• DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social
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      7 hours ago

      Jerky is seriously price inflated with a surprisingly large amount of defenders who babble about the cost of meat without apparently having ever made some themselves.

      Or maybe they’re just bad at math?

      Buy $20 of beef, rub it with some salt and spices and stick it in a dehydrator, it’s not rocket science, it’s literally just how humans have preserved meat for our entire history (minus the dehydrator convenience)

        • Zedd_Prophecy@lemmy.world
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          44 minutes ago

          Not much at all. I’ve made salmon, venison, and beef jerky - at most the meat contracts maybe 18 to 20 percent in size. If you have a multi level dehydrator and do it in bulk you can make it very cheap. Bonus is you can season it any way you like. I love teriyaki salmon and super spicy beef with mustard powder and onion.

  • Venus_Ziegenfalle@feddit.org
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    7 hours ago

    These have always been ridiculously expensive where I live. I used to import jerky from South Africa. Theirs is cheaper (even after shipping) and honestly better. Biltong they call it.

    • tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip
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      8 hours ago

      It’s pretty easy to make biltong on your own too. I’ve done it with strips of meat hanging in a cardboard box with a fan pointed at it

          • toynbee@lemmy.world
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            2 hours ago

            I’ll be honest; I was engaging in innuendo regarding the original comment. However, I do appreciate the sincere answer. Does it work with other brands? Outside of my closet, even?

  • Ledericas@lemm.ee
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    9 hours ago

    shrinkflation and cheapflation is just as bad. people can tell if you use cheaper ingredients and try to be sneaky and keep the same labels, and pictures.

  • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 🇮 @pawb.social
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    13 hours ago

    I bought a dehydrator to make my own, only to find out buying the meat to dehydrate cost exactly the same as an equal amount of already made jerky.

    If a 16oz bag of Jack Link’s was actually $16 here, I’d start using the dehydrator again since the fresh, pre-sliced meat I’d use is only $8/lb.

  • witchybitchy@lemm.ee
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    14 hours ago

    it’s because they’re sold by weight and since all the water is gone, the jerky pieces weigh so little. to then make a 16oz bag, you gotta add a lot of jerky. backtracking to make that happen means you need way more meat, which means way more money to buy that meat.

    I agree though that the prices are ridiculous. I just think it helps to know why, too.

  • tflyghtz@lemm.ee
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    16 hours ago

    Slice and marinate beef and put it in the oven. 30 mins work for a pound of jerky

      • HeyJoe@lemmy.world
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        13 hours ago

        They probably mean 30 min worth of prep. The oven part is hands off and whatever to them.

      • Jesus@lemmy.world
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        15 hours ago

        Yeah, most of the oven recipes I’m familiar with are several hours at fairly low heat. You’re trying to dehydrate the meat, not bake it.

    • SupraMario@lemmy.world
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      15 hours ago

      Anyone reading this, please don’t do this if you want jerky…just buy a dehydrator, they’re cheap.

      Then use eye of round or London broil cuts…most deli places will even cut them thin for you.

      • Jesus@lemmy.world
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        14 hours ago

        I mean, you can do it, but if you have steak that feels like jerky after 30 min in the over, you just likely just created overcooked steak.

        Oven jerky takes many hours and you should occasionally open and remove the escaping moisture.

        • SupraMario@lemmy.world
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          13 hours ago

          The issue with making jerky in the oven is the temps. 99% of the ovens can’t get below 200, where most dehydrators do 160 easily. But you are correct, you can do it in the oven, it’s just not recommended and it uses so much more energy.

      • Hideakikarate@sh.itjust.works
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        14 hours ago

        I want to buy a little tabletop meat slicer for the very reason. Wife bought a dehydrator because she wanted fruit leather (although I almost never get “leather”, instead becoming “chips”). I want homemade jerky.

        • SupraMario@lemmy.world
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          13 hours ago

          Hit up used restaurant equipment stores or check on used marketplace. The good ones new are stupid expensive, but used they’re reasonably priced.

    • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 🇮 @pawb.social
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      13 hours ago

      30 minutes works for a pound of jerky

      I have to assume you’re using a high temp in which case that’s not jerky. You’re just cooking the meat. 🤦‍♂️

      If you want to actually dehydrate it and make jerky, you would use the lowest temp your oven can go (typically 150-165F) and let it go for 6-8 hours. Longer if you’re using a wet marinade and not just salt or a dry rub.

      • tflyghtz@lemm.ee
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        8 hours ago

        Obviously, you dehydrate it, maybe 30 degrees. I’m not making mini steaks, and i didnt write a receipe. 🤦🏼 Thats why i said 30 minutes of work

    • ViperActual@sh.itjust.works
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      14 hours ago

      I’ve never done it but I do know you can technically make it by slicing up nice lean cuts of steak. Marinading them so they soak up the flavor. Then dangling them on the rack in the oven on the lowest heat setting with the door cracked open for a few hours. A friend of mine did this and they came out amazing with deer jerky.