Dehydrator and jerky brand question

[HarboritE]

I acquired a cabelas 10 tray digital dehydrator and had a couple questions for the pros. It also came with a jerky gun , 15 lbs worth of high mountain original jerky seasoning, and 18 lbs of nesco original jerky seasonings. I'll be using elk burger that's mixed roughly with 5-10% pork suet. My question is have any of you used this dehydrator ? It's definitely an upgrade from my old one, and I always just used thin sliced steaks and marinade before. I've heard and read good things about the high mountain seasonings but never heard of the nesco. I'm familiar with temps and whatnot just curious if anyone had any tips regarding this method and setup. I have enough seasoning to do 33# of jerky right now and I'm looking forward to this project.

[Jason]

I have not used that particular dehydrator. But I do use the Nesco seasonings and really like the andouille and cracked pepper and garlic.

[Grizman]

Have used a ton of Nesco Orginal.  Very good and a favorite of all I share with.  Cracked Pepper is also very good but can be made using Orginal and lightly peppering the jerky strips before drying.
Couple of hints:  Keep your fat level low.  Tends to just come to the surface and you than need to wipe it off during drying cycle.  Don't over dry.  When your strips get to a nice "leathery" state, pull and let cool on paper towels.  Mine usaually take about 5-6 hours with six trays.  You will make lots of friends as people really like the easy to chew texture and great flavor.  Have fun!

[LongRange300RUM]

I'd recommend not adding any fat. The leaner the better for jerkey in my opinion. Also make sure you mix the seasonings and cure correctly for ground meat jerkey it varies from whole meat jerkey. I made the mistake of reading the box saying it made 10 pounds ground meat jerkey. So I just mixed 10 pounds meat with the whole seasoning and cure packets included. Was way too salty. Turns out the ground meat jerkey took more seasoning per pound but the same amount of cure per pound as whole meat jerkey. So I wasn't supposed to use the whole cure packet. Also takes me about 5-6 hrs with a full dehydrator.

[HarboritE]

Thank you for the replies. We mixed our burger really lean so I hope the little but of fat won't be a problem. And thanks for the heads up on the whole meat to burger meat thing, I might a screwed up a bunch of meat ! Someone told me to add a small amount of water to the batch before , not sure why ? Anyone do this ?

[spin05]

I have that dyadrator it works great. I also use high mountain seasonings. But i use whole muscle. Never tried the burger kind

[Jason]

Thank you for the replies. We mixed our burger really lean so I hope the little but of fat won't be a problem. And thanks for the heads up on the whole meat to burger meat thing, I might a screwed up a bunch of meat ! Someone told me to add a small amount of water to the batch before , not sure why ? Anyone do this ?

I also add a little water as it helps the spice and cure packets saturate into the meat better.

[WALLEYEGUY]

love burger jerky done in the dehydrator, I love the high mountain taste, but gives me wicked heart burn (most do in my case). So hear is my recipe that I start with and go from there.  I never had a jerky gun so drying time is way longer.

[HarboritE]

You guys rock . I just pulled out 4 lbs for a test run on Sunday

[rasbo]

hi mountain hickory and then some montreal steak seasoning added to that has a great taste..I put the hi mountain on then let it cure,when its ready I sprinkle the montreal on it and pat in in the meat and dry...I made tons of the burger jerky when I worked at a packing plant at age 15 in Idaho,100 lb batches,it was pretty good,I mixed it pretty  wet so it would scream out of the pressure tank and flow well out of the hose...I still like the meat strips over the burger

[HarboritE]

Did the test run on Saturday and it turned out awesome. I just used the nesco original seasoning, added a splash of water, and mixed it really well. My jerky gun makes strips about 3/16" x 2" and I cut them off at about 6". My dehydrator should be able to make about 8# at a time, and with 3 trays full it took just over 4 hrs at 155. I'm also a fan of the whole meat jerky and will be making some soon, but the ground meat makes it so easy to eat and so aesthetically pleasing it'll make great Christmas presents and contribution to holiday shindigs. I'm gonna start adding a few different seasonings to make it sweet/spicy/different so that'll be fun. Thanks everyone for the tips and opinions!