Jerky Board

viper125 · December 01, 2011, 02:44:30 PM

Well getting ready to make a jerky board. Going to make one that fits in a Bradley tray. Also it will use regular 12 " wax paper to lay under jerky. Using a 3/8 Plastic cutting board I'm going to rip it to size and cut 3/8 dadoes so I can insert two strips of it in the dadoes. This will produce a 10 x 12 piece of ground Beef jerky. Lift out wax paper and invert tray over then flip back and peel paper off. Now I got to figure what thickness. I'm thinking 5/32 would be about right. Just wondering what you guys doing GB Jerky think?

pikeman_95 · December 02, 2011, 05:15:54 PM

Viper
My spacers are 1/4 inch deep but the sheets take about 1/16 of an inch of that space. I would guess my sticks turn out about 3/16 thick before drying. That seems about right to me as the finished product is not so thick that it takes too long to dry or too thin that it has no body.

viper125 · December 02, 2011, 05:29:28 PM

Well probably go the same then. It's only 1/32 more so wont probably matter any way. I did find a piece of aluminium c channel at home depot. 3/4 thick and 6 ft long for a few bucks. I figure making the board smaller and to size I can just basically flip it over on rack and smoke. Cut a part before dehydrating. I usually smoke for about 2 hrs with oak or hickory. Do you do longer? Not sure if 3 wold be too much or not.

pikeman_95 · December 02, 2011, 09:05:02 PM

I use cure #1 in my jerky and I set one tray at a time the closest to the heat. When the jerky on this sheet gets hot enough to gel I move it up and the set the next sheet in the hottest area. Once a sheet is gelled I transfer it on to a screen By the time all the sheets are through the process I would guess they have about 3-4 hours in the smoker.

Kirby

viper125 · December 03, 2011, 05:28:25 PM

Basically same as mine but only tried 2 hrs of smoke. I may add another hour of smoke this time. I will also finish in dehydrator.

viper125 · December 16, 2011, 06:58:41 PM

Well started a batch at 4:00 hope I can get it dried before bed. Trying this one in smoker with the new fan. Used hi mountain for this one and jerky. Miked up a hot, teriyaki and honey for tomorrow. Eight lbs done on the new board filled 5.5 racks or 1.3 lbs per rack. Something like 32- 1/4 x 3/4 x 5" sticks. Waiting to see what shrinkage is on the venison. May have to get a wider c-channel by the time these shrink LOL. I need to get some stainless sheets cut 10 x 12 like you do. The wax paper worked but is a pain in the ars. For a roller I used a length of 1 1/4 PVC.
Product looks a lot nicer than the stuff with the jerky shooter I've seen. Being so close to same size should be a big help in packing also.

pikeman_95 · December 16, 2011, 09:44:27 PM

viper
did you take any pictures?? It is fun to see the process.
KC

viper125 · December 16, 2011, 10:14:52 PM

Well none of the actual smoke as I pulled them at about 12:30 this evening. Still not drying the way I want. But couldn't run both elements the Bradley kept blowing fuses. Then it dawned on me I changed to a smaller one this summer because i couldn't find the right one. So I ran only the one and the fan. I need to find Auber PID plug and play fuse size and replace,LOL I had the wife take some pics of the process of rolling and cutting. Will try to post tomorrow. Was pleased to see I only lost 19 percent on weight with straight Venison. But will be higher on next batch when completely dry.

pikeman_95 · December 17, 2011, 06:05:30 AM

viper
I would still finish your jerky in the dehydrator. The extra time lets the moisture level come down evenly so that you do not had over dry edges. Just stop drying before it is so dry that it snaps when you bend it. Have you tasted any yet? I am lookinf forward to the pictures. Now you see why I had the stainless sheets made. They are so much easier to deal with. If you have a sheet metal shop near you, see if they have some scraps of stainless. You can cut your own sheets with a 4 1/2 inch angle grinder and a cut off wheel. The shops will sell the scraps quite cheap but the time to pinch it off in the a break is where the cost will add up quick. It wouldn't take long for them but to them time is money. I find that cutting them with the cut off wheel works so well that I just buy sheet scraps and cut them my self. You can give them a smooth edge with a flex pad on the same grinder.
we are looking forward to the pictures.
KC

viper125 · December 17, 2011, 03:29:04 PM

Well did the others in the smoker. I see what you mean by burnt ends. Really don't understand why though. I thought the taste was a little plain and a lot salty. Wife likes it though.
This next batch she got into the sauce I was boiling for it and tasted it. Said it was way to hot. But I thought it was warm and sweeter then I wanted. But hey just testing these two.
Yes I will probably end up doing either with the wheels or one of my buddies will use a brake.
I am smoking this batch and will dry in dehydrator,not completely happy with this fan mod Too little breeze to suit me. I am also seeing a wide temperature gap in smoker.

devo · December 17, 2011, 03:38:24 PM

Hey Viper
My GB jerky I found was pain also. I followed a few different recipes posted from different people here and it just never came close to whole meat jerky. I guess we all have different tastes. ;)
As for your fan mod i'm not sure with which one you went with but I had done the one from http://smokeandstuff.com/index.php and found it to be under powered for what I wanted and ended up getting my own fan with a dimmer switch to control the speed. Turn out its on max RPM when I smoke and no rotating of racks any more.

viper125 · December 17, 2011, 04:25:36 PM

Quote from: devo on December 17, 2011, 03:38:24 PM
Hey Viper
My GB jerky I found was pain also. I followed a few different recipes posted from different people here and it just never came close to whole meat jerky. I guess we all have different tastes. ;)
As for your fan mod i'm not sure with which one you went with but I had done the one from http://smokeandstuff.com/index.php and found it to be under powered for what I wanted and ended up getting my own fan with a dimmer switch to control the speed. Turn out its on max RPM when I smoke and no rotating of racks any more.

Well the fan in there now won't solve the problem that's for sure. Its one of the g rangers recommended. I'm almost sorry I modded it at all. After seeing the quality of the material used I was disappointed. Worked in the trade most my adult life and that's is the poorest metal I ever seen called stainless. But I own it now so it don't matter. I guess!
As far as the GB Jerky its ok so far and a lot of people like it. But I believe in trying to get to the same tastes as muscle is going to be difficult.I used a liquid marinade in this last batch. 1/2 what i'd use for muscle of the same weight. I also went light on liquids. But didnt get what I wanted. Will try to come up with a better dry seasoning. Time will tell. In the mean time I like doing the experiments. None are so bad they don't taste good just not special to me. So I get to try all these different spice combos.
I have to order my fuse for the Auber Pid as no one around here carry's a 5m x20m 15A slow blow fuse. Radio shack listed it but not in stores.
I will post pics soon. I am really trying to just keep a wake at this time. We have 11 grand kids here the last 3 days and their up to 330-400 every night. In the last couple days I've killed, cleaned and butchered a deer,installed the dual element mod,the fan mod and added the switch. And in the middle of smoking 17 lbs of jerky. Don't sound like much but I'm barley able to watch the smoker.

ragweed · December 19, 2011, 12:07:40 PM

Viper

Sorry to interrupt and a little off the subject, but I use a liquid marinade for my ground deer jerky and am really pleased with it. It's Smoking Gun Jerky marinade. www.smokinggunjerky.com They list lots of recipes, some mild, some sweet, some insanely hot.

I must confess though that I haven't smoked any jerky yet, just dehydrated. Which is why I was reading through this topic. To get ideas on how it should be done from the experts.

Ragweed

viper125 · December 19, 2011, 12:54:06 PM

Ok got done finely.
I mixed up Venison with hi mountain for the first 8 lb then I used a Teriyaki marinade recipe with honey and pepper for the second 8 lbs. I do think it's better with dry spices. Takes less time to dry to. But they both came out great. Now they don't look so pretty but I need to use shears next time instead of tearing. 1 st batch dried in smoker second in dehydrator. Think I still like the dehydrator better. Both got 3 hours Hickory Smoke in the Bradley.

Rolled out on jerky board. Found it easier to do with out paper or wrap on top. just PVC 1 1/4 pipe for a roller. Now you need paper underneath to flip and get it off tray. I tried freezer and wax and both worked fine. Then I used the c-channel to cut like this.

Then I use a flipper to cut in half

Sit my rack on top and flipped it all upside down. Then peal off paper and reuse. It only takes a couple minutes at best. But looks like this when ready.

Upside down and ready for smoker.

Well smoked 3 hours in smoker and into dehydrator

Drying

Not pretty this time but good!

The roughness is my fault. Been 72 hours watching kids ,cleaning two deer and smoking 17 lb Jerky 20 lb S.S. and brining and smoking a chicken. Hard to remember pics with no sleep these were taking by wife when she was a wake. LOL

viper125 · December 19, 2011, 12:59:35 PM

Quote from: ragweed on December 19, 2011, 12:07:40 PM
Viper

Sorry to interrupt and a little off the subject, but I use a liquid marinade for my ground deer jerky and am really pleased with it. It's Smoking Gun Jerky marinade. www.smokinggunjerky.com They list lots of recipes, some mild, some sweet, some insanely hot.

I must confess though that I haven't smoked any jerky yet, just dehydrated. Which is why I was reading through this topic. To get ideas on how it should be done from the experts.

Ragweed

Well recipes for Jerky are a dime a dozen. And there is plenty on here. Really don't make sense to use marinade in GB Jerky. You add so much moisture just to spend time drying it. Also most marinades are stronger,because they are designed for muscle jerky to soak in. Then you throw it away. Using dry spices are not only quicker to dry. You can control better the amount of spices because you don't loose any in evaporation as mixed in liquid. I also feel a person can make a superior tasting jerky by making their own.