New Guy........lookin to make somethin

Tex · January 01, 2006, 08:48:21 PM

Hi everyone, got the smoker for Christmas and am just now getting to use it cause I didin't have pucks. Any suggestions on an easy reliable beginners project. I thought about makin jerky. I've made lots of jerky in the past with a dehydrater but never used a smoker. I've once bought jerky from a processer that was smoked and it was at least an inch thick....would that be hot smoked? Can you cut it that thick? Generaly all recipes call for 1/4 inch strips. I'm hungry!!!

PS.. no beef just venison. Kinda like some of you. I'm a die hard bow hunter and have lots and lots of venison to play with.

I'll get to it later!!

owrstrich · January 01, 2006, 09:43:18 PM

i got into smoking cause by buddy in texas has one of those obscene smokers on a trailer where they do briskets... terkeys... checkens... ribbs... butts... and really anything that once had a soul...

before i go any further i must inform you of the national laws of texas as they pertain to smoking the beast...

the first law is its one shiner per hour while smoking... water only during ftc... its a resting period you know...

the second law is that you first smoke must be the dasypus novemcinctus... you must get local and state permits and have the dasypus novemcinctus certified prime... after the smoke you have to have the dasypus novemcinctusto inspected... if it passes inspection you can smoke anything you want for the rest of you life including venison...

i would take the dasypus novemcinctus and cut it head and tail off and bleed it out... if you dont cut off its tail it wont bleed out... like having your finger on the top of the straw... you take your finger off the top of the straw and it drains out the bottom...

then i would cut open its unders and pull out its innerds... then i would slide my hand between its neck and its shell like skin and pull that carcuas away from skin...

then i would soak the carcuas in a gallon of water with 1 cup of salts for 12 hours... remove and dry... slather in musterd... spinkle on some black pepper and garlic powder... tie up in plastic supermarket bag for 24 hours...

preheat to 200 deg... slide the dasypus novemcinctus in the middle with 4 hrs of misquite... maintain 200 deg until 180 internal... ftc for 4 to 6 hours...

should be fall off the bone dillo... pull it apart and mix it up with heb brand bbq sauce and you gotts yourself a fine dinner for you and 3 or 4 others... if needing to feed more than 3 or 4 just go back to the top and double everything... including the shiner...

dasypus novemcinctus before...

dasypus novemcinctus during...

dasypus novemcinctus after...

you gotts to eat...

owrstrich

ps i dont know sh1t about venision but i know a possiumdillo when in see one...

be patient... someone will show up and know what to do with that venison...

jaeger · January 03, 2006, 04:29:54 AM

Tex,
Welcome to the forum. If you are planning on making venison jerky, I would recommend 1/4 inch thick for your first batch. As far as seasoning, the sky is the limit. I have been using a dry jerky seasoning (like high mountain) but my next batch I'm going to try different flavor marinades on each shelf.
Here is my procedure for smoking/cooking jerky.
Pre heat Bradley on high about an hour. Put meat in and after 1/2 hour I start the smoke. At 1 to 1 1/2 hour from the start, I rotate the racks, top to bottom and front to the back. During this whole process I keep the temp on high and the vent wide open. Keeping the vent open will allow the moisture to escape and to help dry the jerky. I rotate again in an hour and after this point, I will remove pieces from the racks as the appear done. I basically rearrange the pieces as they are finishing the drying.
Usually with 4 full racks, I will smoke for 2 hours and the complete cook smoke time is at about 4+ hours.
Be prepared to do lots of sampling during this drying process and it's highly advisable to have someone available for a second opinion![;)][:D][8D]

Doug

jaeger · January 03, 2006, 04:52:06 AM

Tex,
Another good product is to grind about 1# of pork butt or fatty chuck roast to 9# of venison. Pick up a "jerky cannon" or "jerky shooter" and you can make a chopped and formed style of jerky. I like to use Eastman Outdoors Original for this with some added ingredients including mustard seed, garlic powder etc.
Cayenne pepper and crushed red pepper are also nice additions.
Here again you can experiment with different batches or per rack.
I pretty much cook/smoke the same as the other jerky, though I do use a temp. probe on the ground type. My kids love this stuff and I want to make sure it's safe.

If you have any questions, don't be shy!

Doug

Tex · January 03, 2006, 06:43:07 AM

Allright!!! I seasoned the smoker today. Tomorrow morning I'll pull out some venison for jerky. Jeager I have a few questions,

The jerky blaster sounds great but are you sure pork is safe in jerky. I thought pork is dangerous unless it is cooked all the way?

You say you move the jerky around alot. Why?

High temp... I read by keeping temp slow and low the jerky comes out much softer ..easier to chew. Is your jerky real tough when you do it that way? (I'm not trying to crash your info...I really appreciate it. I wanna make sure I know exactly how to do it)

Which wood do you reccomend? I have Alder and Mesquite

THANKS

Should I buy those jerky racks? I was just going to use shish kabob sticks on top of the racks and let the meat hang down.

I'll get to it later!!

Oldman · January 03, 2006, 11:24:45 AM

May I suggest you use the Adler first. The other one has been labled the Devil's wood here by many a member.

Olds

JJC · January 04, 2006, 02:01:34 AM

I agree with Olds about using Alder or some other wood before trying Mesquite. I actually like Mesquite, but have found that that it gives the best results when used about half the time for other woods.

Tex, Welcome to the Forum! As for pork, anything bad is killed as long as you get the temp up to 143F for a few minutes . . .

John
Newton MA

jaeger · January 04, 2006, 02:56:37 AM

Tex,
You are ready to make jerky!
First of all, I prefer using a BS for making jerky over a dehydrator because I want to reach a finished product temp of 160 degrees at some point. At this temp the meat is safe with the pork added. I add the pork or beef to add some fat as the venison is so lean.

The reason I use a high temp "With the Damper Open" is to recoup some heat loss from opening the door fairly often to help the moisture escape. Every time that I rotate the racks I lose most of the heat from the cabinet. It takes a while to regain the lost temp especially with the damper open. I rotate the racks around because there are spots in the cabinet that are more hot than other spots and this is my compensation to have the meat dry out evenly. The texture usually depends on the thickness of the meat. Usually at 1/4 inch thick the meat is not to tough, about like you would find if you bought some in a locker or store. You should be able to make jerky by hanging as you mentioned, you may need to still rotate the rack from front to back at the halfway point. The back will probably dry out faster, since it is close to the heat element, if you do not rotate. I prefer racks, I feel I get a more uniform heat distribution by rotating front to back, and top to bottom.
You asked about moving the jerky around on the racks, you will see what I mean when you make your fist batch. Some of the pieces will be drying faster than others and I just try to move things around to dry them out evenly. I actually remove some of the pieces completely as they appear "finished".

Back to adding pork, this of course is for a chopped/ground jerky. I have found that by adding a little extra water to the mixture makes the jerky gun work smoother. The down side is that the meat kind of "sags" in between the wider grid of the original racks,BUT these racks will work. Don't worry about new racks yet. You may want to add some if you try to make a double batch later, after you are more comfortable with the Bradley capabilities.

I would suggest about a 4-5# batch at first. Give it a try and don't be afraid to put your own spin on things!

Olds and JJC have great advice regarding times and temps IMO. Phone Guy also mentioned something important. The jerky will dry out more as it cools. You may want to pull some out and let it cool to see how the texture is. You can always slow down the process on the jerky by opening the door and letting the heat out. This is one product that it is OK to peek![:D][;)][:p]

By the way if you want to hang some venison, hang it like this....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v244/xcelsmoke/P1010042.jpg

Doug

Tex · January 04, 2006, 05:30:25 PM

THANKS GUYS!!! I'm ready to go. I've found an awesome spot to duck hunt so I havn't got to make jerky yet. I'll hit them green heads one more time tomorrow and then it'll be jerky time. I am very impressed with the knowledge on this site. Jeager your the man. I can tell you've put in your time and done your homework on the jerky makin processes. Thanks a million. I'll post some pics when I get the BS all loaded up.

ps those summer sausages looked great....all in due time for me.

Thanks again.
-f

I'll get to it later!!

JJC · January 05, 2006, 03:25:49 AM

Tex, have you met MallardWhacker yet?

Keep us posted!

John
Newton MA

Tex · January 05, 2006, 10:20:15 PM

No not yet. I slammed em again this morning. I should be cutting meat right now but a good front is here and the deer are movin early. Off I go. One more for the freezer before season ends.

I'll get to it later!!

Tex · January 20, 2006, 04:23:35 PM

Howdy, I made a few batches o jerky in the last few weeks. I torched the first batch. It was perfect but there were a few pieces that could use a little bit more heat so I unplugged the machine and left everything inside. I figured it'd die down pretty fast from 280. Well it didn't. My jerky had the same consistancy as charcoal. huh....should listened to Jeager and pulled it out as it was done. A couple of beers and a few glasses of wine will do that to you though. (lazy) Anyway I've made some good stuff after that.
Olds was right about the mesquite..I smoked only 40 min and it was perfect. Anyway thanks everyone for the help.

I'll get to it later!!

Tex · January 20, 2006, 04:26:07 PM

Howdy, I made a few batches o jerky in the last few weeks. I torched the first batch. It was perfect but there were a few pieces that could use a little bit more heat so I unplugged the machine and left everything inside. I figured it'd die down pretty fast from 280. Well it didn't. My jerky had the same consistancy as charcoal. huh....should listened to Jeager and pulled it out as it was done. A couple of beers and a few glasses of wine will do that to you though. (lazy) Anyway I've made some good stuff after that.
Olds was right about the mesquite..I smoked only 40 min and it was perfect. Anyway thanks everyone for the help.

I'll get to it later!!