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Haha, I bet you won't!! You'll try again and again, if you're like me!! I love to experiment with my dehydrator.
Unfortunately I usually don't use a recipe (not too smart I guess!) so my jerky comes out different almost every time I make it.
If you find a recipe that works, please share it!
We packed away our dehydrator years ago. Haven't seen it since. The boys have experimented with contraptions for smoking and making jerky. One is two BBQ pits together one with low fire and a 4" duct from it to another with the meat to be smoked or dried. A small computer fan is used. The last time they used dowel rods across the inside of a large cardboard box for drying jerky. Both methods worked. Sometimes weather forced them to finish off the meat in our oven.
I'd suggest having whatever meat you use sliced at the butcher's. Takes a lot of meat to make a little jerky. no wonder it's so pricey.
What dehydrators do you guys use, of those who use dehydrators?
I had a decent one years and years ago, but it's since passed on. I never used it for jerky, though, just produce, mostly. My husband got one before we were married, but it's not very good, and I think the fan's shot on it. It hasn't been used in forever, but we were thinking of replacing it.
make sure you cure the meat, e.g. using Mortons Tender Quick. otherwise you risk killing yourself/others
i know many people have been making jerky for years without cure, but there's a lot to know about what temperatures and times need to be attained for safety... it's not just about following a vague recipe
check out smoking meat forums for more info, particularly SQWIBS posts on jerky
Yum! We use a dehydrator ( the original Ron Popiel). For beef jerky ,grapes =raisins, apples, prunes. This unit has up to six shelves 12" in diameter . Not sure they are available but really great!
BEST jerky I have ever had was from a bar in Pierre, SD. OMG, that stuff was AWESOME!!!! It was beef, cut in squares if you will about 1/4 inch thick, and dry, but not so much like flat jerky. I don't drink beer, but would buy that stuff by the pound! It was AWESOME and I would kill for the recipe. (place is closed now)
Here's some of the batch the boys made a while back...
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) so my jerky comes out different almost every time I make it. 
