165 sounds high. it's been a few years since I've made any, but I recall 140. you don't want it cooking, just drying. I'll look around and see if I can find my recipe to post. I always use venison as I have a fairly constant supply.This was my first time. I wanted a snack for mountaineering so salty and carbs are good.
For 1 kg of eye round I started with this recipe.
1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon unseasoned meat tenderizer (see note)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon garlic powder
My brown sugar was clumped up so I used 1/2 cup of black strap molasses. That worked out well.
The eye round from Costco is a nice lean chunk of meat at a reasonable price. It's easy to see the grain and cut against it. Even though I did not use meat tenderizer it's easy to bite from it.
I went with the dehydrator instructions to cook it for 6 hours at 165f. That was a bit too long. Next time I will try to see how it is at 5hrs. Overall I'm really happy with how it came out.
Not sure about the others but mine does not seem to last long. The bag I showed is what I got from a KG of meat. Material ~15$. Time - ~1 1/2 hrs. Definitely not in it to make money.How do we arrange for samples?... you know... for comparison...