Canadian-Style Chicken Jerky
From:	Jane, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
Comments:	This jerky recipe will also please campers as these marinated dried chicken strips or slices will keep for a few days in a back pack. For this recipe, use really thin chicken white strips; do not salt already well-seasoned chicken strips before adding to the marinade. Never use any oil in a jerky marinade as the oil would prevent dehydration. Maceration time : 24 hours Drying time : 4 hours Cooling time : 2 hours
Servings:	1 pound [454 g] jerky
Ingredients	Preparation
1 pound [454 g] chicken white, cut into fine 1/8-inch [2-mm] thick strips or slices Marinade 1/2 cup [125 mL] tamarind or soy sauce 3 tablespoons [45 mL] maple syrup 1 tablespoon [15 mL] freshly grated ginger 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1/4 teaspoon [1 mL] pepper	Mix together all marinade ingredients into a bowl large enough to hold chicken pieces. Stir in chiken pieces until well-coated. Leave to marinate, refrigerated for 24 hours, stirring every 6 hours to well-coat the top each piece of chicken, that will brown during the process. Drain then arrange chicken strips or slices onto baking sheets already lined with parchment paper laying and smoothing each piece to get an even, fast dehydration. For the drying process, transfer baking sheets into the oven using both oven racks if needed. A convection oven gives excellent results as there is an excellent air circulation and the ventilator in the back of the oven gets rid of humidity efficiently. It therefore takes less time to dry the jerky and the pieces will dehydrate more evenly. It is best to dry the jerky at low heat, 55°C [130°F] to 65°C [150°F], making sure never to dry it higher than 65°C [150°F]. When dried too fast, there could be a crust on the surface of chicken pieces and the inside still would damp, therefore perishable. Dry jerky at a constant temperature so that the surface will remain tender and water evaporates efficiently. Place a wooden spoon in the opening of the oven door so that vapor can escape and consequently accelerate dehydation proceedings. Turn chicken pieces every hour until almost breaking-up under finger pressure and crisp, for 4 to 5 hours, although there is no precise time for dehydration. Remove from oven and leave jerky to cool, uncovered so there is no humidity forming, for 2 hours at room temperature. Store into a thightly closed jar await from heat, light and humidity.