How to Make Tender Jerky At Home
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vanhuffel You can throw the marinated meat in a zip loc or preferably a vacuum sealed bag and ‘knead’ it by hand for 10-20 minutes and then rest overnight, flipping on occasion. I will use my Weston racks over a covered sheet pan to cook the jerky to 160 in a 350 degree oven quickly then finish in the dehydrator set to 160.
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vanhuffel I go for look more than time duration but I’d say 5-7 hours depending on how thick it is. I’ve been making super thick cut ‘logs’ lately (1”x1”x8”-10”) and that seems to be 6-7 hours. Standard 1/4” thick cuts go in about 4-5 hours. I’ve found that by the time the dehydrator gets to full temp when fully loaded it’s done. The jerky will also start to ‘sweat’ slightly with dry patches in between.
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vanhuffel I go for look more than time duration but I’d say 5-7 hours depending on how thick it is. I’ve been making super thick cut ‘logs’ lately (1”x1”x8”-10”) and that seems to be 6-7 hours. Standard 1/4” thick cuts go in about 4-5 hours. I’ve found that by the time the dehydrator gets to full temp when fully loaded it’s done. The jerky will also start to ‘sweat’ slightly with dry patches in between.
Joe Hell Wow! I think I need to reevaluate my technique. I cut it 1/4" and let it go 12-15 hours until its quite hard. I want a softer jerky. I bought the Weston to send jerky to everyone for Christmas. Have about ten pounds done so far, but it’s pretty tough stuff. Been making it for 20 years in a Nesco, and that was the way I always did it… I need to make another 15-20 pounds and trying chicken for members of my family who don’t eat red meat. Using Excalibur Sweet Teriyaki. hoping I did it right…
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Joe Hell Wow! I think I need to reevaluate my technique. I cut it 1/4" and let it go 12-15 hours until its quite hard. I want a softer jerky. I bought the Weston to send jerky to everyone for Christmas. Have about ten pounds done so far, but it’s pretty tough stuff. Been making it for 20 years in a Nesco, and that was the way I always did it… I need to make another 15-20 pounds and trying chicken for members of my family who don’t eat red meat. Using Excalibur Sweet Teriyaki. hoping I did it right…
vanhuffel I’ve also been using vegetable glycerine at a rate of approx 3/4-1 C per 5 lbs of meat instead of water. It adds a slight sweetness but it makes for an excellent soft and chewy jerky. You can find it on Amazon for approx $30 per gallon. Going from oven to dehydrator was a game changer for sure!
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vanhuffel I’ve also been using vegetable glycerine at a rate of approx 3/4-1 C per 5 lbs of meat instead of water. It adds a slight sweetness but it makes for an excellent soft and chewy jerky. You can find it on Amazon for approx $30 per gallon. Going from oven to dehydrator was a game changer for sure!
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Joe Hell do you just stack the racks on top of one another with meat loaded? then load in oven and bring it up to 160?
vanhuffel I just go one at a time but you got me thinking. If you were to have some separation between the rack you could probably stack a few on top of each other. I have some wooden ‘shipping bungs’ from wine barrels that should work perfectly for the job. If I get around to it this week I will post pics!
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Joe Hell Thanks, that’s what I would have recommended!
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What type of cooking equipment are you using to control those temps?
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rainbowrpk we made this in our Pro Smoker 500T which can control humidity and go to almost any temp we want from 80-225 and hold it, it also has a fan in it. To control your humidity in a home smoker check out https://meatgistics.waltonsinc.com/topic/1077/cured-sausage-205-advanced-thermal-processing
You can also get some good information from https://meatgistics.waltonsinc.com/topic/1138/tender-jerky-using-home-equipment
Good luck!
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Would you be able to do the same thing with the PK 100?
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I’m not able to access the link
https://meatgistics.waltonsinc.com/topic/1077/cured-sausage-205-advanced-thermal-processingIt says access denied
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rainbowrpk https://meatgistics.waltonsinc.com/topic/1099/cured-sausage-205-advanced-thermal-processing Sorry, that was the test one that was for when I was working on it.
Yes, you could achieve similar results with a PK-100 but the PK-100 does not have a way to control the humidity, so you would have to test using some of the methods int he above video.
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vanhuffel I’ve also been using vegetable glycerine at a rate of approx 3/4-1 C per 5 lbs of meat instead of water. It adds a slight sweetness but it makes for an excellent soft and chewy jerky. You can find it on Amazon for approx $30 per gallon. Going from oven to dehydrator was a game changer for sure!
Joe Hell So I just found this. I’ve never heard of Vegetable Glycerin. I know, such a novice! So now that I’ve tracked it down and used it in my jerky today. I’m thinking “Instead of the water” I’m doing muscle meat jerky today. (@$^&&$$%^) OK, too late to turn back now
I will use your oven / dehydrator method. (Thanks) Always went straight to the Dehydrator for HOURS. Who knows maybe it will help with the tenderness issue, I’ve been having. Everyone raves about my jerky, but I’m just not satisfied as of yet :(.
I’ll post some pics as we go along.
Best to you all. -
So 6 lbs marinated overnight in cure, habanero powder, La Pato hot duck sauce, and vegetable glycerin.

Was a little concerned about the glycerin, but it had mostly absorbed with everything else into the meat.


Into the 350* oven for 1.5 hours meat at 165*

Now in the dehydrator for ???

Crossing my fingers for tenderness ! -
And we’re done!


This is better tasting and tender’r (?) Than any jerky I’v made before. Vegetable glycerin is definitely the way to go. There is no residue or aftertaste that I can detect. I also did the 10 minute knead. All new to me, but will surely be used going forward.
Big thanks to Joe Hell, and the rest of you for teaching me so much. -
And we’re done!


This is better tasting and tender’r (?) Than any jerky I’v made before. Vegetable glycerin is definitely the way to go. There is no residue or aftertaste that I can detect. I also did the 10 minute knead. All new to me, but will surely be used going forward.
Big thanks to Joe Hell, and the rest of you for teaching me so much.DougSmokes
Looks great. Nice job. -
Joe Hell So I just found this. I’ve never heard of Vegetable Glycerin. I know, such a novice! So now that I’ve tracked it down and used it in my jerky today. I’m thinking “Instead of the water” I’m doing muscle meat jerky today. (@$^&&$$%^) OK, too late to turn back now
I will use your oven / dehydrator method. (Thanks) Always went straight to the Dehydrator for HOURS. Who knows maybe it will help with the tenderness issue, I’ve been having. Everyone raves about my jerky, but I’m just not satisfied as of yet :(.
I’ll post some pics as we go along.
Best to you all. -
I saw that. 1x1x8, I might make some of that out of ground meats. I have some of the habanero lime, seasoning so might try making some of those next. Do you block, freeze and cut or do you have an extruder that forms them? I’ve got several guns, and now my new Waltons stuffer I’m dying to try out.
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I saw that. 1x1x8, I might make some of that out of ground meats. I have some of the habanero lime, seasoning so might try making some of those next. Do you block, freeze and cut or do you have an extruder that forms them? I’ve got several guns, and now my new Waltons stuffer I’m dying to try out.
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DougSmokes and Joe Hell
I can’t believe this but we did an entire video on this process and never released it. It is sitting out there and everything is ready I will release 3 jerky videos next week. I am making the video unlisted so anyone who wants can view it here but it won’t show up on our youtube page until next week or the week after.Here it is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfbiWvQWme0&feature=youtu.be
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