EasyCook jerky dehydrator hack

Rough Yield calculations

Batch 1

• Meat 650gr + Marinade 38gr = 688grams
• Yield 260 grams
• Ratio 1:0.4

I am still working on code. Making it more efficient and adding new features.  New features include the use of 2 stage temperature profiles (I want to make Black Garlic that calls for 10 hours at ~50deg then 60 days at ~ 70 deg).  That is the user can set an initial set point with the associated duration and a second set point and associated duration.  Also a bunch of preconfigured setpoint buttons.  Initially these will be hard coded with future plans to make them user defined.

The changes are significant   so i thought I would roll out a new project rather than updating this one.

But in the mean time i thought I would add some photos of the final product i.e The jerky and my recipe below.

My last batch I used the following ingredients. (It changes from batch to batch but thought this would be a good starting point). Remember folks "less is more"

722 grams of rump. (I bought bulk rump at $10AUD/kg then process/separate into jerky strips, steaks and off-cuts.  The off-cuts make for awesome mince or casseroles)

3 Table Spoons Soy Sauce

1/2 Tea Spoon Safari Legendary Seasoning (https://www.biltongspice.com.au/products/CROWN-NATIONAL-SAFARI-BILTONG-SPICE%2C-1-Kg.html)

1/2 Tea Spoon coarse ground pepper

2 tea Spoons Chillie flakes (home mode so they are mild but salty)

1/4 Tea Spoon of Garlic Salt (home made so it is more garlic than salt)

Yielded 350 grams after 6 hours.  Suspect it needed a bit longer to dry but it gets eaten so fast in my house I didnt bother to dry further.  I think I cut these strips a bit thicker than normal as they came off a big chunk of rump.

I often use Heart Smart (from woolies) beef as it has minimal fat but costs $18AUD/kg. It is probably worth it.

System is running well with the third batch dehydrating.

An issue has been identified with the location of the max6675.  As it is located within the head of the oven it is exposed to temperature increases as the main oven is heated.

I believe that the cold junction compensation is unable to deal with these changes and begins to return readings that are less than the actual temperature.

Ideally the max6675 needs to be thermally isolated from the thermocouple.

Initially the error is about 20deg an over time settles down to about an 8 deg error.

Due to the high temperatures, the only real option is a thermocouple but suffers from the issue above.  All other cheap temperature sensors are limited to about a max of 150 deg C, understandable as they are often semiconductor based.

To deal with this issue I added a Cal slider so I can add the required offset.  Which is usually set to 8.