In following up to the jerky thread I thought I would share my info with others. Before I made this last batch of jerky I have only used a ronco 15 yr old heat from the bottom dehydrator. It worked, my dog kept watch.
Fast forward to today and the selections are endless. Here is what I found and what I bought and why.
There are e bay plastic ones from china, cheap, but not sure how they would stand up to shipping and overall quality.
Thee are a number of plastic round ones, ie ronco etc that heat from the bottom up and no fan. Having this kind before I didn't want another it is a pain to clean out the bottom.
I wanted a square one, like the excaliber but was kind of pricey for my needs, home use, only one eating jerky.
I was looking at a nice stainless 10 rack one with digital timer, but was too big and bulky and wife would have frowned.
I saw many options , some with dryer sheets some with ground beef guns some digital and some dial. I decided not to get a dial as some feedback was they got damaged in shipping, so was looking at a digital.
However I wanted to store it on a shelf , easy so wife would be happy, after 2-3 pounds of jerky it can sit for a while giving me time to eat that , I decided to get an American harvest -Nesco from amazon.
There are many models this one had 500w, had the dryer sheets for fruit roll ups, herbs and 5 packets of jerky mix and cure. and the jerkey gun all for $50+-.
Other models had same design, higher wattage but not the accessories, and if you add it up it was a bargain.
So made strawberries today, came out well , but it shrinks to way paper thin, and some banana, which was OK,
Next will be some ground beef jerky with the packets they included and wanted to see how it goes using the jerky gun.
I haven't found and Morton tender quick yet in the stores here, but ill keep looking.
MY whole thought was if I had some meat to dehydrate and it doesn't fit on the 5 trays I have, Ill just let the rest marinate another day and finish the next day. Keeping the purchase inexpensive and handling easy and storage easy.
Ill try to post pics of the ground beef jerky if it comes out ok, and if anyone has questions , ask or pm me, and why did I choose nesco? they have been around a long time, they have a decent wattage 500w,adjustable heat and they have a blower motor on the top(no mess). Lots of good reviews helps. I did set it at 135 degrees and put my digital thermometer in the bottom where the air is forced out and it read 131, so not bad.
The only negative is no on off switch or timer, but I don't need that.
Fast forward to today and the selections are endless. Here is what I found and what I bought and why.
There are e bay plastic ones from china, cheap, but not sure how they would stand up to shipping and overall quality.
Thee are a number of plastic round ones, ie ronco etc that heat from the bottom up and no fan. Having this kind before I didn't want another it is a pain to clean out the bottom.
I wanted a square one, like the excaliber but was kind of pricey for my needs, home use, only one eating jerky.
I was looking at a nice stainless 10 rack one with digital timer, but was too big and bulky and wife would have frowned.
I saw many options , some with dryer sheets some with ground beef guns some digital and some dial. I decided not to get a dial as some feedback was they got damaged in shipping, so was looking at a digital.
However I wanted to store it on a shelf , easy so wife would be happy, after 2-3 pounds of jerky it can sit for a while giving me time to eat that , I decided to get an American harvest -Nesco from amazon.
There are many models this one had 500w, had the dryer sheets for fruit roll ups, herbs and 5 packets of jerky mix and cure. and the jerkey gun all for $50+-.
Other models had same design, higher wattage but not the accessories, and if you add it up it was a bargain.
So made strawberries today, came out well , but it shrinks to way paper thin, and some banana, which was OK,
Next will be some ground beef jerky with the packets they included and wanted to see how it goes using the jerky gun.
I haven't found and Morton tender quick yet in the stores here, but ill keep looking.
MY whole thought was if I had some meat to dehydrate and it doesn't fit on the 5 trays I have, Ill just let the rest marinate another day and finish the next day. Keeping the purchase inexpensive and handling easy and storage easy.
Ill try to post pics of the ground beef jerky if it comes out ok, and if anyone has questions , ask or pm me, and why did I choose nesco? they have been around a long time, they have a decent wattage 500w,adjustable heat and they have a blower motor on the top(no mess). Lots of good reviews helps. I did set it at 135 degrees and put my digital thermometer in the bottom where the air is forced out and it read 131, so not bad.
The only negative is no on off switch or timer, but I don't need that.