Black jerky

[Mahon]

I used my new Bradley smoker for the first time and was looking so forward to chomping down on some tasty jerky.  I used eye of round cut to 1/4 " slices ,oak whiskey briquettes and a Dr Pepper/jalapenos marinade.  I checked it after approx 3 hrs of smoking at 180 degrees and decided to give it one more hour. Well after the additional hour the jerky was blackened and seemed burnt although I don't know how that is possible at such a low temperature. I decided to turf the whole thing and need some advice for my next adventure in smoking .   Any advice would be mucho appreciated .......  Newby

[Toker]

Did you put cure #1 into your marinade? Also, does your marinade content a lot of sugar? And perso, i never go above 160-165f ( don’t know if it’s change anything) .


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[Habanero Smoker]

Hi Mahon;

Welcome to the forum? I'm not sure what turf means, but it sounds like you threw it out.

You are not providing much information; such as did you every make this batch of jerky in the past? Did you taste it? Was the texture of the jerky bendable, or more on the brittle side? Whatelse was used in the marinade - such as did you have soy sauce in the marinade?

Most jerkys look black or close to it, depending on what is in the marinade. If you never made this batch of jerky in the past, the dark color may come from the Dr. Pepper. Though I've never used Dr. Pepper in my marinade, when I use soy sauce, my jerky comes out a deep mahogany, which can often look black.

[Mahon]

THanks for the responses. First off the only sugar that I used was in the Dr Pepper itself and I didn't use cure #1.  I have used this marinade in the past but in my old "Little Chief".  I tasted parts of the jerky that didn't seem as black and it tasted fine , I was just concerned about eating really blackened meat is why I tossed the rest (maybe it was a mistake and that was the way it was supposed to turn out).  The jerky was fairly brittle and was almost breakable so maybe overcooked too.  Anyways , although I really like the marinade maybe next time I will try a different one to see how it turns out .

[TwistedSanity]

Was your cook time and temp the same as you would use in the little chief?

If not then I would suggest it was probably cooked more than you were use to resulting in the darker colour and breakable texture.

If your cook times and temps were the same I would hint at maybe the two smokers running at different temps creating  hotter cook temp in the Bradley. All other things being identical this would have to be where you would want to start.

Some further information hat might help would be, how many racks did you have filled?   where were they [placed?  did you notice a difference in colour between the lower racks and the upper racks,  front of rack or back?

I would also suggest that you only toss something with  out tasting it that you suspect to be contaminated. Its hard to learn what went wrong without a through tasting of it.

[Mahon]

Thanks Twisted , I think I was just a little freaked at the color of the meat and that I probably let it go a little too long (it was getting brittle) , the machine does a much better and thorough job of cooking and curing the beef than the Little Chief did. It was consistent throughout the smoker , top and bottom, front to back. I think I just got a little too hasty chucking it out and from the little of what I tasted , it was goood . Thanks for the quick replies ....

[TwistedSanity]

For your next run I would suggest a lower temp. Most seem to run around 160.  I would also set regular checks oh every 1 hour. Maybe down to 30 mins as I get close. This would allow you to get a better sense of what time you need.  Avoid checking too often as the smoker can have a hard time regaining temp. I have been found guilty of shining a flash light down through the vent holes to sneak a peak once in a while.

Good luck and let us know how the next run is.

[Mahon]

Much appreciated Twisted , the Bradley definitely runs hotter than my old LC.  I will take your advice on my next smoke ,,,, cheers  Mahon

[Orion]

Hey Mahon, you might want to review this thread on my jerky. It details temps, times and includes some good recipes. It also describes colour outcome with different brines:

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=36078.0

[Mahon]

Thanks Orion , I'm going to do that .....