I got a food dehydrator for christmas. (Don’t laugh; I requested it.) I like beef jerky and want to make it… but how? I need to know:
Help me out here, guys! (Would mail you some after I made it, but it will all be gone too soon. 
OK…purists are going to scream here, but the best jerky I’ve ever made, and I’ve made tons of it, was with lean ground beef. I got me one of those jerky guns, and went to town. Mixed up the beef with seasoning salt, pepper, all sorts of marinades and stuff, and just…extruded me some jerky. Dehydrated each batch of 4 screens about 7 hours each, and viola! 
Not nearly as tough on the teeth, and oh so good!
Google beef jerky recipes and start going to town.
Basic thing is buy meat (whatever’s on sale. It’s jerky. It’s not like you need a nice tender cut.) Slice it into roughly 1/4 inch slices. Marinate. Dry. Eat.
(psst, silenus, I like ground beef jerky, too! It’s so much easier on the teeth - not to mention cheaper then steak! I won’t tell if you don’t.)
If you’re going to make hamburger jerky in a food dehydrator, I’d suggest grinding your own meat. Store-bought hamburger can be contaminated with bacteria (can you say “e. coli”?), and I doubt the marinating or drying process will sterilize the meat.
I recommend buying a cut of beef that’s as lean as possible, something like flank steak/London Broil. Sirloin tip or round steak is fine, but try to trim off all the fat you can. Fat that’s left on can turn rancid if you’ll be drying the jerky for an extended period, or if you’re planning on storing it at room temperature.
I always liked jerky made with just salt, no other marinade. And I had a bad habit of taking the half-dried pieces out of the dehydrator and eating them as is - somehow I always ended up with much less jerky than I expected!
Maisy
What is this "extended period"and “storing” of which you speak, and how does it relate to beef jerky?
Actually, you have a good point. It’s just a moot point in our house, since I can’t make the stuff fast enough to keep up with the vultures I live with!
My mother makes beef jerky every year, for all the kids (3 of us), kids-in-law (another 3, natch), and grandkids (6 grandkids and 2 grandkids-in-law) – except for me, as I don’t care for it. So that’s a total of 13, plus the two of them. She did 14 6-lb roasts this year. She doesn’t use a dehydrator, but a smoker, instead. She prefers rump roasts and marinades them. Her marinade recipe:
2 cups soy sauce
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup salt (you could use less – the soy sauce is already pretty salty)
1 cup red wine
1 cup water
1 tsp tabasco
1/2 tsp each pepper, garlic, and onion powder
Mix it up until the salt and sugar dissolve. This will marinade 2 roasts that have been cut into strips. Marinade the meat for 8 hours or overnight. Don’t rinse the marinade off the meat before smoking, just pat it dry a bit – you want the pepper still on there.
You guys have it all wrong. For really tasty jerky, you need to start out with one of these guys, not that bland Bos taurus stuff.
Actually, I love bison jerky. But it’s too expensive to buy around here. 
Send me a haunch and I’ll send you some jerky!
I agree! As I confessed, I like it best when it’s about 3/4 dry - chewy without being tough. I eat more of it during the drying time than after it’s finished, but I figured most people can contain themselves, thus storage could be an issue.
M
Well, I put some on the dehydrator today… marinated in soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, a little garlic, salt, and sesame oil, along with plenty of pepper.
I think I cut it too thick, but we’ll see tomorrow when I get around to eating it
I’d be happy to, but on the assumption that you’re in the US, I can’t. It’d be illegal, as bison are included in the ban on Canadian beef cuz of the BSE case. You probably don’t want to get me started on that. Around here bison on the hoof are scarcely more expensive than beef critturs, and the meat is only slightly more expensive, assuming you can find someone to sell you some. For Cdn$2/lb you could have a whole quarter if you wanted.
Oh, meant to add, I also made a batch of oatmeal raisin and a batch of oatmeal-hazelnut-dark chocolate chip cookies. I’m going to take some to work tomorrow and give some to a friend. I love cookies.
I’ve made quite a bit of jerky with my dehydrator. First step, of course, is meat. I usually get a rump roast and slice it on a cheap, mostly-plastic slicer I got on sale at KMart, but if it’s a good supermarket (or better yet, a meat packer) with a full-service meat market (not Wal*Mart) you can have it sliced there, usually at no extra charge. Get it sliced about 1/8" thick. Cut the slices into strips about an inch wide (optional).
Then, spices. You can get pre-mixed jerky seaoning kits at most better supermarkets or the meat packer’s store; I usually get one of those and add spices of my own to taste. I’ve had better luck with the dry mixes than with liquid marinades. Once you’ve got your seasoning mixed, apply liberally to the meat and put it in the fridge overnght to let the spices soak into the meat. The easiest way to apply dry seasoning is with a spice bottle with a shaker top; coat each side of the meat, then put it in a Tupperware-type container, shaking an additional bit of seasoning between layers of meat to make sure there’s enough.
The next morning, take it out of the fridge and put it on the dehydrator for 4-6 hours, or until the desired crispness is reached.
Dang, I forget to mention my favorite trick: if you put the meat in the freezer for a couple of hours, but not long enough to freeze solid, its easier to cut thin with a good knife. (Assuming you can’t get the butcher to cut it for you.)
