Home Made Jerky From Ground Raw?

I have no idea what my electricity costs were but I did get 5.7 oz of jerky from my $15.?? 1/2 pound of ground kangaroo. Store bought kangaroo jerky was probably not from ground but it was $12.99 plus tax for a measly 2.5 oz. So I consider this a success, but.......

I don't have a dedicated dehydrator. I did it in my oven on the dehydrating setting for the 6 hours recommended in most internet recipes I found. After 6 hours it was hard to get it off the very lightly oiled cookie sheet. I wonder if parchment paper would last the 6 hours? Because I have to be very careful of how much oil I use. Anybody used parchment paper for that long a time? Temperature setting was 140F.

Was going to suggest parchment paper. It will be much easier to get them off the pan. At 140F it should not be a problem but I'd stay around to make sure.

You're such a good doggy Mom!

It didn't smell nice when it was drying but I find the smell of beef bothers me sometimes too. It was nice and dark brown on one side but light and chewed up looking on the bottom. From having to scrape it off the sheet I guess. So next time I will try flipping it over part way through. The important thing is, it was a hit; with Oban and all the cats.

I did some sweet potato slices at the same time. They are also a ridiculous price in the store. Baking a whole sweet potato at 400F for about an hour turns it into wonderful smelling, sweet, soft mush. But 1/4 inch slices at 140F for maybe 5 hours turned into hard chips, with chewy centres. Oban likes them too, the cats don't.

Folks who have a dehydrator - does it shorten the drying time? I mean over what it took me in my regular oven? Mind you, there are special drying racks for the dehydrator setting on my oven but I'm guessing they will not work with ground meat, it would drip through? Maybe the same for a dehydrator?

I like to eat the dehydrated sweet potatos too :) Im not sure on your dehydrator question. I have considered buying one with at least 3-7 layers.

Hello, everyone! I have been a member here for a few years, but somehow forgot my login credentials. I am trying to get the word out that my beautiful furry 8-year old labrador has cancer (Sarcoma). We are trying every and anything possible to raise funds to help pay for the surgery.
If you have time...please spread the word. gofundme / kickscancer
Thank you more than you know, friends! <3

My dehydrator manual requires a jerky cure before you dehydrate any kind of meat. I would keep your homemade jerky in the fridge if you didn't use a cure.

I've used parchment paper for a long time, but stay home just in case. If you were closer I would loan you my dehydrator!

Came back to say parchment paper does work very well. It took two sheets, the second one to flip the stuff over with. This time I mixed 1/2 pound of ground kangaroo with the meat from a large, well baked sweet potato. And I smartened up and cut my raw flattened out mixture into strips with a pizza cutter before dehydrating. I did maybe 3 hours (the hydro kept going off and on) on one side, flipped and did 3 hours on the other. The outside edges are hard and quite crispy. It's more chewy in the middle though that may harden up after being in the freezer. Oban thinks it's great and so does Lucy-kitten. :)

One more kg of kangaroo meat into jerky and in the freezer. That should last me about two months or more. It was nice to get a cool day yesterday to do it in, though 140 F doesn't really heat the house up much. I can get about 1/2 a pound (~1/4 kg) on one cookie sheet and with my convection can do two cookie sheets at once. The first batch had banana mixed in, they get crispier. The second batch was mixed with baked, cooled, mashed sweet potato. I tried a banana one myself, not bad, but Oban will get the most of it.

Dehydrator's were on sale recently but I decided for the amount I do and the space it would take to store it the oven is fine.

Oban, your Mom sure loves you and the kitties too. Sounds like yummy treats as in your future.