one day i went out and bought some beef jerky and it was ok, so i went and made some… and i loved it! and i found out that bought beef jerky doesn't taste like home made jerky. for months now, i have been making my own and i am nearly addicted to it when it is around i have also made many batches of turkey jerky which is ok, but not as good as beef jerky!

anyways, has anyone ever make beef jerky from ground beef? i just saw it today when i was looking up new dehydrators and i want to try it. last time i had ground beef, i was having a hamburger and i hated the taste of it. so i am a little reluctant to try ground beef jerky… i also found out that they have jerky guns, which are like caulking guns for ground beef jerky and it makes flat pieces or round sticks. Anyone ever try this?



and for anyone who wants to know, i will give you my recipe for beef jerky (FYI: the jerky marinade recipes online are gross IMO, even others in my family agreed that my recipe was better than the marinade!)

what you will need:
- lean steak (a lean as you can get it)
- large ziplock bag
- Grill Mates Montreal Steak seasoning
- dehydrator/ kitchen oven
- cutting board, knife, etc…

what to do:
- put the steak in the freezer until it is firm, as it will be easier to cut
- then take it out and cut it against the grain into 1/4" or thinner slices (how thin it is will depend on how long it takes to dry)
- put the steak strips in the ziplock bag and put the steak seasoning in to fit your taste (i find that adding a little seasoning at a time and shaking the bag in-between helps)
- seal up the bag and let it sit in the fridge over night. the longer it sits, the better it tastes. (if you add the seasoning just before you dry it, most of it falls of when its dry and its not as flavorful)
- put the strips into the dehydrator and let them dry for 7-12 hours, depending on your dehydrator and how thin it is cut
OR -put the steak strips on cookie cooling racks or skewer them and hang them from the oven shelf with something underneath to catch any juices. put your oven on the lowest temp and leave the door open about 5 inches. this might take longer or shorter depending on the strips.
- i have had jerky done in 7-12 hours
- the jerky will be dry when it is done. there should be no squishy areas. once you take it out, it will harden a little more, so don't dry it until it is rock hard! this might take trial and error (and maybe a taste test!).

- store in a PAPER bag! if you store it in a plastic bag, it will get moist and you don't want that

-ENJOY

Sounds good. I don't have a dehydrator...although with the way my family loves beef jerky, I should probably get one . I made beef jerky last year using the oven method, but the seasoning was off, I'll have to try this, thanks.

Thanks for sharing your recipe i love beef jerky. I have made it a couple of times but will try yours.

MmMmm, I may have to try this. I love beef jerky!! This sounds a bit labour intensive though, hahaha

its not too bad, its a long wait but it is worth it!

Mmm my mouth is watering just reading your recipe!!! Thanks

I've never had beef jerky before and neither has my fiance, he wants some though! Thanks for posting this, I'm going to give it a try I've got my dehydrator for the bird food so I'm sure they won't mind me borrowing it

Daisy you are lucky! I want to try some too but I don't have a dehydrator and using the oven takes forever with drying out food!

My dehydrator was super cheap off Amazon I got it because of all of the rubbish they put into dried fruit, even for human consumption. I don't like dried fruit myself but my birds certainly do!

Yes I've been looking into getting one, does it take up a lot of space? I dont have much counter space to spare so I worry it would end up in the closet all the time lol

Mine doesn't take up too much room. It's only going to take up counter space for at most a day and then when it's not being used, we put it back in the box in the cellar.

I just picked up some lean ground beef to make ground beef jerky for the first time, I will let everyone know how it came out probably on Tuesday!

I always wanted a dehydrator, this thread might just make me order one

*UPDATE!*

i made some ground beef jerky for the first time. i seasoned it a little too much next time i will mix it in rather than put it on the top. and i would like to find a beef jerky gun to make more universal strips and sticks. taste wise, it isn't bad at all. comparing it to normal sliced steak jerky, its not great as normal beef jerky.

i just took 2 layers of wax paper and put a ball of ground beef in the middle and used a rolling pin to roll it out to about 1/4" or less (the thinner the better). i found that the thicker pieces were dry on the outside and still red in the middle, so it is better to have thin pieces. they take about the same amount of time as normal beef jerky.

i haven't tried this method before, but to make jerky you actually only need a fan. you could really just hang some jerky with a fan blowing on it (probably in the sun) as long as no animals to get to it.

i just googled it and there are many links for "box fan" jerky… it looks simple and there are a million ways you could do it

http://www.antihousewife.com/2011/02...an-beef-jerky/

i am also going to look up how to make smoked jerky

feel free to share any of your jerky recipes, or dry foods (i was wondering how home made "fruit leather" tastes)...

ok, so i got a new dehydrator a week ago and i love it! it is the nesco all American Harvest one with the jerky kit. it also comes with 2 fruit roll trays and fine mesh trays for drying small things.

the jerky gun it great and i made some of my ground beef jerky with Montreal Steak (Grill Mates) seasoning. i used the flat and small round tips.

i also made some fruit leather/fruit roll ups

strawberry banana:
4 cups strawberries, cut in 1/4s when measured
2 bananas, cut up
1/8 cup orange juice
1/2 cup apple sauce

purée all of it and put it into the fruit leather tray (spray the tray with non stick before pouring it). i found that shaking the tray is easier to make it spread level

dry it until it is not sticky on the top or bottom. roll up in cling wrap or wax paper and cut into pieces

at first i wasn't crazy about the taste, but a few rolls in, i really liked the taste

today i decided to make peach/nectarine/plum fruit rolls, which i saw online. i love all of theses fruits and so i got some softer ones which always have more flavor. i puréed them and i did the same as the others. they just got done and i tried some… i don't like these ones!! i have 4 trays of them too. they are bitter/tart tasting and not what i was expecting. its just my opinion, but i am going to stick with the strawberry banana ones!

i might try other fruits, but only sample sizes at first!