Dehyrdrating ground beef

“what is the best way to do it? i tried dehyrdrating it in a dehydrator once but i didn't have much luck. i read online that it is better to dry it in the oven.

HPM i heard you had a good recipie.. any suggestions from you or anyone else?”

“Use lean ground meat (less than 10% fat).”

“Did you season it and cook it first?

It never seems to come out like fresh cooked. It is a little chewy.”

“Fry up the meat in a skillet, blot the fat out with paper towels, and then dehydrate. Worked fine for me and Creek Dancer. Rehydrated easily too.”

“Yes I did cook and season the meat first but the dehydrator basically burned it. My dehydrator doesn't have a tempature setting on it and that is why I was wondering if it would be better to dry it in the oven.”

“Use 93 or 97% lean ground beef. I always take care of HPM"s food. I brown it in a frying pan till real brown, not just cooked. I adda a little garlic and peeper. I chop it up really small as I cook it, so it's tiny bits, but not so small as to fall between the slats in the dehydrator. I let it dehydrate overnight. Be careful not to spill the dried product, it's really painful to step on. Yes, I use a dehydrator. THe darn thing's almost as old as I am but it still works great. I'm dehydrating a couple pounds of beef tonight, for HPM's Sierra trip next week.I'll also be doing rice and pasta, plus sauces and fruit leather.”

“sorry treebait, i should have given you the credit! opie tried some on the Ocala trip and said it was great.”

“Not a problem. I usually have kick him in the rear (figuratively) to get him moving. HE just told me this afternoon everything has to be ready and shipped on thursday, for the resupply halfway through their trip.”

“treebait - Got any older unmarried sisters like you?”

“Got any younger sisters! LOL! Hi kids. Peace.”

“Well SS, I 've got one older brother who's really lonely.”

“LOL @ treebait.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.....
but I favor females. ;)

Yo! Bear!”

“I married Treebait.”

“hpm - smart man!”

“Miss Opie,

I've successfully dehydrated lean ground beef several times using my American Harvest Snackmaster Express (it has an adjustable thermostat and air circulation fan). The ground beef is nowhere near as nice as PennsyHiker's London Broil, but it'll do. Ya gotta swab up the grease/fat now and then during the drying process. Throw it in the freezer until ready to eat. Works for me.”

“Treebait what kind of dehydrator do you have? Mine is a cheap one from Wal-Mart with no thermastat. How long do you usually leave it in the dehydrator?

Has anyone ever dried anything using the oven?”

“The one I usually use was top of the line 20 years ago. Literally. It has no adjustments, and I just leave the beef in overnight. Spaghetti sauce and soups take longer. Fruit leather varies. RIght now things may take longer due to high humidity levels around here. I'm also using my bro-in-laws' American harvest adjustable dehydrator from Wally world.

THe only thing I've dried in the oven was something I forgot to take out and didn't remember til a week later. That was dry.”

“Hey Miss Opie..I needed this information also.Mine ruined the last time.I was told I left too much fat in it.

How bout an ALABAMA SLAMMER girl..:~ )

YO BEAR!!”

“If you're concerned about fat spoilage, you can carefully rinse the cooked beef in hot water, pat it dry with paper towels, then dehydrate it. I also store it in the freezer before a trip.”

“I just went and looked for my dehydrator and I can't even find it. Its burried in a box somewhere with the rest of my stuff from college. I just found this recipe online. Does anyone know approx how long it will take to dry?

I dry largish quantities of hamburger before a trip. This is how I prepare it: Buy 1 lb lean or premium hamburger (find ground round or ground chuck on sale). Chop up 1 onion, 2-3 cloves of garlic. I like adding a bit of lemon grass (available fresh at many Asian grocers; dried is OK. 1 tbsp dried; maybe 1/4 cup fresh). Brown hamburger together with onion in a large frying pan; stir well to crumble things up. Cook until it's almost done (say, until there's almost no pink left). Tilt pan to collect liquid; drain it off (that'll get rid of a lot of the fat, which makes things go rancid). Add garlic & lemon grass; 1-2 tbsp flour, & soy sauce & black pepper to taste. Cook another minute or two. Remove from heat. Turn everything out onto a large baking sheet.

Pop baking sheet into a warm oven (120-140); dry until crunchy. Pat remaining grease off with a paper towel; put into a Ziploc bag. Keeps at least 2 weeks on the trail. Usage: Reconstitutes in warm water; cooks in about 5 minutes in boiling water. Makes a great addition to spaghetti sauces, soups, stews, etc.


(I wouldn't use all the ingredients that he used. No onions!)”

“What M Silver said. The fat is what makes it go rancid.”

“Actually, I cook off most of the liquid.”

“Miss opie...do i need to whip my beef out and get to work over here..is that what your trying to say..*dies laughing*”

“Nice Opie, just go way off topic and get us deleted here.

But, does this mean you just have a dried up beef situation?”

“that wasn't way off topic *camera pans to ground beef thawing in the sink* I had to go "whip" it outta the freezer, and it was after 6:30...so i was getting to work...tsk tsk..you pple and your innuendo's!







*camera pans over to bottle of lotion, tissues and new issue of juggies*”

“I'm making peach fruit leather for HPM right now. Fresh peaches, honey, lime juice and peel, and a little ginger and fruit fresh. This also makes an incredible smoothie.”

“I'm making beef jerky now. London broil sliced thin, in a marinade of a little soy, a lot of Worchestershire, Sourwood honey from the Smokies (very important and distinctive,) and a slam of garlic.”

“*pokes miss opie*..are you getting all this?”

“I'm also experimenting with steak. THere's a brand called Bridgford Steak bites that are good, so I'm doing my own version. A little sweet and sour sauce, moew worschestershire sauce, a little tenderizer, and some secret stuff. The best part of making all this jerky? It clears out the sauce and spice section of the fridge.”

“I found my dehydrator and I'll start dehydrating before i go to bed tonight. I'm going to add a little fresh basil, straight from my garden, to the meat to give it flavor.

OPIE maybe we just need to move in with treebait and HPM and let her prepare all of our food!”

“OPIE you didn't clean out the dehydrator last time you used it! Ewwww it stinks!”

“Time for bleach!”

“about 8 hours treebait?”

“Hey trekkngirl I could use an Alabama Slammer right now!”

“I feel loved.”

“Time depends on your dehydrator. Check after 6 hours, or just let it go for 8. SOme people stop when the jerky is dry but still leathery, others let it go until it's crunchy. I try for a little past leathery.”

“i was gonna put apples in mine tonight..but the rain brought some other stuff to be dried..thump em if you got em!!”

“Hell Treebait...you an expert in everything. Wildflowers and dehydrating. I'm impressed. Do you know any good websites for recipes? Let me recommend a great book "Lipsmackin Backpackin" by Tim and Christine Conners. It tells you everything. I'm just getting into trying a few things.”

“Already got it and several others!
I don't know about recipes online. Maybe that's something I should do.”

“do you mean jerky or ground beef treebait? i'm working on ground beef tonight.”

“Ground beef goes until it is DRY.”

“http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?Category=5&ID=104617&r=0

Why use dehydrated beef when you can carry the weight of the CANS? LOL...

Ya gotta carry the water to rehydrate the stuff so add that weight to the dehydrated vs. the cans...NOT!...lol”

“I just found a great use for the warming drawer I never use on my stove. Jerky! I ran out of dehydrator space.”