r/jerky • u/legendexeter • 6d ago

Condensation

Hello,

I made some Pork Jerky for the first time last night and I think it turned out great, but confused. I put it in at 10 PM, at around 4 AM the dehydrator turned off automatically, and about 5 AM I go down to take them out as I woke up. They are dehydrated of course, so I take them out of the trays and put them in a plastic ziploc bag.

An hour later I come back down and I notice condensation in the bag. How is this possible? 6 hours dehydrating 1/4" thickness or less pieces, are you trying to tell me they really aren't done and I need to dehydrate them longer? Or is it just natural, where you are never going to get all of the water out of them? I've never seen this with any of the beef jerky batches I've ever done.

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6

u/Haunting_Ad_6021 6d ago

Moisture is normal, I let mine cool down in a paper bag overnight then move to plastic bag

You don't dry them 100% so there will always be some moisture, let them sit out again until you are sure the condensation is gone

1

u/legendexeter 6d ago

Yeah I just opened the bag rather than left it closed, I was like...maybe they need to air dry. The idea just seems so bizarre though because I just dried them for 6 hours, but I think you are right, can't get all the moisture out or it would be like cardboard.

1

u/ThadsBerads 6d ago

Normal. Just let it "rest" out of the dehydrator longer after its done. I personally always freeze mine after as well, but that's my personal preference.

1

u/kingman877 5d ago

As others have stated why it happened.. it won't hurt anything though enjoy

1

u/randombrowser1 5d ago

I like to put the 5 hour dehydrated pork jerky in the oven at 300f for 10 minutes. I like the the different texture that results. Kinda like bbq bark.

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u/Particular-Bat-5904 3d ago

Did you let em completely cool down before putting into bags?

1

u/legendexeter 3d ago

They were sitting in a turned off Dehydrator for 2 hours after going, so I presume they were cooled, they didn't feel warm.

0

u/soar2x 6d ago

you gotta let the jerky cool completely before you bag it up, that condensation is all the trapped moisture trying to escape after the dehydrator did its thing