Can the jerky be put in the oven until it reaches 160 degrees, then use the smoker instead of the dehydrator?

What happened to the 4 stages, different temps starting low then finishing off the jerky till it reaches 160 degrees, and this wasn’t in a commercial smoker.

DeerSlayer , so I guess my first question is your comment, the door open, I’m guessing you mean the vent ontop of the smoker, not the actual door. Plus I think the vent goes to about 2/3rds closed not fully closed. Just checking, hope you find the problem.

Would using and what’s your recommendation on using food grade small Desiccant packets added into snack stick vacuum sealed bags to help maintain the dryness of the sticks over a longer time in the freezer?

pauliedmondsjr, thank you, I feel better already. Looks like I’d have to try real hard to mess up making the jerky as long as I get it to 165 degrees.

So I’m a bit confused on the correct temps when starting the thermal process. I completely understand the reasoning behind the one process
130 deg - 1 hour
145 deg - 2 hours
175 deg - till internal temp reaches 160 degrees.
Now here’s what confuses me;
Others say the thermal process should be;
1st step - Heat the jerky to 160 deg quickly (start heating at 325 degrees)
2nd step - lower temp immediately to 130 degrees once internal temp hits 160 deg, and then work the temp back up to 160 deg. It sounds like this process is supposed to kill any bacteria immediately, then the jerky can be completed starting from a lower temp upto 160 deg. To finish. Are both ok or is one better than the other? Thanks in Advance for your help.

I maybe missing something reading the chart, but for 1 lb of meat, it shows multiple 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon listings, but the weights are all different, .6 oz, .06 oz, can you tell me what I’m missing. Thank You.