Dehydrating

“Does any one now if you cook ground before you dehydrate or lay it thin then dehydrate?

I know when I make my jerky u use rawl meat. But I wanted some ground for this weekend.”

“Cook it first.”

“i haven't done it yet..but all i've read says BROWN, Drain, rinse, and dehydrate. and also read to have it crumbled small”

“Yes, and pat it dry with paper towels before putting it in the dehydrater.”

“I actually tried to dry sliced smoked sasage once. I never did get the trays degreased and it didn't work.”

“No, greasy stuff won't work in a dehydrater. Grease doesn't have any water in it so what happens is that after all the water is removed, all that's left is the grease. Yuk! That's why it recommends rinsing the meat, to remove the grease. If you could get a leaner sausage, like venison sausage, it might work.”

“Ain't this drying stuff fun. I actually MADE chili, dried it and it worked out great. When I called my mother to let her know what I did she said "Who are you and what are you doing in my son's body??"

I've got ziti and sauce in it now. Don't know if it will work but got nothing to lose.”

“Been there done that. Also made the same comments before.

Cook the meat first. You must drain off the fat. After cooking the meat, drain it and then put it on paper towels to suck up as much fat as possible.

Then add to your recipe and dehydrate.”

“If you do a simple web search, you'll find that there is A LOT of info out there on dehydrating meats, veggies, fruits, etc. They offer step-by-step instructions for preparation, drying & storage.

When I first got mine, I tried a little bit of everything, in retrospect that's prolly the best way to figure out what you do & don't like. I now use my dehydrator more for fruits & veggies, but started out exclusively making jerky, drying ground meat, etc.”

“ever notice that in th winter you get more pimple and feel slugish.


because no one drinks lots of water in the winter”

“Pepperoni does very well in the dehydrater.”

“Thanks nigal, I've been wondering how that would work out. I'm trying to figure out a way to cook trail pizza for Sauron.”

“lol... it ain't a smoker, prowler.. it's a dehydrater...

COOK first.”

“look at it this way.. when you REHYDRATE.. you are returning it to the state you want it.. which is cooked and ready to go.”

“"Thanks nigal"

No problem dude! LOL!

I used to eat it mixed up in mac and cheese. Forkin' yummy!”

“TD ya! i figured that much out !

I just thought f Jerky and man I make some killer Venison Jerky!!”

“Without reservation, I highly recommend (Sierra)Mel's Dehydrator Cookbook. It has everything you need to know about dehydrating and awesome recipes as well.

Regarding Pizza, I made pizza with my outback oven and it turned out better than I expected.”

“LOL @ Ice Tea! Am I the only one who noticed that humor or just the only one to remark on it?”

“Yes & No, skullcap, some of us saw the humor, just too civilized to acknowledge.”

“But he's so cute when he's making a funny. Awwwwwwwwww.”

“Hey Phil, I hope you're getting a commission from Mel. Chalk up another sale - my check is in the mail.”

“They have a product on the market made just for using burger to make jerky. Its called the Jerky Shooter. Looks like a small caulking gun. You just mix your seasonings into your ground meat and let marinade for about 4 hrs, stuff the Jerky Shooter with the mix and squeeze the trigger. It shoots it out in strips about 1 inch wide and about 1 eighth of an inch thick. The meat mixture is uncooked before dehydrating. Hope this helps!”

“go sit on a stump!

that was funny, tea!”

“I make this killer cassarole that has cream cheese and cottage cheese in it..among other things..Has anyone tried dehydrating things that contain dairy products??”

“I read in a book that cottage cheese DOES dry well. I'd use the low fat kind. I don't know about the cream cheese though. You can dry regular cheese pretty good though.”

“Thanks Nigal..I'll give it a try and let you know if it works.”

“Dehydrated yogurt rocks!”