Jerky doesn't last long around here and am running out, again, so decided to try something different.
Saw a product in the butcher shop from a company called Hillbilly sausage factory. They're out of Renina Saskatchewan. It requires the meat to be brined. The package has enough spice and cure for 10 lbs of meat. Brine for 24-48 hours. I picked up a pack and got 10 lbs of eye of the round. The butcher was kind enough to slice it for me. What would have taken me an hour or more was done in 10 minutes. This morning I mixed up the brine and covered the meat. It's now in the fridge doing its thing.
Planning to smoke tomorrow, weather permitting. There's more meat than the Bradley can handle so likely do 2 smokes.
Started getting the smoker ready and decided to use a different wood. Have had a box of Special blend for years and never open it. Decided to give it try.
Interestingly found a recipe card for a spicey jerky in the packet of pucks. Going to have to try this too. Maybe someone here has tried it. If so, how was it?
Haven't heard of it, but it sounds good. Reminds me of what I used to get from Cabela's called "Uncle Fred's Jerky cure". Used Special Blend on some deer nuggets last week. Turned out good. Good luck and looking forward to seeing the results.
This morning I started to load the smoker.
Here's a picture of the jerky after it came out of the fridge
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Now I'm laying out the meat on the jerky racks
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Here's the first 2 racks in the smoker
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Work continued until all the racks were loaded
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And here's what's left for the next smoke
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Right now the meat is warming to room temp before I start the smoke. Don't know if I'll do the remainder later today or wait till tomorrow. Depends on how long it takes to finish and there's a football game on this afternoon that I need to watch.
Just finished rotating racks. Judging from the wetness it's going to take longer than I thought. Likely wont do the 2nd batch today. Not sure if I'm sold on using a wet brine. We'll see when it's done.
let us know how it turns out
Well, the first batch is done.
Took forever. Some dried earlier and these were at the back of the racks. They came of and the undone ones were moved together so there were few racks and put them lower in the smoker.
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It didn't have flavor, IMO, and was a little disappointed. Not likely to use this product again. And it took a lot longer to finish than any other I've made. I've used High Mountain and another that I bought at Cabelas and they were great.
This morning, bright and early, put the rest in the smoker and it's going now. These also have been in the brine and extra day. We'll see if that makes a difference.
It looks good, sorry the flavor wasn't what you were looking for, I'm still looking for my perfect jerky marinade. I have to turn my racks around a couple of times in the Bradley and the dehydrator to keep the racks drying evenly.
Despite what you say about the taste, the jerky looks good! Check your PM's.
2nd batch is still going. I've rotated the racks a couple of times since 6 this morning. Will be a while before I can taste test.
Well, just took the last of the jerky out of the smoker and did taste test. It seems to have more flavor than the first batch so leaving it in the brine for an extra day might be the answer.
When your doing strip meat its a good idea to agitate (move) the strips around in the marinade every 8-10 hours so all the meat has a chance to get the marinade. Strips that at stuck together will have discoloration.
Thanks for that and will keep it mind the next time.
Just got finished vacuum sealing this batch of jerky. As you see there is quite a bit and of course there's a little bowl on the side for some snacking 8) ;)
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I like to marinate in zip lock bags. Doesn't take up as much fridge space and easy to flip to redistribute the marinade. You can also poke at the bag to ensure that strips don't stick together.