Over the 2020 Christmas holiday season, we purchased a new dehydrator; a 9-tray Excalibur. I still have both of my Nesco dehydrators, but we thought having this one specifically for jerky, snack sticks and other non-herb/flower/fruit/vegetable items was a good idea to avoid cross-contamination of foods.
Every week, I take one of the numerous beef roasts (we get from our son who is a beef & cattle farmer) or a venison roast (from hubby's previous hunting seasons), and make jerky. This is our favorite recipe for homemade jerky.
The finished jerky
Teriyaki (Base) Marinade Recipe * 2/3- cup low sodium soy sauce * 6- tbls brown sugar * 4- tbls AVC- Apple cider vinegar * 2- tbls ginger- fresh crushed or 3- tbls ginger powder * 1 clove minced garlic * 1/2- tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Combine all ingredients together and marinade select choice of meat cut for a minimum of four hours. I prefer to do this overnight for optimum flavor. This is just the base recipe and you can personalize it to your own specifications and taste. For this jerky recipe I also added 2/3- cup of pickled jalapeno juice, 1-teaspoon of Liquid Smoke and 1-teaspoon of cayenne pepper (powdered).
I used the recipe above along with a 2.5-lb chuck roast. I let the meat marinade overnight.
In the morning, I removed the meat from the marinade and placed it between paper towels to remove the excess moisture and marinade. Then placed each strip of meat onto the dehydrator trays; making sure to leave enough room in between each piece of meat for good circulation. I also sprinkled some crushed red pepper flakes and black peppercorns that I ground onto the meat before placing in the dehydrator.
To begin, I set the Excalibur timer for six hours and check the texture and dryness of the jerky before deciding to continue dehydrating or not. I try to slice the meat at a 1/8" thickness.
