For a Christmas gift to ourselves, we purchased a Nesco Gardenmaster Dehydrator on Amazon. I’ve never dehydrated at home before, but I LOVE jerky. I recall my daddy taking me deer hunting for the first time, shooting my first deer, and all I asked for to be processed was jerky meat.
I knew I didn’t want to dehydrate fruits, because with NSNG there would be too much sugar in these little snacks. I went to the local Fresh Market and asked the butcher what meat is normally used for jerky. They suggested the london broil cut of beef (I now choose roasts over the broil because they seem to be fattier). I searched online for a great recipe that did not include the usual jerky marinades with sugar and grains. If you don’t have a meat slicer, place the meat in the freezer for about 15 minutes before slicing by hand to make it easier!
{“@context”:”http:\/\/schema.org\/”,”@type”:”Recipe”,”name”:”Beef\/Deer Jerky”,”author”:{“@type”:”Person”,”name”:”Jana”},”datePublished”:”2016-10-11 12:08:11″,”image”:null,”description”:null,”recipeIngredient”:[“2-3 lb beef (london broil or english roast sliced for jerky)”,”3\/4 cup coconut aminos (soy alternative)”,”2 tablespoons sea salt”,”1 lemon (juiced)”,”2 tablespoons fine ground black pepper”,”1\/8 cup garlic powder”,”1\/8 cup onion powder”,”2 tablespoons hot sauce”],”recipeInstructions”:[“Combine all ingredients except meat into a large container and mix well. Stir in slices of meat, adding water if necessary to ensure meat is fully covered in marinade.”,”Marinate slices in refrigerator up to 2 days, stirring often.”,”Remove slices one at a time from marinade to place in dehydrator trays, shaking slightly to remove excess marinade. Do not rinse marinade from the slices.”,”Dehydrate jerky slices as indicated in your dehydrator’s user manual. Length can vary depending on thickness and desired crispiness.”],”recipeCategory”:”Snacks”}
Beef/Deer Jerky
Course Snacks
Ingredients
- 2-3 lb beef london broil or english roast sliced for jerky
- 3/4 cup coconut aminos soy alternative
- 2 tablespoons sea salt
- 1 lemon juiced
- 2 tablespoons fine ground black pepper
- 1/8 cup garlic powder
- 1/8 cup onion powder
- 2 tablespoons hot sauce
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients except meat into a large container and mix well. Stir in slices of meat, adding water if necessary to ensure meat is fully covered in marinade.
- Marinate slices in refrigerator up to 2 days, stirring often.
- Remove slices one at a time from marinade to place in dehydrator trays, shaking slightly to remove excess marinade. Do not rinse marinade from the slices.
- Dehydrate jerky slices as indicated in your dehydrator’s user manual. Length can vary depending on thickness and desired crispiness.
After testing out the dehydrator with the beef jerky, a fellow NSNGer suggested trying bacon. I purchased a nitrate/nitrite free thick cut pound of bacon and cut the package in half. You should put a layer of paper towels down on each tray to soak up the bacon grease while dehydrating. I’ve made this jerky enough to learn how crisp we like ours. My hubby is crazy about this jerky! I make it for every road trip and vacation and there’s never any left at the end of the trip.
{“@context”:”http:\/\/schema.org\/”,”@type”:”Recipe”,”name”:”Bacon Jerky”,”author”:{“@type”:”Person”,”name”:”Jana”},”datePublished”:”2016-10-11 12:13:19″,”image”:null,”description”:null,”recipeIngredient”:[“1-2 lb bacon (thick-cut)”,” onion powder”,” cajun seasoning”,” freshly ground pepper”,” garlic powder”,” dried parsley”],”recipeInstructions”:[“Cut package of bacon in half to shorten jerky strips to fit in dehydrator. Lay a layer of paper towels on each tray to soak up bacon grease. Trim loose ends off towels to ensure airways of dehydrator are not blocked.”,”Lay bacon strips on each tray, avoid overlapping. Sprinkle each spice as desired just on the side currently showing.”,”Dehydrate slices at 160\u00b0F for 1-1\u00bd hours. Turn off dehydrator to flip slices over and season other side. Slices may stick to paper towel.”,”Finish jerky slices by dehydrating a final 1-1\u00bd hours at 160\u00b0F. Adjust times as desired.”],”recipeCategory”:”Snacks”}
Bacon Jerky
Course Snacks
Ingredients
- 1-2 lb bacon thick-cut
- onion powder
- cajun seasoning
- freshly ground pepper
- garlic powder
- dried parsley
Instructions
- Cut package of bacon in half to shorten jerky strips to fit in dehydrator. Lay a layer of paper towels on each tray to soak up bacon grease. Trim loose ends off towels to ensure airways of dehydrator are not blocked.
- Lay bacon strips on each tray, avoid overlapping. Sprinkle each spice as desired just on the side currently showing.
- Dehydrate slices at 160°F for 1-1½ hours. Turn off dehydrator to flip slices over and season other side. Slices may stick to paper towel.
- Finish jerky slices by dehydrating a final 1-1½ hours at 160°F. Adjust times as desired.
Our exact dehydrator is currently unavailable, but this one is very similar:
Comment below if you try it out or share what you like to dehydrate!