Over dehydrating the meat is not going to make your meat last longer. Once it’s dehydrated, it’s ready for packaging. You can reconstitute the meat in water for meals for added protein and nutrient content. They say that jerky’s shelf life is about 18 months, but I have had some stored for up to 2 years. As long as the food is in an environment where it isn’t subjected to natural elements (heat, moisture, etc), then it’s shelf life will be extended.

The longevity of meat is contingent on a few things:

1. How lean the meat is. The leaner the meat, the longer it will last. This is because the fatty part of the meat is what leads to it going rancid after time. Consequently, if the meat used to make the jerky is low in fat to start, the resulting shelf life should be fairly high.
2. Your preserving method (cure, salt, smoke)
3. Packaging method. To ensure your jerky last for years, ensure that you packaging method is clean (new bags, latex gloves, vacuum packaged).

Hope this helps,

Tess

You certainly can! I would defrost them before you throw them into the dehydrator to speed the process up.

I have dehydrated foods and stored them in canning jars. I’ve stored them for about 1.5 years and they are still good.

What I’ve read is that if the dehydrated food is vacuum sealed with an oxygen absorber, you can keep it for years & years.

I am very hesitant to use dehydrated in a long-term plan because the info seems so varied.

I believe you are referring to freeze dried foods which have a life expectancy of 10-20 years.  Typically, depending on the correct storage methods and the type of food your are drying, dehydrated foods last anywhere from 9 months to 3 years.  

In the Dehydrator Bible, the author says you can maximze storage life by properly drying the food and storing it under the best possible conditions.  By comparing the quality of a dried food with the record you kept about its preparation and storage, you may be able to determine an appropriate expectation for its shelf life.

Hope this helps.

Tess