I am new

[primus]

Well to my surprise I got a BS for Christmas. I tried doing the spicey ole jerky. Followed the recipe. Had the temperature about 150 according to the gauge on the front. I let it go for about 7 hours. It was dry and very strong smoke flavor. I was using hickory. Comments from the kids was charcoal. What am I doing wrong?

[Habanero Smoker]

There are plenty of members who make jerky, they will be replying. If you can provide more information that will assist others in determining where you may have gone wrong.

Did you apply smoke the whole time (seven hours of smoke is a lot of smoke)?
Was it ground or whole muscle jerky?
Maybe post the recipe.

Also consider getting a temperature probe so you can more accurately monitor the cabinet temperature.

[headgames]

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<  had same problem on first smoke .......you learn fast 3-4 hours of smoke is plenty ..... but when I was new the thought process was if your smoking something in a smoker you should have smoke the whole time............. Just keep browsing through this forum ....  100 times more first had info then any book you could ever buy. I have friends who dont own bradleys that I recomended to this site . we kind of refer to it as  our  BIBLE  lol .
welcome and good luck

[Mr Walleye]

I use about 2 hours of smoke on my jerky. I also set the temp at about 180.

[primus]

Wow...this is great...hearing the errors of my ways...many thanks! The recipe is off the bradley website. Used sirloin that was cut against the grain.

[Smudge]

The temperature gauge is not much more than a rough estimate of the true temperature. Sometimes that's close enough. Other applications require more precision. It wasn't long before I wanted to make some sausage and realized I needed better accuracy.

I bought a Maverick ET-73 and have had good luck with it. It measures both box temp and internal meat temp. In other words, the guesswork is eliminated.

My Bradley temp gauge reads about 15-20 degrees lower than actual. Not good. 

[TxSmoker]

I use High Mountain seasoning, you can find it at most grocery stores or places like Cabella's, Gander Mountain, Bass Pro, ect.  I usually cure a little longer than the 24 hrs recomended(I tend to go 36-48 hrs), especially if the pieces are thicker than 1/4".
I use eye of round which lends itself to cutting across the grain and therefore easy to chew. I get the eye of round from my local grocery store meat market, have them cut all the fat off and then slice thin. You will end up with round, silver dollar type of pieces.
As for smoking...I smoke the entire time with hickory. Cook time is usually about 2.5-3 hrs. I try and maintain the temp at about 200. I keep the vent open about half way because of all the moisture.
I can't say enough about the taste of the High Mountain, and if you do a little searching you will find I am not the only one who feels the same. I just got my BS for Christmas but have jerkied 3 times now with great success using the above method! Once you get it right, you will be hooked, I am totally addicted! Last cook I did was with about 9 lbs of meat and I swear my wife and I knocked it off in about 4 days, Mostly me doing the eating hehe ;D
Hope this helps! Steve

[NePaSmoKer]

You will find alot of folks responding to this i am sure about your jurky.

For me i do not use HM jerky seasonings. I make my own in a dry and my own in a wet marinade. I dont use MSG, but i do use cure.
I start with my heat at 170* (keeps the nasty out of it) and smoke for 1 .5hrs (use your fav) followed by heat at 175*/180*  for 2 .5 to 3 hrs with the top damper open all the way. I dont use water in my bowl (you can if you want moister jerky) check jerky by bending a piece, if it snaps then its a little too done, if it bends without snapping in half then its just right.

I use venison, buffalo and beef. The beef i like london broil, skirt, flank and even dont some with briskit.

nepas