It's not really complicated or fancy, but it works. It DOES work best in the dead of winter on a beastly cold and dry day though becase you are leaving your oven door open... keep that in mind.
Gas ovens work best. Electric just doesn't dry as well or circulate the air as well. They work, but they require a bit more tweaking.
Here is the Jerky Block I spoke of:
Simple enough to make and wildly handy.
I make my Jerky Marianade mostly by Guess and by Golly to a highly acidic taste, but DO include sodium nitrate to aid in the cure process. Again, I do NOT use water in my marianade. I use only Booze, Vinegars and acidic/capsacianic Juices. Tap Water is crawling with bugs & chemicals I don't want on my meat. (yes, capsacian is an alkaloid and counters some of the acidity, but I think it helps ballance the blend...)
Here is my Meat soaking in Jerky Brew. It has been like this at 38deg & mixed about once a day for the last week.
Before placing the meat strips on the drying rack(s) you need to "milk" the excess Jerky Brew off the strips - otherwise you will be burning juice & humidifying the oven as much as drying meat. Layered on a Drying Rack:
I sprinkle Ground Pepper on both sides of each strip.
Ready for the Oven:
Crack the door open:
Try to keep the ambient in the oven around 150-160deg. DO NOT TRUST THE OVEN TEMP GUAGE/SENSOR. Get a thermometer you can put inside and see through the cracked open door.
After 2hrs I pull the racks out and turn all the meat:
I find it takes anywhere from 4 to 6 hours to sufficiently dry the jerky.
More later when the Jerky is done...
