Temp. Question

[SNIPERS215]

My cure says for the internal temp. of the meat to be 165. How would one know that ?? Is it possible to actually use a thermometer ??

[mikecorn.1]

Get yourself a thermometer. You can can some fairly inexpensive like at Walmart. Digital readout. Lot of folks here use a Thermapen by Thermoworks. Good for spot checking. And it's quick.
Also you can get something like a maverick et732 to monitor the IT remotely. Again you can get some
Less expensive that work well.


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[SNIPERS215]

I'm So Dumb !! I guess i should've said i was talking about making Jerky.... And was curious how u check that internal temp. with it being so thin.

DUH !!!

[mikecorn.1]

You don't. You go by look and feel. Experience, trial and error. Hopefully others will be by with more info. 
Hopefully they'll take away some of the trial and error out of the
Equation ;D

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[Habanero Smoker]

Hi Sniper;

I've been to Levittown a few times to judge a BBQ competition.

To add to Mikes posts, he mention two types of thermometers that have two different functions. The digital probe thermometer, such as the Maverick is a probe thermometer, that you can leave the probe in the meat during the cooking process. The specific Thermapen that he mentioned is an instant read, that can not be left in the meat while it is cooking, but is use to get a quick reading of the internal meat temperature.

I forgot to welcome you to the forum.

[Consooger]

I don't at all count myself  ajerky expert but I mainly do jerky and have had great success so far. I have posted many times about the way I do mine and my experiences have been great so far.

I try to stay away from ground, well because I had a horrible experience the first time but I am thinking about giving it a go again sometime soon. People who have had my muscle jerky keep asking me to make ground so I'm gonna try it again.

As for the method I always base what I do off 5 lb batches which will fill up 6 racks in my DBS. the 6 full racks will normally yield 2.75-3.25 lbs of jerky depending. I normally will cut it and marinade it overnight and then pull out and let get to room tempurature for about 60 mins before throwing into the Bradley. When doing this DO NOT FORGET THE CURE, sometimes I use my own mixtures and even when using the store bought I add some cure just because I feel better about it but again everyone has their own ways of doing such.

Once I have the Bradley to the temp I want I normally put the jerky in for an hour just to dry out the surface area before smoking. I will normally do  this for about 45 minutes to an hour at 155 degrees. After that I smoke for 2-4 hours depending on the smoke flavor as well as the style I am going for. I do this at a temp of 165. While doing this also I will rotate my racks top to bottom front to back that way the jerky gets an even distribution of heat and the outer and lower racks dont get burnt.

After the smoke once I am rotating the racks as I pull each one out I will flip the pieces and break them apart as they will stick to each other during the first hours you are making them. After that I will bump the tempurature to 155-160 for another 3-4 hours while rotating every hour. Now after the second hour you should be getting some of your thinner pieces to be done and you can test them by bensing them in the middle and seeing the texture of the edges. The thicker pieces will obviously take longer but between the 2nd and 3rd hour my thinner pieces are almost finished and I start pulling them out and throwing them in the bag I am going to use. The past 7-8 batches I have made I only did the last hours after smoke for about 3 hours because I find going the whole 4 hours some of them are dryer than I like and more done than I prefer. As I said it's all about personal preference. It's all about trial and error with jerky, I have made some I really liked and some that I didn't care too much for. It's all trial and error however I think I nailed my favorite last week with flavor and amount of smoke.

I also do not get an internal tempurature for this, it's all about look and feel with me, however I do use a Maverick es732 every time I make jerky as well as my other smokes I do. Get one, it is the best $50 I have spent on my smoking adventure.

Below are some of my batches I have done recently.









this was my first ever batch I made


John

[SNIPERS215]

Thanks so much for the suggestions. I've got the meat marinading till around 3. Then i'll let it get to room temp. then it's into the smoker. i'll let you know how it turns out.

[SNIPERS215]

URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/708/jerky1.jpg/][/URL]


There it is !! My first attempt with my new smoker.

1 hour (no smoke) @ 165
3.5 hours (smoke) @ 165
45 minutes @ 145

Turned out good.... next time going to use more seasoning (went by package instructions with this attempt). I think i'll also have the meat cut a little thinner too.
But i'm happy for my first try... taking it to a party today...  See what people think. Nobody's more critical than my drunk friends..LOL.

[Consooger]

nice going my man, just think, first batch is good, the next one and the one after that and the MANY after that will only get better!

Cheers!!!!

WHat kind of wood did you use?

John

[SNIPERS215]

Only bought hickory... So Far Anyway... LOL.

[Consooger]

Hickory is the way to go, I only use Hickory or Apple with my jerky. Apple I have found gives it a much milder/sweeter finish. You smoked with 3.5 hours of hickory huh? That must be some smokey jerky my friend!

What cut of meat did you use?

[muebe]

Nice job on the jerky!

You should give some ground beef jerky a try. It is really good. Just get a jerky gun. I have one made by LEM that works really well. I bought it from Amazon ;)






And also try some nuggets too :)

[mikecorn.1]

That jerky turned out looking good!


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[SNIPERS215]

thanks guys !!!
it was flank steak.
Hey Meube, Is that garlic on that last pic you sent ?? I'm a garlic lover ... definitely going to add more next time.

[Consooger]

that's the legendary Muebe nuggets with Soy Vey Teriyaki sauce, they sell it at Wal Mart, grab all they have the stuff is amazing for jerky and chicken!!!!!!!!