The NESCO Professional Food & Jerky Dehydrator has more power than most dehydrators -- 700 watts -- which means faster drying time. You will have results in hours, not days. The top mounted fan with patented Converga-Flow action pressurizes air downward through the outer ring and horizontally across each individual tray, converging at the center, for fast, even drying. No need to rotate trays. The adjustable thermostat allows you to dry different foods at proper temperatures (95-155 F), providing the flexibility to produce the best drying results. As your needs grow, the Professional Food & Jerky Dehydrator can be expanded up to 12 trays.For years my family and I have been making jerky, what started out as a fun family pastime is now more of a competition. Before dehydrators were common we had to do it the old fashion way in the oven with long drying times, these days with the new and improved dehydrators the drying time has been cut way down what took two days now can be done in a few hours.
When shopping for your first or a new dehydrator there are a few things to keep in mind. First is weather to go with a top down unit or a bottom based unit, I prefer the newer top down versions, mainly because I like my jerky a bit on the moister side which requires you leave more marinade on the meat which tends to drip down through the trays and gets on the drying coil on the bottom, while this will not effect the drying time or the unit that much it is allot harder to clean up.
The second consideration is the wattage of the dehydrator, the higher the wattage the faster the meat will dry but the catch comes in at the price of the unit, the higher the wattage the more you are going to shell out.
Supplies are pretty ease to get, I'm finding seasonings in local stores as well as buying online, after you get a few batches under your belt you can start to get creative with the seasonings and drying times, I'm not a real fan of super hard jerky so I cut the recommended drying time back about an hour. I recommend the Nesco line of dehydrators that is the brand I'm using now with a top down drying method.
If you are new to jerky making or just thinking about it I highly recommend it and don't forget get the whole family involved, that's where the real fun come in.
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Jerky is a way of life! start the fun
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