First Jerky and a smackload of questions

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rhondai

Newbie
Original poster
I searched through and found some answers.  But wondered about a general opinion on some things too.

I used an eye of round roast trimmed what fat was on it and sliced to 1/4 inch thickness. I only sliced off 1 lb of meat as the rest was for our dinner lol.  I cured for 24 hours and put in dehydrator Cabellas Pro Series 10 tray) at 155. But it fluctuated from 145 to 157.  Set timer for 3 hours.  Checked at 1.5 hours and meat was kind of rubbery.  Checked again at 2 hours and meat was snapping in half when bent.  So my questions are

Did it dry so quick because dehydrator was mostly empty?

What cut of meat do you usually use and was the eye of round a good choice?

If I dehydrate some fruit in future will it take on meat flavours? 

Name a great book I can pick up to help with jerky making.

I cut the meat in round slices.  Should I have sliced them in half?

Thank you


 
I searched through and found some answers.  But wondered about a general opinion on some things too.

I used an eye of round roast trimmed what fat was on it and sliced to 1/4 inch thickness. I only sliced off 1 lb of meat as the rest was for our dinner lol.  I cured for 24 hours and put in dehydrator Cabellas Pro Series 10 tray) at 155. But it fluctuated from 145 to 157.  Set timer for 3 hours.  Checked at 1.5 hours and meat was kind of rubbery.  Checked again at 2 hours and meat was snapping in half when bent.  So my questions are

Did it dry so quick because dehydrator was mostly empty?

What cut of meat do you usually use and was the eye of round a good choice?

If I dehydrate some fruit in future will it take on meat flavours? 

Name a great book I can pick up to help with jerky making.

I cut the meat in round slices.  Should I have sliced them in half?

Thank you
That definitely would have helped it dry faster (more airflow & less meat absorbing the thermal energy) but I'm not sure how much faster with your model dehydrator.

I usually use London Broil. I've always had good luck with it but eye of round is a great choice for jerky.

Nope - I do meat & fruit at different times with no troubles. Just make sure you clean all marinade, pieces of meat etc. off your trays.

I haven't read any books on jerky but I've heard "Just Jerky" is a decent one. Not really sure though...

You can make jerky in many shapes. If you would have sliced them in half they woulda dried faster...

Well that's what I can tell you to the best of my knowledge...
 
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