I agree and disagree. Sometimes in the oven, jerky will get brittle. In a
drier, you can control whether you want brittle or chewy.
Homemade jerky in a dehydrator doees not need refridgeration. If kept free
of exposure to moisture, it will keep covered(preferable in a sealed bag)
for several months.



Yikes.. I gotta disagree with you here. Botulism spores are anaerobic
and thrive in sealed bags of meat. They are also airborn so everytime
you open your bag of jerky your exposing is to a possible infection. The
only way to stop this type of spoilage, aside from chemical
preservatives, is to refridgerate, salt the meat to a point it's no
longer edible or dry it until it's so brittle you can't eat it. I
prefer the fridge.

A bit of useless triva for you... the latin word botulus means "sausage".

(info from Microbiology Principles and Explorations, Jacquilyn Black)

Laura B.