Beef Sticks

A couple of weeks ago I made beef sticks out of hamburger.  I have this handy dandy little gizmo that came with the first dehydrator I bought.  You stuff it full of seasoned hamburger, squeeze the trigger and out pops beef sticks.

David had told me that his kids really like beef sticks, so I tried a 3 lb. chub of hamburger in my dehydrator.  A few days after David picked up the package and took it home, I asked whether the kids liked the homemade beef sticks.  He allowed as they must, because the package was nearly empty.

So Wednesday of this week he dropped off 6 lbs of hamburger.  Last evening I mixed the spices in and refrigerated it overnite.  Hamburger goes through the gizmo better if it is cold, and the spices need time to meld with the meat.

This morning I made beef sticks.  Six lbs of hamburger will fill nearly seven dehydrator trays.  The old towels under the dehydrator are to catch any grease that seeps out of the bottom.  I learned about doing that with the first batch I made.

After about 12 hours, I had beef sticks.

I love my gadgets.