Did I muck up my Beef Jerky

Saber 4 · July 28, 2013, 02:34:55 PM

I think I got ahead of myself on my first beef jerky. I picked up an eye of round, sliced it up and put it in a ginger garlic teriyaki marinade (store bought). Then when I started looking here for smoking/drying times in the Bradley I realized I probably needed to add cure #1 before I dropped the meat in. I don't think I can separate the meat from the marinade enough to mix in the cure now, I might be able to dump it all in a big bowl and mix it as best I can. Here's pictures so you can help me with a solution, Can I save this or am I going to just have to scrap the jerky and make some stir fry for dinner?

NePaSmoKer · July 28, 2013, 02:59:18 PM

How many pounds of meat strips?

devo · July 28, 2013, 03:05:25 PM

If you have the lid for that bowl mix the cure in just enough water to get it dissolved. Drop that into the bowl, put the lid on and give it a good shake. Put the bowl into the fridge over night and you should be fine the next morning.

Sailor · July 28, 2013, 03:14:01 PM

What Devo said. Use 1 tsp of cure 1 per 5 pounds of meat. you can even take some of the marinade out and put it in a bowl and mix the cure in it to dissolve then mix it all up and let it sit in the fridge overnight. You will be fine.

rveal23 · July 28, 2013, 03:32:17 PM

Let us know, how it turns out!

Saber 4 · July 28, 2013, 03:36:27 PM

Thanks guy's it's only 2.5# of meat and I do have the lid on it in the fridge, I'll calculate the cure #1 and add it now. I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.

Any suggestions for time/temp of smoke and cook?

I get my frog mats in the mail tomorrow afternoon or should I do the hanging paper clip method I saw in some of the posts?
:D

NePaSmoKer · July 28, 2013, 04:00:59 PM

Quote from: Saber 4 on July 28, 2013, 03:36:27 PM
Thanks guy's it's only 2.5# of meat and I do have the lid on it in the fridge, I'll calculate the cure #1 and add it now. I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.

Any suggestions for time/temp of smoke and cook?

I get my frog mats in the mail tomorrow afternoon or should I do the hanging paper clip method I saw in some of the posts?
:D

Add 1/2 tsp of cure to 1/2 cup water, stir to dissolve and add to the teriyaki marinade and mix in.

Saber 4 · July 28, 2013, 07:10:08 PM

Quote from: NePaSmoKer on July 28, 2013, 04:00:59 PM
Quote from: Saber 4 on July 28, 2013, 03:36:27 PM
Thanks guy's it's only 2.5# of meat and I do have the lid on it in the fridge, I'll calculate the cure #1 and add it now. I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.

Any suggestions for time/temp of smoke and cook?

I get my frog mats in the mail tomorrow afternoon or should I do the hanging paper clip method I saw in some of the posts?
:D

Add 1/2 tsp of cure to 1/2 cup water, stir to dissolve and add to the teriyaki marinade and mix in.

that's basically what I did, the Lem's cure said 1.1g per pound so I did 2.75g in 1/2 cup of water to help loosen up the marinade because it looked a little thick for good penetration.

I've been looking at times and temps from old posts and from KyNola and Sailor I've figured out to go 150 until it bends without breaking, so I figure I'll do a couple of hours of smoke and keep checking every couple of hours.

I noticed in an old post from 2009 that you were telling someone to run the smoker at 150 but no water in the puck bowl just an empty bowl to catch the used up pucks and my question is do you still do this and if I have water in the bowl will it keep the jerky from drying out correctly.

Tenpoint5 · July 29, 2013, 06:27:21 AM

Water in the bowl until the smoke time is complete

Saber 4 · July 29, 2013, 06:32:40 AM

Thanks, I'll be putting it on this afternoon when I get my frog mats in the mail. :)

Saber 4 · July 29, 2013, 06:25:55 PM

Pulled the jerky this afternoon and dumped it in a strainer to get the excess marinade off and start bringing it up to room temp, then got my new frog mats out and started laying it out and adding some fresh ground pepper to it, got three trays out of 2.5 lbs of meat

Here it is going into the smoker at 150 for 2 hours of mesquite and on to finished

It's been in since 3:30 this afternoon so hopefully it will finish before midnight but it's still pretty moist.

Saber 4 · July 29, 2013, 10:02:39 PM

After 8 hours total here is the first attempt at Beef Jerky

Following the info I found that said it's done when it bends without breaking it should be done

It has a good flavor, a little sweet with a nice bite from the pepper, maybe a little tough will see how it is in the morning after resting.

Lessons learned:
1. Either start earlier so it finishes before bedtime or start later so I can go to sleep after the smoke and check it early in the morning.
2. Use a thinner marinade, this one was so thick it took awhile to start drying out and had an almost candy like flavor to the outside, will make my own next time.
3. Don't drop any around the dogs when I'm taking it out. :-[
4. Get an extra set of racks and make more next time.

devo · July 29, 2013, 10:36:22 PM

Looks very good from where I'm sitting. (work) >:(

Saber 4 · July 30, 2013, 07:10:37 AM

Quote from: devo on July 29, 2013, 10:36:22 PM
Looks very good from where I'm sitting. (work) >:(

It's very good, I just wanted to make notes for changes next time. I'm going to vac seal it and bring it to the Midwest Smoke out for some input from the masters

KyNola · July 30, 2013, 07:14:23 AM

Looks good from here! About the toughness, if you sliced the meat with the grain it is going to have more "pull" to it. If you can slice against the grain without the pieces being too small it should have less of a "pull" to it. Either way, your jerky looks good! Reminds me, I'm out of jerky. >:(