Yesterday I took out a 6.5 lb piece of white tail hind quarter to thaw. Today I'll slice it and spice it :D. Tomorrow it smokes in the DBS. Just checked it and it's almost thawed.
Almost thawed? Thats the perfect time to do your slicing. IMHO you get more uniform slices when still partially frozen.
You're right. It's now all spiced up, covered in plastic wrap and doing it's thing in the fridge. Goes in the smoker tomorrow.
I've had the easiest time slicing when going from thawed to frozen where the outside is hard but the inside is not frozen yet. If I know I'm making jerky out of a piece of meat I'll toss it in the freezer for a couple of hours then slice it up. Then vacuum bag it and back in the freezer till needed.
John
Mmmmmmmmmmmm whitetail jerky, cant wait till tomarrow.
Mmmmmmmm tomorrow it goes in the smoker. 3 - 4 hrs should do it.
Hope you post some pics.
I'll try :)
If you don't post pics, you'll have to send out samples.
Is it done yet, Is it done yet, Is it done yet, Is it done yet, Is it done yet? ;D
Just put it in 1/2 hour ago. Was going to get a picture, before and after, but the battery in the camera was dead. Have it on the charger as I type so likely will only be an after picture.
Quote from: RAF128 on February 02, 2010, 11:10:19 AM
Was going to get a picture, before and after, but the battery in the camera was dead.
Dont you hate it when that happens ?
I thought I'd check the battery now and there seems to be some life in it so headed out to the garage and got this picture. It's an hour into the smoke
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/candlelake/picture001-1.jpg)
I should have added that I've got the Bradley jerky racks but only 4 and there was more than I could get on them so had to use a couple of the supplied racks.
Sure anything so you don't have to send out samples. ;D Looks good though!
Here's the finished product
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/candlelake/picture.jpg)
Now that looks damn good!
I want some, I want some,I want some. ;D
I noticed that this batch behaved differently that any others I've done. I took longer. The pieces in the back dried faster than the ones in the front. When I rotated the racks and also turned them front to back. Only thing different is a had a little more meat, 2 extra racks. The finished product is just fine though.
When I'm doing 12 racks in my OBS I leave a gap in the center about 2" wide and it helps to get even drying.
John
Quote from: BigJohnT on February 03, 2010, 10:59:13 AM
When I'm doing 12 racks in my OBS I leave a gap in the center about 2" wide and it helps to get even drying.
John
HMMMM that's interesting. This gap. Is it front to back or side to side?
Nice jerky
Lemme PM you my addy so i can taste test some :D ;D
Quote from: RAF128 on February 03, 2010, 12:57:14 PM
Quote from: BigJohnT on February 03, 2010, 10:59:13 AM
When I'm doing 12 racks in my OBS I leave a gap in the center about 2" wide and it helps to get even drying.
John
HMMMM that's interesting. This gap. Is it front to back or side to side?
Front to back in the center. When the last bit of smoke stops the moisture coming out of the vent looks like smoke...
John
Got a question Raf, I would guess it probably doesnt matter but aren't your racks in upside down? Or maybe I'm doing it wrong. Or is there a reason you load them like that? I guess with jerky like you made, it works, looks great.
now that I'm thinking about it, on a 6 rack smoker like yours you could put 12 racks in if 6 were loaded on the bottom of the rack and 6 were loaded inside. You could get 2 trays to a rail. Neat idea. I had to run 2 loads last time. Think I'll try this at some point to see if that works.
Quote from: smokeinmyeyes on February 20, 2010, 04:23:55 PM
now that I'm thinking about it, on a 6 rack smoker like yours you could put 12 racks in if 6 were loaded on the bottom of the rack and 6 were loaded inside. You could get 2 trays to a rail. Neat idea. I had to run 2 loads last time. Think I'll try this at some point to see if that works.
that is exactly how you double your capacity, invert 1 rack on top of each other rack, works great for jerky and fish