Dehydrated meats

[codenamepaul]

Who dehydrates their own meats? I've done a ton of jerky from beef and venison, but that's about my limit. I am dehydrating some bacon right now to see how it comes out and how it reconstitutes. I'm looking for a good addition for my dried split peas besides the dried ham flavoring that I have.

 

[Adam_MA]

I dry a bunch of stuff. A couple of weeks ago, I did a bunch of hamburg. It came out great, and re-hydrates very nicely.

As for a general rule of dehydrating meat, the less fat on the meat, the better it will keep. For something like bacon, I would imagine if you wanted it to keep for any amount of time, you would have to cook it, remove all the fat, then rinse the cooked bacon before drying it out.

Animal fat turns rancid very quickly.

 

[codenamepaul]

I took it out of the dryer this AM,vacuum packed it in a ziploc bag with a date. We'll see how long it stays. It's about 8 pieces so I should have a good sample. Note: this is not store bought bacon, this is from Stearns Dressed Meats (best bacon going) It is thick sliced and truly smoked, not chemical smoke flavor like the store bought crap. I suspect it will last a while. I want something that can store for years.

 

[Adam_MA]

I highly doubt you will get more than a month or 2 unless you freeze it after drying. Like I said, animal fat will go rancid very quickly.

You did cook it first right?

 

[Andy in NH]

I have done a bit of beef jerky myself. I like to experiment with different recipes and try different flavors.

Like Adam, I have also dehydrated ground beef. I have heard it called “gravel” before.

A handful (each) of gravel, pasta, and sauce, covered with boiling water in a freezer bag produces a great trail meal in just a few minutes.

There are more recipes and dehydrating ideas here: Freezer Bag Cooking

 

[codenamepaul]

The bacon was properly smoked prior to. This is why store bought probably won't work. They "smoke" it with chemicals and do not actually smoke it.