To add or not to add smoke to my Bradley jerky???

[chiroken]

Hello again all!

Just marinaded 11lbs of top round roast overnight and ready to smoke later today in my DBS. I'm curious if anyone has done the same spices with and without smoke in their Bradley as a comparison for flavour? How much difference really is there or is most of the flavour in the spices? That question may be somewhat determined by the choice of smoke too I assume (ie. I used hickory once and really didn't care for it). I've often used alder or maple for jerky.

I am thinking of doing 1/2 today with smoke (probably alder) and freezing the other 1/2 to do at a later date without smoke. I would follow the same temperature increments to try to be consistent. Do you think there would be a flavour difference just because 1/2 is frozen and later smoked (longer sitting in spices, stronger flavour?).

No smoke basically turns the Bradley into a dehydrator doesn't it? (never used a dehydrator)

Thanks for sharing your experiences!

[FLBentRider]

How long did you smoke it last time?

I would not use more than  1 hour, maybe less.

[muebe]

I have tried my jerky nuggets with and without smoke...and they taste so much better smoked IMHO. I go with no more than an hour of smoke.

A dehydrator has a low temp range(165F max) and a fan to speed the drying process. The Bradley can work like a dehydrator or even an oven can if you use these lower temps. The only problem is without a fan it takes longer to dry and not as even so you need to rotate the trays. No water pan and vent wide open when dehydrating for jerky. And temp 155F works well ;D

[ghost9mm]

Yep !! me too on the smoke for jerky, not real heavy but we do like it smoked...

[Toker]

Last week when i made some, i put 2 hours on mine.

[viper125]

Hmmm. Come to a smoking fourm to ask smoke or not. I think I know the answer.SMOKE!

[chiroken]

I've always smoked jerky and candied salmon for 2 hours, never more, never less. Same for bacon wrapped chicken breasts. And that's been based on suggestions from the forum. Now I'm just kind of stuck in my ways, which is why I'm considering being bold and breaking the mold (hence the original question ;) ) Maybe I'll try only an hour next time. As far as temp. goes I pre-heat high and then drop it to 140 when the jerky goes in, end up increasing as high as 170 at times, depending on how impatient I am. A fan would be nice to speed up the process and cut out some rack rotations. Can run me as long as 8 hours at times. I use 8 racks in a 4 rack smoker so alot of meat in there. I can fit usually about 5 lbs for jerky and up to 15 lbs for candied salmon.

Hey viper, I knew someone here would have already tried with and without (ie muebe), too many curious smokers out there to have not experimented. Might as well learn from others. ;)

[viper125]

Lol sorry just had to say it. I've also trued both ways and even with the evil liquid smoke. Still prefer smoked with the real thing. All though I don't think I've ever had bad jerky.

[chiroken]

@ viper...you givin' me a hard time and you've used liquid smoke?! lol

8 hrs in and have pulled maybe 1/3 out so far. Can't imagine how long it takes for you all that slice 1/4" thick, I do mine quite thin and it's an all day process! So far the samples have been awfully good though  ;D

[Chili Head]

I've done it with and without smoke and I liked it smoked much better. I always smoke jerky with oak for only one hour tops.


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[viper125]

Welllllllllll...... I have been know to use it once or twice. Don't see that happening since I have my Bradley. Use to use it in jerky when It was to bad to smoke or when I didn't have one for one reason or another. I have done it when using the oven to make it too. One way or the other I had to get that smoke flavor in mine. Seemed naked with out it. But each to their own. Oh by the way.. when I first started making jerky i was about 12-13 and started with out smoke or used liquid smoke. It was still great.

[WISmoker]

Cabinet temperature of 140 degrees

--4 pucks (1:20 of smoke) for beef
--5 pucks (1:40 of smoke) for venison

no water in the bowl

Finish in the Bradley (increase temp 10 degrees every hour...finish at 170) or move to the dehydrator 

Flawless.

[chiroken]

Thanks for all the comments, looks like it's smoke all the way. This batch is the best so far I've made, got some good heat but not screamin' and just the right "softness" that our family likes!