put it in the oven on the lowest setting and it will be fine ,just give it an extra hour or so on a cookie sheet till it is to your liking .it is hard to tell w/o seeing it

 

how thick are the pieces?

 

I make biltong, which is a S. African form of jerky. It's made by salting and seasoning 1/2" slices of raw meat and then just hanging it in a ventilated box with a low watt bulb underneath, which creates a cool convection current. I let it sit for about 3 days, and it's done. I think the dehydration and salt kill any bacteria, but don't quote me on it. I just take my chances. It's delicious, but I wouldn't try it with pork or poultry.

So, to answer your question, if it's salty and dehydrated, it's probably OK without being actually cooked. In the old days, they didn't have dehydrating ovens. They just seasoned and hung the meat, like I do.

 

They are tin strips. like a 1/8 th inch thick.

The oven setting will go all the way down to 140 deg on dehydrate we set it a 165 to be safe as the little booklet from cabelas said 160 min. Thanks. will try post a pic later when I get home

 

Before I got a dhydrator I used the oven, lowest setting was like 130, it took about 12-14 hours with the strips hanging from wood skewers.

 

The pink is probably from the cure. Also when I make jerky my temps are 125-135 preferably. if I use the oven,the door is ajar and the temp is set at 170 but the oven temp is around 150. Most of the time I use my elec smoker. Your just drying it not cooking. Unless your drying screens are non pourous there is no need to flip. Also by opening your losing all what little built up heat you have which results in a much longer drying time. When finished I like mine to bend not break, store in a paper bag and it will continue to dry. I have a bag I've been nibbling at for 3 weeks now sitting on the counter.

 

Come to think of it the dark color probably comes from the soy sauce,worcestershire sauce or terriyaki. As I just brined a corned loin and it looked just like corned beef, nice and pink. Which is from the cure.

 

if it is slight pink you are ok. its is beef and when you slow cook somthing with foraced hot air it will be pink. your fine.

 

When finished I like mine to bend not break, store in a paper bag and it will continue to dry. I have a bag I've been nibbling at for 3 weeks now sitting on the counter.

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I just finished a round too. I have really easy way. In the store find the ethnic isle and look for Veri-aki it is a bottle with blue and white label by a company called soy-ve (in the jewish foods section).
Slice meat twice the thickness of the finished size you like to chew on. Dump the bottle (12oz) in to deep bowl add a cup more of soy (for salt)add all you meat (like 4 lbs) be sure it is all covered with mixture. cover and refrige overnight. Lay out on sinlge layer rack over cookie sheet (I have the cabelas 3 tier jerky tray but you could just use a few racks and stack them up over the same cookie sheet). Turn on oven as low as it will go 170 or so. Let it go for 5 hours then come back and watch it every 15 min until it reaches you desired texture. I then cool it for 2 hours and vaccum seal what I haven't eaten by that point.
I stay away from all the recipes with added salt, MSG (accent). If you like it sweet add maple syrup (1/4 cup) or go hot with 2 tbsp red pepper flakes. This is as easy as it gets and tasted better than the store bought jerky. At least try it if you like making jerky.

 

To answer the question it is pink but with the salt in the mix almost no bacteria can survive if it soaked overnight. Worried, cook it for another hour.

 

Thanks all, I will now start to eat my Jerky I have with me in the truck. I was worried if it was bad I might have to take over a porta potti and then burn it down.