This question has come up many times, and though there is no simple, or “one answer fits all” explanation, I do have some insight as to a rough number you can use as a calculation.
The rule of thumb is 50%.
Expect to lose at least 50% of the mass of your wet, or solid, beef when making beef jerky. If you start with 5 pounds, expect less than 2.5 pounds, start with 10 pounds, expect less than 5 pounds.
A tip from Boondock’s Jerky
In my many years of making beef jerky, I lose around 65% of starting weight. That’s what I use in all of my calculations to determine how much product that I end up with.
In the small, 6 tray Cosori dehydrator (that you can get from Amazon for around $150), I can fit around 4-5 pounds of solid beef, after it’s sliced and trimmed. I generally end up with around 2-2.25 pounds of final product. That’s not a huge amount, and if you are making it for friends, you will need a larger machine before you know it!
