Jerky--Smoker or Dehydrator? Which is better?

[mneeley490]

I have yet to smoke then put in the dehydrator. Definitely on my list to do the next batch of so. My only problem is between my son and I, it goes too fast....

LOL, when my son asks for some, he always needs to be told the difference between "some" and "all".

 

[cmayna]

I do both beef and salmon jerky via the method I mentioned above. Our fishing buddies love it.

 

[mneeley490]

I've read the debates in other threads about whether or not to cook the jerky before dehydrating. The manual that came with mine said to cook if the jerky is not going to be refrigerated, so that's what I did, but it still didn't seem right somehow. Just threw it marinade and all into a pot with a lidand stewed for a few minutes to get the temp up to 160. Then started the batch.
I used an 6.5 lb eye of round that was still partially frozen when I sliced it into about 3/16" slices, and used a Jaccard on them. Probably 5.5 lbs after trimming.

They ended up using less than 4-1/2 racks of the 10-rack dehydrator. Seemed like a lot more when I started out. A little less than 3 hours in the dehydrator seemed sufficient. Still has some good chew, but not brittle.

 

[bdawg]

I'm still looking for a really good beef jerky marinade. Any favorite recipes out there?