Sack1971
Fire Starter
So is bacon jerky safe. Video of this lady putting marinated thick sliced bacon (with the fat) into dehydrator. Then ate it. I thought fat was a no no in dehydration.
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bacon jerky fat
- Thread starter Sack1971
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Culinary Otter
Smoking Fanatic
It can be done, with a few caveats.
Fat goes rancid rapidly in dehydrated foods, as the moisture does not evaporate out of it well. Its why foods like avocados aren't recommended for dehydrating.
Personally, I wouldn't do it in a dehydrator as you're going to get a weird, rubbery, greyish strip of meat. You want a higher temp than a dehydrator can put out. Use a smoker or do it in your oven at 200F (93C), and blot off the accumulated grease regularly (which will build up more at 200F than it will at 160). You'll get both a better colour and texture. However keep in mind it does not have the shelf life/longevity of say beef jerky made with a lean round roast.
I'm not sure what lady or video you're watching but I wouldn't go down the youtube rabbit hole or tik tok for my food safety advice. For every good video you find there's going to be a thousand suspect ones. A couple good and trusted websites - Jerkyholic, and Two Guys and a Cooler (who have a bacon jerky recipe on the site). The book "Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages" by Stanley Marianski also has a section on jerky making, which outlines how to make it following USDA regulations in no uncertain terms.
Also be sure to go through the threads in the Jerky section of this forum, there's lots of good info and recipes.
If you're interested in a pork jerky that isn't as finicky as bacon, pork tenderloin makes excellent jerky from my experience. Extremely lean (once trimmed), and you can season it to taste instead of using pre-packaged bacon.
Fat goes rancid rapidly in dehydrated foods, as the moisture does not evaporate out of it well. Its why foods like avocados aren't recommended for dehydrating.
Personally, I wouldn't do it in a dehydrator as you're going to get a weird, rubbery, greyish strip of meat. You want a higher temp than a dehydrator can put out. Use a smoker or do it in your oven at 200F (93C), and blot off the accumulated grease regularly (which will build up more at 200F than it will at 160). You'll get both a better colour and texture. However keep in mind it does not have the shelf life/longevity of say beef jerky made with a lean round roast.
I'm not sure what lady or video you're watching but I wouldn't go down the youtube rabbit hole or tik tok for my food safety advice. For every good video you find there's going to be a thousand suspect ones. A couple good and trusted websites - Jerkyholic, and Two Guys and a Cooler (who have a bacon jerky recipe on the site). The book "Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages" by Stanley Marianski also has a section on jerky making, which outlines how to make it following USDA regulations in no uncertain terms.
Also be sure to go through the threads in the Jerky section of this forum, there's lots of good info and recipes.
If you're interested in a pork jerky that isn't as finicky as bacon, pork tenderloin makes excellent jerky from my experience. Extremely lean (once trimmed), and you can season it to taste instead of using pre-packaged bacon.
Last edited:
Sack1971
Fire Starter
I will follow your advice. Better safe than sick.
I love using pork loin for jerky. That said I'm curious about doing bacon jerky as well. Jack Link has several that I like. I'm going to do some research into it sooner or later.
When I made the ground formed bacon , I sliced some post smoke and further dried it . It was great . Different technique , but works .
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