In The Kitchen : Tofu Jerky

On the weekend, I had a sudden impulse to make tofu jerky! I've made meat jerky before; tofu is quite a bit cheaper! I chose Portuguese Chicken flavour for the marinade:

I cut the tofu up into slices. I know from my experience with drying meat and vegetables that they shrink by up to half, so I kept the slices quite large:

I poured a bit of the marinade into a plastic container, but it was so thick it wouldn't come out! So I added some vinegar to thin it out a bit:

I alternated layers of tofu and marinade, making sure the tofu was thoroughly covered:

It's best to be generous with the marinade, as it will settle and you don't want any of your tofu to be exposed. I went ahead and put the whole bottle in, to make sure there weren't any gaps around the edges:

I put the container in the fridge overnight. The next day, I fished the tofu pieces out, wiped them off and laid them on the dehydrator. Even though it's a bit messy, I think it's best to use your fingers, as you don't want the tofu to break up:

I lined the base of the dehydrator with foil to catch any drips (I learned this the hard way after making beef jerky!) I laid out the tofu slices with space in between so they air nicely:

I left them in the dehydrator for about 6 hours, turning them half-way through (that's why they have marks on them). It's important to dry them enough so that they're chewy, but not so long that they go completely dry and hard. This is how they looked at the end:

If it was meat, I would have thrown the marinade away. But as tofu is non-meat, it's safe to save and use for something else (we used it as a sauce for sausages and mash).
The tofu jerky came out quite well. Yum! I found it an interesting snack for when I need some protein - different to the nuts I normally eat, and definitely more convenient compared to tofu as it comes normally.