TO USE WATER OR NOT TO USE WATER WHEN SMOKING JERKY

[harley_davidson]

so i am going to smoke up some jerky today and was wondering if i should put water in the water pan let me know and how long do i smoke and how long to cook and what temps thanks  ;D

[SoCalBuilder]

Harley - Welcome and hope you join the ranks here. No end of free advice. I use the water pan during the smoke only, usually about an hour, and then I pull it. I try to keep the temp between 170 and 180. The amount of time depends a lot on the size of the load, the thickness of the meat, etc. You'll find that you need to rotate the racks a lot and just test the meat when you do it. You want it to still be flexible, but not so dry that it cuts the inside of you mouth when you eat it. I usually end up eating a half dozen pieces during the process. I have had some loads take up to 11 hours to finish up, but it's worth it.

[Fernslinger]

I only use water when on smoke then I also pull it.

[digitalsmoker]

harley ---yes you use water while smoking but not when dehydrating

[WISmoker]

I only use water for the smoking period as well.  I put in 4 pucks of hickory, so the first 1:20 of jerky making has the water in the pan.   Once she is done smoking, dump the water and continue the drying process.  Perfect jerky so far using that method.

WISmoker.

[NePaSmoKer]

I dont use water in the pan. The meat will create moisture and the water in the pan will create steam. Smoke does not stick good to wet meat.

The 3-6 pucks you have in the dry bowl you wont even notice.

Im outta da norm  ;D

[grnhs]

I took your advice Nepa's and did not use water last weekend, I had no problems with the 5 dry pucks in the bowl.
I did have to go in the house for some water when I dumped them on the woodpile though ::)

[GBIceman]

If you don't use water in the bowl during smoking, don't the pucks keep smoldering? I thought it was bad to let the pucks keep burning. (acrid taste). I like the idea of giving more smoke flavor. The idea of adding water is backwards for the drying process.

[grnhs]

I didn't get a bitter taste on my jerky last weekend, but then I was rotating every hour and the wind was blowing, so good ventilation