Dehydrating Meats

There is far more to dehydrating meat than making jerky.  Don’t get me wrong. Jerky is wonderful. It makes a great snack. But it’s highly seasoned, usually very salty, and … well… it makes a great snack. But what if you need meat for a meal? 

After all, one does not live by jerky alone.

I have found that very lean cooked meats also work and can be used in a variety of ‘normal’ recipes.

There Are Some Tricks To Dehydrating Meat To Consider:

1. Fats go rancid very quickly, so you always want to find the leanest cut of meat possible.
2. Remove every speck of visible fat before dehydrating.
3. Unless properly prepared, botulism can contaminate your meat. It is very dangerous.  Meat must be heated to a minimum of 140 degrees in order to reduce the risk of botulism I always precook my meat.
4. In order to assure even and thorough drying, meats must be thinly and evenly sliced or ground.
5. Sometimes dehydrated meat does not rehydrate well, or may take longer than you thought.  In that case, consider breaking or grinding it into smaller pieces.
6. It is better to over-dry than to under-dry.

Cooked Meats I Have Dehydrated That Work Well:

• Beef
• Chicken
• Ham
• pork
• Turkey
• Pork

Tips For Success:

1. Do not fry your meat.
2. Do not put breading on your meat
3. Roasted, baked, broiled, or boiled works best
4. Once your meat is dried, it becomes very hard and brittle. By then it will be difficult to cut or grind into smaller pieces.
5. Consider buzzing your meat in the food processor or grinding it before cooking. This assures even texture and drying. Especially good for use with soups, stews, gravies, etc.
6. Powder some of your dehydrated meat to make flavoring for soups and stews.
7. If you do not season it strongly, at a later time you can add whatever seasonings you choose to the rehydrating liquid.
8. Think in terms of using this meat in soups or stews. Diced bits work well in gravies and sauces.