1st-stainless steel
2-round plastic with a powerful fan on top
3-square plastic with no fan.
thats my order of choice,owned 2 and 3,2 is a good compromise for price vrs capability.My home unit is a large wooden 20 tray from the 1970's,its one low temp,2 fans,and takes 3 days to make a frekin' ton of jerky.
I make my own marinades,its almost impossible to make a crummy marinade,cant imagine paying 37 dollars for a gallon,YIKES!!!! Just look em up,mine are mostly soy sauce based,some Worcestershire base liquid,and some teriyaki,I heve never made a batch that wasnt yummy to the max.Salty base,brown sugar,HONEY,thyme,oregano,peppers,WHISKEY is great flavoring,mix and match,they are always good in my experience.
I dont use cure,i use salty and sweet marinades and figure Im safe,YOU may not want to do that,just what Ive always done without an issue,and millions agree.Your choice.
I have 12 lbs in refer right now Im going to trade for an old buck knife,GREAT trade item.Funny folks always ask for it,have no idea how much time and expense to make it.
When I process round steak or London Broil I get 2/3rds jerky,1/3rd trim.That trim,all of it, is run thru meat grinder,makes a fine burger!