Does anyone know how a professional meat dehydrator works?

[canadianbacon]

Ahh, so you want to make an indoor type of deal. I'm not to sure of how to go about building a dehydrator but.... I you had a square fan at lets say one end of some sort of box for intake and one for outtake and racks inside,  and you have enough air flow you could make jerky by making a good stream of air go through the box. The concept works, I know that. The exact build would have to be worked on because it would depend on fan power and size of box used for drying.

If I had to make one I would use 2 high RPM drum fans and a SS barrel with racks tig welded in or hooks to hang meat.

 

[theswede]

Yeah, I plan putting this and then making a custom metal extension box with trays inside. It'll be small but very controllable...I hope :P

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• theswede
• Jul 24, 2014

 

[canadianbacon]

That could work, make sure there's a fan to move the hot air tho ( a metal blade one ), also you will need a temp prob in front of the fan and at the end of the box to make sure it stays under 200. That would most likely have to be attached to a controller to cycle power off and on unless you want to watch it for 8-12 hrs.

I would do... Heater, drum fan, thermo probe, box, another prob at the end of box and another fan for outtake. Keep in mind it would be allot of trial and error since you have no idea what temps the heater puts out.

Have you considerd using a little of big chief smoker with no wood. it would heat it the same way but no smoke, you don't need to put wood in a smoker to dehydrate the meat. The heating element on the bottom will do all the work.

 

[superstar3000]

 
Btw, I've been wondering who the beef jerky costumers are? I've never been to the states, so I haven't understood the culture. I imagine it being eaten by a big middle-aged man, drinking beer and going on hunting trips. Am I correct? ;) 

Hi, Swede:

This is my first post on this fascinating forum (I have only started making jerky tonight - keeping a close eye on the dehydrator, as I don't want to screw up the first batch).

To answer your question about who the buyers of beef jerky are:  In the USA, there are many companies selling pre-packaged jerky (primarily in convenience stores, liquor stores, and gas stations - as the product is considered a quick and convenient snack food).

The buyers of jerky in this form, are predominately male.  The ground and highly spiced jerky (which tends to be lower-priced) is extremely popular with teen-agers.

Jerky is also gaining huge market share with the middle-aged guys, who are concerned with controlling their weight, as jerky fits well with the popular low-carb (Atkins) diet - as the jerky products deliver a satisfying "flavor-fix", while helping curb appetite...

I believe that this segment of the market will provide great opportunities for the development of more interesting and exotic flavors (which is what led to my interest in experimenting with jerky, in the first place).

I am looking forward to learning more about the art and science of Jerky and Smoking, and am glad that I have found this great group.

 

[padronman]

My Bosch convection oven has a dehydrating setting on it.......haven't used it as of yet but reviews say it works well.   Hmmmmmm gonna have to try it out

 

[rob sicc]

 
My Bosch convection oven has a dehydrating setting on it.......haven't used it as of yet but reviews say it works well.   Hmmmmmm gonna have to try it out

Definitely try it.  I just redid my kitchen and had a double oven installed.  If I knew there was a convection oven out there with a dehydrator setting I would have went with that one.  I do a lot of dehydrating.  When I make jerky I see family memebers that I have seen in a while.  lol

 

[padronman]

 
Definitely try it.  I just redid my kitchen and had a double oven installed.  If I knew there was a convection oven out there with a dehydrator setting I would have went with that one.  I do a lot of dehydrating.  When I make jerky I see family memebers that I have seen in a while.  lol

We re-did our kitchen and went with ALL Bosch appliances.  I will definitely try that dehydrator setting out and see what happens

 

[rob sicc]

 
We re-did our kitchen and went with ALL Bosch appliances.  I will definitely try that dehydrator setting out and see what happens

Padron man,

Do you know what temp range your stove has for dehydrating?  My stove has a warming temp.  I should look into that further.  It might be an option for me.

Please let me know how the jerky turns out.  Sorry, I just assumed jerky.  lol

 

[padronman]

I know my oven has a warming temp as well which is pre-set at 170F.  I just pushed the De-hydrate setting and it auto sets at 140F.......and not knowing too much about de-hydrating temps would assume is good enough?  I'll have took into it further. 

Scott

 

[rob sicc]

 
I know my oven has a warming temp as well which is pre-set at 170F.  I just pushed the De-hydrate setting and it auto sets at 140F.......and not knowing too much about de-hydrating temps would assume is good enough?  I'll have took into it further.

Scott

Scott,

What are you drying?  I just started a batch of beef and moose jerky last night.  I prefer my meat very rare so 140F should be fine.

I have a sime professional dehydrator which has a thermostat that ranges between 90 - 160.  That works great but if I knew that I could have got an over with the dehydrator setting I would have just for the principal of it.  lol

 

[padronman]

 
Scott,

What are you drying?  I just started a batch of beef and moose jerky last night.  I prefer my meat very rare so 140F should be fine.

I have a sime professional dehydrator which has a thermostat that ranges between 90 - 160.  That works great but if I knew that I could have got an over with the dehydrator setting I would have just for the principal of it.  lol

Nothing at the moment.....haven't tried jerky yet but following threads and may in the near future, 

Scott

 

[kinkothecarp]

When you say 'professional smoker' what exactly do you mean? We have six commercial smokers/dehydrators, and each costs somewhere around $35,000. 

There's a huge learning curve to using commercial smokers, though, because once you get so big you have to start worrying about draining fat and other cleaning issues, as well as just keeping the bills payed (they are extremely expensive to run!). Our smallest smoker can do about 150lbs of fresh beef, and it's a monster to clean. After about a week of running jerky, we literally scoop out fat in snow shovels and fill up trash cans. Remember, jerky isn't even cut from fat-intensive pieces of meat. The other things you'll have to deal with are humidity control, timing issues, cooling and heating over large spaces to prevent bacterial growth and lowering water activity fast enough. 

How much jerky are you trying to produce? 

 

[setrakian2014]

I was going through the food forums and saw your topic which really aroused interest. I was not very familiar with it so I tried searching some meat dehydrators  but I got meat grinders instead.

 

[Chef John]

I found some best reviews about meat grinders on this website. You can check and find your query there.

 

[paddy80]

I have been making jerky with a box fan and some furnace filters for the better part of a year now, and everyone loves it. No heat, only a marinade and 8-12 hours on the fan. Google 'Alton Brown jerky' for a good starter recipe and instructions.