well after reading all about them on here, I figured I had to give them a try. I started with just over 5 lbs of stew meat from Costco and tried to cut the pieces so that they were all similar in size.
(http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa422/zueth/IMG_0966.jpg)
I then broke the meat up in two gallon zip lock bags and poured soy vay all over the beef until they were covered. Then I mixed 1/2 tsp of cure with about 1/8-1/4 cup of water and poured that over the meat and then added a tsp of cayenne. I repeated this process for the over gallon zip lock bag. Ended up with just over 2.5 lbs of beef in each bag. Then I let it marinade overnight and in the morning I fired up the smoker for 150. I applied 2 hours of hickory and then removed the water bowl and left in smoker fro another 6 hours at 150. At the six hour mark I pulled them out and basted with more soy vay. They turned out very good. I only rotated the tray's once, when I do again I will rotate every two hours to promote more even cooking. Also, I think next time I will use sirloin rather than stew meat. I thought that the amount of cayenne gave it a nice kick, but definitely not over powering.
(http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa422/zueth/IMG_0967.jpg)
Looks like your on your way to some good snackin!
I sampled some more today and they actually turned out pretty chewy? What could of caused that? Cut of meat? Didn't t cook long enough?
My batch turned out very chewy too, my jaw was sore after a couple. ;D
I did mine in my dehydrator, I think I did mine to low of temp 150 and for too long
(cant remember to total time, forgot to make notes)
Next time I am going to try about 170 and 8hrs like Muebe
Mike
In the OBS I start out at 150F and progress through the drying process to 170F at the finish. I do have a convection fan in mine BTW.
Quote from: muebe on October 21, 2011, 04:32:29 PM
In the OBS I start out at 150F and progress through the drying process to 170F at the finish. I do have a convection fan in mine BTW.
I did mine at 150 the whole time, do you think that it would help to put them back in for 1-2 hours at 170?
Quote from: muebe on October 21, 2011, 04:32:29 PM
In the OBS I start out at 150F and progress through the drying process to 170F at the finish. I do have a convection fan in mine BTW.
Were yours chewy?
I do my nuggets in the dehydrator at 145-150F for about 8-12 hours.
Chewy, but not tough.
Mine are a little chewy but by no means tough. Could just be a less quality meat was used. Costco is really good about their quality of meat but may have had a less than stellar batch when you purchased it. I have used lower quality meat(select) from a grocery store and it came out tough.
I use eye round from Sams Club.
I do my nuggets at 145, but in the Cabelas dehydrator. Seems to me that it took about 9.5 hours to get them where they were not too chewy. Sirloin works the best, but you gotta pay for it. Gonna try some venison nuggets soon, will try to post results.
Jeff
Put the nuggets in the oven at 170 for another two hours and that helped