Making Jerky

[Iceblink]

I love my dehydrator.... but I love my mom's more. Mine is round with a hole in the middle. Hers is square with square trays that you can put saran wrap over for all kinds of 'goopy' things. I've asked her to specify in her will that I get it.

I make jerky every summer, it's great for road trips. I marinate it in a variety of things, I learned the hard way not to follow the recipes that call for oil or vinegar . My dog liked it though.

I have dehydrated plain meat, it was fine and so was I. I wouldn't do it again though, it was bland and tough. I have thought about dehydrating liver pieces as dog treats, but I really don't want to stink my house up!

 

[big brown horse]

I've been making turkey jerky in my plain old oven for years. I still have my books in boxes since we recently moved (well, it has been over 6 months now...NO excuses anymore) and my recipe is tucked away in my "books" boxes.

I even oven dried my left over tomatoes every year to make "sun dried" tomatoes and then canned them in olive oil, whole garlic cloves and rosemary. I used to sell them at my mother's antique shows.

To make: Use the oven's lowest setting, slice the tomatoes very thin and put on a large baking sheet. Check on them every thirty minutes or so and flip as needed. EASY!!!!! And the taste is out of this world. I think I got this idea from an ancient Martha Stewart show.

If anyone is interested, I will dig into those many book boxes and dig up the exact turkey jerky reciepe. It is very easy too. You actually bypass the cookie sheet and drape the turkey on the oven rack itself. Line the next rack with tin foil to keep everything a bit cleaner. You will have to scrub the rack with sos or something when you are done.

I think the basic recipe used liquid smoke, worcestershire, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. You slice up the turkey breast into slender strips and marinate them in this mixture for 2 plus hours. Use the oven's lowest setting, drape the meat over the rack and let it go for 4 hours or so. Check it often. Your house will smell terrific! You don't even need to turn it.