Beef jerky is the husband’s most-loved snack option, and I would love homemade beef jerky. After our dehydrator went out of business just over a year ago, it became apparent that I couldn’t be able to make Jerky for a while.
As Christmas approached, I began researching the latest options for an air fryer to gift my husband. He already has one; however, he was looking for a second. Then I realized that an air Fryer also has a dehydrating function too. So I thought we might be able to kill two birds with one stone!
The Air Fryer has four functions: including air fry roast, reheat and dehydrate. The three first functions I thought could be quite effective, but I was sceptical of its capability to dehydrate.
This is an Air Fryer. How effective is it at dehydrating?
My partner and me decided to give it a go. The first step was to chop an avocado and then tried to dry the slices. It was surprising that it worked! The bananas tasted and looked exactly like the dried banana chips that you could buy at the grocery store.
After we got an extra round of steak from our farm share in the area, we decided to prepare some beef jerky with the Air fryer. If it didn’t turn out, we wouldn’t feel too upset since it is a good substitute for all three functions as we had hoped.
We’re also a big enthusiast of its other 3 features. It’s more durable than the second Air Fryer we have, which is why we burned a couple of things initially. Once we learned to properly use it the first time, it quickly became our top option to date.
Making Beef Jerky In An Air Fryer
My husband is constantly coming up with fresh recipes. When I cook my meals from scratch and bake often, but he also finds the same joy just like I do when it is about cooking. He created this recipe, and it’s delicious!
You are able to make any beef jerky you enjoy. It is essential to follow steps 3-4, and five. The cutting and placement of the steak are essential, along with understanding the speed at which the Air Fryer will be dehydrating.
Ingredients:
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ½ cup Worcestershire sauce
- ⅓ cup hot sauce
- 1 TSP onion powder
- 1 TSP garlic powder
- ½ TSP black pepper
- ½ TSP oregano
- ½ TSP cumin
- 1 to 2 pounds round steak (or your preferred beef cut)
Instructions:
- Combine the Ingredients in a Bowl
The first thing to do is mix all the ingredients in an enormous bowl. The bowl should have enough space to accommodate all the marinade ingredients and the meat.
You can alter the flavour of this marinade by altering its hot sauce. If you’re not a lover of spice, you can go for a simple hot sauce that you can buy. My husband prefers things to be as spicy as possible, which is why I made him a hot sauce that I made myself.
We also made use of regular soy sauce; however, if you are using low-sodium soy sauce, then you may need to add a pinch of salt. Salt is required to increase the flavour of the Beef Jerky.
- Cut The Meat Into Chunks
After that, you need to chop the meat into pieces. In contrast to a normal dehydrator, it’s the Ninja Air Fryer. It functions as one tray, which means you cannot make long strips. It is better to utilize small 1 to 2-inch pieces of meat.
Check that the meat chunks aren’t overly heavy. There is no need to be able to create perfect chunks. Pay attention to the dimensions. The ones that are too large require cutting smaller.
- Let The Meat Marinate
The first time my husband cooked Jerky was when he allowed the meat marinate for six hours. It was very tasty. Our next batch we put it in the fridge for 12 hours overnight, and it was superior. The flavour was very evident and strong.
Don’t be shocked when you take the meat that has been marinated out of the fridge in the morning, and the marinade has nearly gone. It will absorb up all the yummy flavours! Let it sit for in the amount you like, but the longer it sits in the marinade, the more flavorful.
- Lay On The Ninja Air Fryer Tray
Once the meat has marinated and is ready to be placed on the tray. Your meat onto the platter. It’s not a huge amount, So I was concerned about how close I could get the pieces together. I decided to go against my initial thoughts and put the chunks closer than I would have done in the normal dehydrator.
My intuition was wrong at least once. The air circulation that is strong in the Ninja Air Fryer can get between the meat in a perfect way. Don’t be afraid to place them further than you believe is an appropriate choice.
- It’s Time To Dehydrate
The main difference you’ll see between dehydrating using the Air Fryer, as well as a dehydrator, is that Ninja Air Fryer seems to be quicker.
The temperature was set at 160 ℉ for 8 hours, but we could have been able to do it for 7 or 6 hours, instead. At the halfway point, I would suggest flipping the meat pieces and shifting them around on the tray to ensure that all the ingredients are dehydrated as evenly as they can be.
That’s it! I must say that we’re quite impressed with the ability to dehydrate in the Air Fryer. The only drawback is that you need to dehydrate in smaller quantities. It’s impossible to create large quantities of Jerky all at once. But, because it dehydrates faster than other dehydrators I’ve worked with and it’s a lot more efficient, it compensates for its tiny size.
