Am I about to make Jerky or am I just cooking steak low?

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Stopsign32v

Smoke Blower
Original poster
Dec 11, 2023
122
96
Well I sliced up some thinly cut Eye Round and I'm marinating it for 24 hours. Then I plan to dry it, put it on the wire rack, and use my air fryer's dehydration setting @ 180 degrees for how long...I don't know (help).

This is my first time trying to make jerky so I didn't want to waste much wood on the smoker.

Am I even making jerky or do you need to cure it?
 
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Well I sliced up some thinly cut Eye Round and I'm marinating it for 24 hours. Then I plan to dry it, put it on the wire rack, and use my air fryer's dehydration setting @ 180 degrees for how long...I don't know (help).

This is my first time trying to make jerky so I didn't want to waste much wood on the smoker.

Am I even making jerky or do you need to cure it?
Only thing I can offer up is to leave the door cracked/open 1" or so. Let's the moisture out better.
 
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I have a dehydrator that has a maximum temp of 165℉. I load the 7 racks up with ¼" thick slices of beef and run it for 12 hours at that temp. 180℉ seems a little high, but maybe cut back on the time. Maybe that helps...
 
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I have a dehydrator that has a maximum temp of 165℉. I load the 7 racks up with ¼" thick slices of beef and run it for 12 hours at that temp. 180℉ seems a little high, but maybe cut back on the time. Maybe that helps...

I can go lower temp if needed.

Do you also crack your door at 165? I just looked and it will go down to 105
 
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I had mine set at 162°f & it started building up moisture/condensation on the glass door, & in my air fryer manual it said if this occurs to Crack/open the door 1" to eliminate the moisture build up.
 
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Without a cure you need to bring the internal temp of the meat to 140° in 4 hours to keep out of the bacteria danger zone.

All making jerky is is cooking meat you are just doing it faster then normal and if you're not smoking the jerky then there is no reason to cook it slow. Some of the jerky texture might be lost as well.

So how do I do this? The pieces of meat are definitely too thing to probe. So how do you bring it to 140 degrees within 4 hours without cooking it at a high temperature?
 
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So it can cure in the marinade? Or rather a better way to ask my question: The marinade cures the meat?
What recipe did you use, or did you use a jerky marinade/kit. Curing salts cure the meat. Idk if other salts apply to curing.

I am kinda of a newbie, but been making jerky & snack sticks for quite some years now.
 
Cure #1 is mixed in at .25% of the total weight of the meat and marinade. Weigh it all out and add .25% of that weight to the marinade. Mix it in and then put the meat in. Let it go for 24 hours and then dehydrate...

Oh, I don't have any Cure #1 or anything else like that.
 
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What recipe did you use, or did you use a jerky marinade/kit. Curing salts cure the meat. Idk if other salts apply to curing.

I am kinda of a newbie, but been making jerky & snack sticks for quite some years now.

Yea I just used the following:

Soy sauce
W Sauce
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Black pepper
Cayenne
Smoked Paprika
Brown sugar
 
Oh, I don't have any Cure #1 or anything else like that.
What I do is mix up my own marinade. I weigh the sliced meat and the marinade to get a total weight. Then I add .25% of that total weight to the marinade and mix. Then the sliced meat goes in and I let it marinade for 24-48 hours before dehydrating...
 
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What I do is mix up my own marinade. I weigh the sliced meat and the marinade to get a total weight. Then I add .25% of that total weight to the marinade and mix. Then the sliced meat goes in and I let it marinade for 24-48 hours before dehydrating...

That sounds like a good and pretty easy way. I need to order some Cure #1. I didn't even know that was a thing.

So then after 24-48 hours does that allow you to dehydrate the meat as low and long as you want? What exactly is the benefit?

(If I am correct I think my jerky will have to be refrigerated afterwards and yours cured with the #1 can be kept at room temperature?)
 
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