Please give me some advice before I try to make my first jerky

[12AMNSX]

First I want to apologize if I seem lazy and not search through every topic on jerky.  It seems a little overwhelming.

I've owned by OBS for about 1 1/2 years and have smoked fish, ribs, chicken, etc., but now it's time to try jerky.  I love beef jerky and have been buying it from Cattaneo Bros in San Luis Obispo.  It's the best jerky I've ever tasted from a production company.  Now I want to try to make my own.  I don't like the "pressed" style jerky so I'm not sure if the GB is right for me.  Here are my questions:

1) What considerations should I have about muscle vs GB jerky?

2) I've never made jerky before and I have the OBS.  Will that be sufficient?

3) I've seen there are cures and wet marinades.  Can you tel me more about them?

4) I also have seen a machine that looks like a tumbler.  What is it used for?

I guess that I am looking for an overall instruction manual on how to make jerky with the BS.  Any input is appreciated!  Even if you can provide links to other appropriate posts that would be great.

Thanks in advance!   :D

[Tenpoint5]

12AMNSX,
You best bet would be to pick Nepasmoker's brain he is the current Guru on jerky making here on the forum.

[La Quinta]

I'm with 10.5...NePas is the man....PM him...he's a master....  :)

[Gizmo]

First I want to apologize if I seem lazy and not search through every topic on jerky.  It seems a little overwhelming.

I've owned by OBS for about 1 1/2 years and have smoked fish, ribs, chicken, etc., but now it's time to try jerky.  I love beef jerky and have been buying it from Cattaneo Bros in San Luis Obispo.  It's the best jerky I've ever tasted from a production company.  Now I want to try to make my own.  I don't like the "pressed" style jerky so I'm not sure if the GB is right for me.  Here are my questions:

1) What considerations should I have about muscle vs GB jerky?

2) I've never made jerky before and I have the OBS.  Will that be sufficient?

3) I've seen there are cures and wet marinades.  Can you tel me more about them?

4) I also have seen a machine that looks like a tumbler.  What is it used for?

I guess that I am looking for an overall instruction manual on how to make jerky with the BS.  Any input is appreciated!  Even if you can provide links to other appropriate posts that would be great.

Thanks in advance!   :D

I am no NePa when it comes to jerk but have a few variations under my belt, and the belt has been loosened.   ;)

1) What considerations should I have about muscle vs GB jerky?  Whole Muscle vs. GB is really a personal taste thing.  Some folks have a major preference one way or the other.  I have only done GB once.  Probably will do it again but I think for now, I like whole muscle.  GB is a bit easier to chew.

2) I've never made jerky before and I have the OBS.  Will that be sufficient?  Yes, however many find it more consistent to use a dehydrator after the smoke has been applied.  You will need to rotate racks top to bottom and front to back as the bottom rack or two in the Bradley will cook the meat instead of dehydrating it if you don't do a rotation at least every hour to 1/2 hour.  Even the cheap Nesco dehydrators work really well for a small investment.

3) I've seen there are cures and wet marinades.  Can you tel me more about them?  Wet is a mixture usually with SOY Sauce as one of the main ingredients.  The end result is very different in texture, taste and surface feel (usually a little sticky).  Dry cures actually cure the meat which add the preservative.  The surface is dry and usually not tacky.  For taste, both are victims of the ingredients used to make the taste so I won't go into that as it is some what self explanatory.

4) I also have seen a machine that looks like a tumbler.  What is it used for?  The REVO is a vacuum type device and tumbler.  It will aid in the absorption of the marinade into the meat.  Vacuum may make the liquid infusion a little quicker but is not necessary if you have the time to let it absorb naturally.  Since the meat is sliced really thin, normal soak times are 15 minutes to maybe 8 hours.  I have seen over night but depending on the ingredients, your meat can get a little mushy.

If you need any additional info, just holler.

[NePaSmoKer]

First I want to apologize if I seem lazy and not search through every topic on jerky.  It seems a little overwhelming.

I've owned by OBS for about 1 1/2 years and have smoked fish, ribs, chicken, etc., but now it's time to try jerky.  I love beef jerky and have been buying it from Cattaneo Bros in San Luis Obispo.  It's the best jerky I've ever tasted from a production company.  Now I want to try to make my own.  I don't like the "pressed" style jerky so I'm not sure if the GB is right for me.  Here are my questions:

1) What considerations should I have about muscle vs GB jerky?

2) I've never made jerky before and I have the OBS.  Will that be sufficient?

3) I've seen there are cures and wet marinades.  Can you tel me more about them?

4) I also have seen a machine that looks like a tumbler.  What is it used for?

I guess that I am looking for an overall instruction manual on how to make jerky with the BS.  Any input is appreciated!  Even if you can provide links to other appropriate posts that would be great.

Thanks in advance!   :D

Hi 12AMNSX and welcome to the forum. Gizmo has answered your questions but i will add to them.

1) What considerations should I have about muscle vs GB jerky?

1a) Muscle or strip jerky can be from just about any cut of meat. Eye round, top, flank/skirt, briskit. I use London Broil it makes for a more tender cut. Ground meat is cheaper and makes a easy to chew jerky. You will probably need a jerky gun to extrude the meat into the flat jerky form. GM should be lean like 80/20-85/15 or 90/10 ratio of fat. Some members or recipes call for a binder like soy protein, powder milk and so on. I at times have used these but its not really required. I can go on but its pretty long  ;D

2) I've never made jerky before and I have the OBS.  Will that be sufficient?

2a) You can do a jerky load in your BS. Most of us use food grade screens on the BS racks. Easy to clean and the jerky wont slip through the squares. Screen is great for GM jerky. I start by pre heating my smoker @150* with my vent full open and no water in the pan, do use the empty pan to catch the wood. I use 3 to 6 wood pucks for the smoke then just heat. Like Giz stated the BS will not dehydrate. But if you install a fan (which is a mod) or buy a vent fan like i use it will circulate the air in the box. Most of the time i do my normal smoke then finish in my dehydrator. Nesco makes some good inexpensive ones. I use a larger Cabelas dehydrator. Lots more on this also.

3) I've seen there are cures and wet marinades.  Can you tel me more about them?

3a) There are 2 types of cures. Cure #1 is the basic cure for meats requiring cooking, smoking. Most of the store bought jerky/sausage mixes use cure #1. The other cure is cure #2. Used for meat that does not require cooking, smoking. Allot of forum members use a dry mix called High Mountain seasoning. I do not. (long story)  Now for a wet marinade. I use this most of the time for both strip and GM jerky. It can be whatever kinds of ingredients you like. The amount of liquid is really not important for strip (whole muscle) as you will let the strips dry at room temp for awhile before you load the smoker. GM jerky will act funny if too wet. My rule is 1/2 cup liquid per lb of meat, you can add less if you like too. Also when adding cure to strips or GM, If i am doing just 1 pound of meat i use just under 1/2 tsp of cure. The charts are usually 1 tsp per 5 lbs of meat. There is a book put out called Sausage and meat curing by Rytek Kutas. Very informative and has just about everything you need to know about sausage and jerky making, recipes and all.

4) I also have seen a machine that looks like a tumbler.  What is it used for?

4a) Like Giz stated this is a vacuum tumbler system. It takes the air out of the meat tissue by opening it up thus making the marinade permeate into the meat. Its the Reveo Marivac. I use one and well worth the $. This will cut your marinade time from hours to Min's. I have used GM in the Reveo to help marinade it.

The best way to find out more about different things is just google jerky recipes.

I hope that i have added to what giz has already posted for you. Trial and error at times with just starting jerky, we all been there  ;D

Enjoy

nepas

[12AMNSX]

Thank you to all for your help!

OK, this is how my first attempt is going.  I went to the store that carries the Hi Mt seasoning and cure, but they only had wild bird and sausage stuff.  So I picked up the Hi Country version to give it a try.  I bought buffalo London broil and asked them to cut it into 1/4" strips.  It turned out that they are about 1/8" to 5/32".  I am following the instructions I have read here and with the seasoning.  They are sitting over night in the seasoning/cure.  Tomorrow I will smoke keeping a close eye on the fact that they are so thin.  At least this will provide a benchmark for me to measure future attempts.

I can already see that I would like to create a seasoning recipe of my own instead of buying store bought.  Anyone willing to share theirs?

[NePaSmoKer]

Thank you to all for your help!

OK, this is how my first attempt is going.  I went to the store that carries the Hi Mt seasoning and cure, but they only had wild bird and sausage stuff.  So I picked up the Hi Country version to give it a try.  I bought buffalo London broil and asked them to cut it into 1/4" strips.  It turned out that they are about 1/8" to 5/32".  I am following the instructions I have read here and with the seasoning.  They are sitting over night in the seasoning/cure.  Tomorrow I will smoke keeping a close eye on the fact that they are so thin.  At least this will provide a benchmark for me to measure future attempts.

I can already see that I would like to create a seasoning recipe of my own instead of buying store bought.  Anyone willing to share theirs?

Like you said keep a close eye on it. You want it to bend not break.

nepas

[smokeitall]

Hey 12AMNSX if you do a search on here Nepas and Nickld have both shared some very good jerky recipes.

[12AMNSX]

Thanks for all your help everyone.  Here are the results.

I smoked using 4 pucks, 1 mesquite, 1 hickory then 2 mesquite and then just heat for about 4 hours total.  I used water in the pan.  I live in New Mexico and the humidity is pretty dry so I think this was a good idea.  Turned out pretty darn good!  Nicely done without overcooking.