well as drying fruits. Store-bought jerky is so expensive, and I can't eat that or dried fruit if it contains sulfites, due to sensitivity.

I already do canning (pressure and hot water bath), and would like to expand my "preserving" skills into another arena. Anybody else do things like this?

 

[popeye]

My brother bought one of those ronco food dehydrator things while we were in high school. I don't remember the cost of it but we made that money back in sales at school. We dehydrated everything, including one brainless night we tried watermelon. It was actually alot like cotton candy when it was done. The thing came with instructions on how to make beef jerky and alot of other things. We had fun with it. Now that makes me want to find that thing and see if it still works.

 

[2quilt]

I make my own jerky. Get either top sirloin, bottom round or top round, beat it with one of those meat tenderizing tools with the spikes on it, then cut it lengthwise, about the width of :from your middle knuckle of your pointy finger to the tip. Marinate the cuts of beef in Worcestershire or soy sauce or green chile sauce or red chipotle sauce, or liquid smoke or if you like curry beef, try that or...whatever you like. Overnight. stir it up. Take out the pieces and lay them on a tray or cookie sheet. Let the marinade drain off. If you want to pepper the jerky, do that now. Open up the oven and pull out the two metal racks as far as they will come out without falling. One at a time, place the meat so they drape over the racks and dont fall. You can put a little space between the meat cuts if you want to, but you can put an awful lot of meat in there if you want to, crowd the meat, it's okay. Push the racks back in the oven, set the oven to the lowest setting (200 degrees) and leave the oven open just a little bit (2 inches) if your oven door will do that.
Stay home. Watch the jerky for about 5-6 hours, and check on the progress every hour. It should get really beautiful in about 4 hours. Taste a bite to see if its ready. I like mine dry on the outside but moist inside. Some people prefer crunchy or leathery.
I dont use any preservatives, so the way I keep it from going bad is to eat it today or tomorrow.