Slim Jim – Help Needed

[RAD]

I followed the post by nepas Wanna_Make_Slim_Jims? , but after three hours I checked on them and they were way over done. Really dry and almost crumbly/brittle.

The jerky I made earlier came out great so I don’t think the dehydrator is the issue.

Variables:
1.   I did not put all the trays in the dehydrator, only the three I was using. When I did the jerky I had all of the trays in. Does that affect air flow/heat?
2.   I did not use collagen casings because I had round nozzle for a jerky gun. But that shouldn’t matter. Should it?

What did I do wrong, how can I do this again with success next time. 

Thanks for the great input about to come my way.



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[smokendevo]

Rad how hot does that dehydrator get? Mine only tops out at 150 F and three hours should not dry them out.
What percentage of fat to meat did you use?
Dehydrators are designed to dry things but not that fast at least I didn't think so 

[teesquare]

What was the fat content of the meat? And...I think that all of the trays should be in place - because that is part of how the airflow is engineered into these machines. It probably helps to even out the temps throughout the machine.

[muebe]

RAD you should always use it with the trays in place. This may have caused the thermostat to run hotter than it should have causing them to be overcooked.

And if the ground meat was too lean then they will end up dry and crumbly.

I usually do casing less beef sticks in my Bradley at 170F with my convection fan it becomes basically a dehydrator and they finish between 5 to 6 hours.

[RAD]

1. Unit gets to 150

2. 90/10 for 1.5# and even leaner for 1#

3. I think it was not using all of the racks like you guys are suggesting.

4. Almost all of the Jerky I made is gone. 
 I walked into the kitchen last night and my daughter and her BF had it all on the cutting board eating them like candy 

[nepas]

Rad

Sorry they didnt come out good for you. What dehydrator do you have?

When i dehydrate i stagger the items on the trays so the air flow goes all around. Like one tray lay the items one way then the next tray lay the items in a diff pattern.

These are the sticks i did while back.



If you want some smoke you may need to use some good quality LS like LEM or TSM brand

[DWard51]

I think it was a combination of the missing trays and not using casings.  The casings would tend to act like a skin and hold in moisture longer than without any casing.  Add in the extra air circulation and/or temp difference from not running with all the trays and they most likely dried faster than expected. You would probably need to adjust your times accordingly.

[RAD]

Rad

Sorry they didnt come out good for you. What dehydrator do you have?

When i dehydrate i stagger the items on the trays so the air flow goes all around. Like one tray lay the items one way then the next tray lay the items in a diff pattern.

These are the sticks i did while back.



If you want some smoke you may need to use some good quality LS like LEM or TSM brand

This is the one I am using. I'm new to it so I bet it was user error

http://www.letstalkbbq.com/index.php?topic=10869.0;topicseen

[TentHunteR]

2.   I did not use collagen casings because I had round nozzle for a jerky gun. But that shouldn’t matter. Should it?

Yes, that matters a great deal. The casings slow the drying process down quite a bit.

[RAD]

What a difference using casings make. I didn't have a sausage stuffer so I did the Marine thing and adapt and overcome.


Used high mountain Mix that comes with the cure and casings


Got as much of casing on my Jerky gun and use cable ties for the ends.


This was my first go at stuffing a casing and I went a little too fast


Second go and this looks much better


This is all of the beef cased-up


Got a pic today with about half of the sticks gone.

Now I need to try nepas post again. Thanks guys I learn so much here. I also need to get a sausage stuffer.

[spuds]

WTG RAD!

[muebe]

Look good!

[TentHunteR]

Nice recovery RAD!

[fishingbouchman]

Look at those they look great

[Las Vegan Cajun]

Great job on the second attempt.