jerky question

[bears fan]

I've got a bunch of round steak left in the freezer and am wondering if I could cut that into strips and season it up, will it make good jerky?  If so, how thick do I cut it for jerky?

[FLBentRider]

I've got a bunch of round steak left in the freezer and am wondering if I could cut that into strips and season it up, will it make good jerky?  If so, how thick do I cut it for jerky?

Yes it would.

I would cut it no thicker that 1/4 inch - I use between 1/4 and 1/8th inch.

[bears fan]

Do you just buy a seasoning or do you make your own?  I like just an original flavor of jerky.

[FLBentRider]

Do you just buy a seasoning or do you make your own?  I like just an original flavor of jerky.

I started out using the Hi mountain kits, now I use the Hi mountain cure and add my own flavors.

Nepas has posted several recipes here. Here's one http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=5887.0

[mow_delon]

I slice my jerkey about 1/4 in thick and use a soy sauce based brine to maranate jerkey in.  The basic recipe is as follows:

5 lb sliced meat
1 8 oz bottle soy sauce (the better the sauce, the better the flavor)
1/2 bottle (1/2 cup) of worchesterchire sauce
2/3 cup bbq sauce (I think that honey bbq works very well, also found that really spicy sauce tends to lose its flavor when jerkey cooked)
1/2 cup brown sugar*
1/3 cup Morton Tenderquick*

any other seasonings you want are up to you.  I usually marinade for at least 24 hours in refrigerator.  I usually use about 2-3 hours of smoke and make sure to pull the jerkey before it looks ready, or it will be too dry.  This basic recipe is usually a crowd pleaser.

*forgot about these in original post

[bears fan]

What temperature do you cook it at?  What wood did you use?

[NePaSmoKer]

Start your jerky at 140* with 3 to 5 pucks of hickory. Bump the heat every hour or so up 10* not exceeding 180* You want the jerky to bend not snap. Vent full open no water in the pan.

You can use other pucks too, mesquite, apple, maple and so on.

[bears fan]

I only need to put smoke on it for 3 to 5 pucks worth?  Then let it cook for another hour or two until done?

[HawkeyeSmokes]

3 to 5 pucks depending on your tastes.

I like 5 pucks of oak for my jerky. Hickory is a bit stronger smoke flavor.

Try a batch and adjust from there.

And it can take quite a bit longer than 1 or 2 hours more. My last batch took about 7 hours total.

Do like Nepas said and bump the temp up 10 deg an hour or so, but don't go over 180.

Keep us posted on how it goes.

[mow_delon]

One other thing that I sometimes do if making more jerkey than fits in the smoker at one time is to smoke the jerkey and after smoke is done (I usually use 6 pucks) I will transfer the meat to a dehydrator to finish so that I can start the next batch.  This has worked well for me, but I like the flavor better when done completely in the smoker, as long as I watch it close enough to get it off before it is too done (I don't have a PID, so I usually set my temp to about 180 from the start and leave it there.)

[bears fan]

I'll let everyone know how it turns out.  I ordered frogmats and bubba pucks and they are suppose to be here on Friday, so I may wait until this weekend to make it.

[bears fan]

Ok, so I couldn't wait until this weekend to do a batch of jerky.  Here it is after marinating for 24 hours.  Ready to go into the smoker.  I had to customize my smoker as well.

[TTNuge]

That's the ugliest OBS I've ever seen!!!  ;) (Only because I haven't seen one with a Packers emblem on it yet, thank god.)

[bears fan]

ha, I was waiting for a vikings fan to say something.  I couldn't resist.  Thanks for Chester Taylor by the way!

So, here is the finished product.  I've learned something for next time.....rotate the shelves and spin them from back to front.  The back ones got cooked to long on the bottom shelves.  Jerky takes a little more tending to so you don't ruin some of them.  I need to try to keep the heat down lower as well.  Most of them turned out really good.  Good flavor.  All in all I was pretty happy with the end result.

[Quarlow]

Oh by the way, don't forget to rotate those racks front to back and up and down.  ;D ;D ;D Don't feel bad, I ruined a whole smoker full of inside round jerky just cause I didn't tend to it enough or watch my temps. But I also had some extreme extenuating circumstances(fell asleep on the couch) happening around here.