Dehydraing Ground Beef

* When dehydrating meat, it's VERY important to have a temperature control on your dehydrator to avoid bacteria growth. *

* Dehydrated foods are actually considered short-term storage, especially when kept at room temperature. *Their shelf life at room temperature can be a few weeks, and up to 12 months depending on storage conditions and type of food. *Longer if vacuum-sealed, and even longer yet if vacuum-sealed and kept in a freezer. *

* Store foods in small, user-friendly, amounts. *Every time you open a bag/jar, moisture is absorbed into the dried food which can cause mold to grow. *Check dehydrated foods often for mold and never use it if there is mold on it.

Karen Notes: *I'd suggest buying very lean cuts of beef and grinding your own to control the fat content and the size of the grind. *I'd also suggest storing the dehydrated meat in the refrigerator for short-term storage, and in the freezer for long-term storage. *The fat quickly goes rancid when kept at room temperature, especially if it's not vacuum-sealed. *No amount of preparation will remove all the fat. *This also goes for jerky made at home.

Personally, I'd avoid ground turkey (and do roast turkey cubes instead). *Ground turkey includes some of the skin from the bird. *There is more bacteria on the skin than you ever find in muscle meat. *(You don't want to know the numbers - it will gross you out....) *I wouldn't want to chance bacteria from commercial ground turkey - even though it's cooked first before you dehydrate it. *If you freshly ground your turkey and quickly prepared it WITHOUT any skin, that would be better than commercial ground turkey.

1 pound lean ground beef

Cook the beef until no traces of pink remain and it's well heated. *Drain all the fat, then rinse under hot water to remove as much fat as possible. *You can go one step more and place the cooked burger between several layers of paper towels and press down with a rolling pin to eleminate any remaining fat.

It's the fat at room temperature that goes rancid.

At this point you can also add dried herbs or spices if you'd like.

Line your trays with fruit leather sheets and then top these with the mesh sheets and place the burger on top in a single layer.

Blot the meat with a paper towel at least twice during drying. *Dry the cooked beef at 145°F for about 6-8 hours, or until it is HARD.

One pound beef weighs about 4 ounces dried.
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You can also dehydrate 1/2-inch cubes of cooked meat (beef, ham, bison, chicken, turkey, fish etc...) *It's a good use for leftover roast beef/turkey, etc. *A few more uses than jerkey. *Check your local library for books on the subject, including my favorite, Making & Using Dried Foods - by Phyllis Hobson.