Did I muck up my Beef Jerky

Saber 4 · July 30, 2013, 07:25:53 AM

Quote from: KyNola on 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. >:(

If that question mark comes off your name for the smoke out you'll get a chance to taste it, I'm going to vac seal it and bring it so I can get some opinions on improving the next batch. Looking forward to meeting you and the others in Iowa.

rveal23 · July 30, 2013, 09:21:26 AM

Great jerky Saber 4. If you liked this batch I can imagine how much better its going to get on your next attempt!

SiFumar · July 30, 2013, 07:11:57 PM

I use eye of round for all my jerky....but I just cut it across in rounds..not sticks. Like this...tender every time.

Yours still looks tasty!

Saber 4 · July 30, 2013, 07:36:30 PM

I'll have to give that a try, that is some good looking jerky, I found another issue when I went to clean the smoker this morning, in the middle of everything I forgot to pull the puck bowl after the smoke was done so I probably slowed my drying down and doubled my time, live and learn.

SiFumar · July 30, 2013, 07:44:48 PM

It happens.. :). I now just smoke in the Bradley then move to dehydrator. I have a 4 rack, double up the racks...do 5 lbs...put in dehydrator...then smoke another 5lbs. I can then get more done. I ship a lot to my son in Korea.

Saber 4 · August 02, 2013, 02:06:02 PM

Round two beef jerky is now in the smoker, I found a 4lb eye of round on sale at Sam's for 11 bucks. Sliced it in rounds the way SiFumar suggested and marinated it in a variation of Kevin A's Teriyaki Jerky Marinade. After trimming and slicing I had 3.5lbs so I mixed my marinade as follows:
8 oz Soy sauce
3 oz Worcestershire Sauce (called for 4 but only had 3 in bottle)
1 cup Brown Sugar
2 tsp Ground Ginger (called for fresh but all I had on hand)
1 TBS Onion Flake (called for chopped scallion but none in fridge)
3.85g Cure #1 by weight
Didn't have any sesame oil so I skipped that
Ground fresh pepper on when it was out of marinade and racked up.

Put in at 150 for 1 hour of Hickory plus 2 hours of Oak(wanted strong smoke and using up small leftovers)
Rotated front to back and top to bottom when smoke finished, tasted a small piece off the back of the bottom rack that was thin and done. It had a great taste and texture so I am thinking I've got a better batch going this time. I think I'll change to a 50/50 mix of soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce to get a balance of salt and bite.

Sorry no pictures till it comes out, a friend brought his work trailer over for a welding repair while I was racking it up and I forgot to take any.

Saber 4 · August 02, 2013, 07:57:37 PM

Here's a picture of the final product, definitely not as tough cut this way, I still need to tweak the recipe. It needs a bit more salt and spice in my opinion

Cutting it across the grain you could really see the shrinkage when it was done, I'd weigh it but to many pieces were sampled as it came out of the smoker, had the wife and a friend hanging around when it was time to pull it, they did say they liked the flavor so it may just be my quest for the perfect flavor.

EBacon · August 03, 2013, 06:40:15 PM

Got a 10 pound pork shoulder in doing a cold smoke with some cherry, after another hour or so ill fire up the burner at about 250 for 18 hours

Saber 4 · August 03, 2013, 07:01:05 PM

That ought to be tasty eats

Tenpoint5 · August 03, 2013, 08:01:33 PM

Saber if you want a little more fire and flavor add some of that mustard fusion you picked up in with the next batch

pz · August 03, 2013, 08:48:44 PM

Red pepper flakes in the marinade also add a good amount of kick. I do plenty of coarse black pepper in the marinade as well :)

Saber 4 · August 04, 2013, 07:16:48 AM

Quote from: Tenpoint5 on August 03, 2013, 08:01:33 PM
Saber if you want a little more fire and flavor add some of that mustard fusion you picked up in with the next batch

Now that sounds like a plan, I couldn't bring my self to use the Chai Thai Teriyaki sauce he gave me to try on beef jerky(saving it for some stir fry and grilled pork chops) but didn't even think about adding the mustard fusion sauce. I bet that would have made the difference, I've got to get to the point where I trust my instincts more and not just follow recipes.

Sailor · August 04, 2013, 09:57:24 AM

Sabor.....trust your gut when you go into mad scientist mode. Make up a pound test batch and if you don't like it you are not out that much money. I know Chris goes into his Mad Scientist mode quite often ;D When I was developing my Honey Heat snack sticks I did several 1 pound batches and made calls to Chris and Rick for advice until I got the right amount of Honey, Brown Sugar and Cayanne. The test batches were good and got eaten but they were not what I was looking for. Then I kept adjusting and hit what I was looking for.

What is so great about this hobby is you can take a recipe and tweak it around to your own tastes.

Saber 4 · August 04, 2013, 10:07:35 AM

Quote from: Sailor on August 04, 2013, 09:57:24 AM
Sabor.....trust your gut when you go into mad scientist mode. Make up a pound test batch and if you don't like it you are not out that much money. I know Chris goes into his Mad Scientist mode quite often ;D When I was developing my Honey Heat snack sticks I did several 1 pound batches and made calls to Chris and Rick for advice until I got the right amount of Honey, Brown Sugar and Cayanne. The test batches were good and got eaten but they were not what I was looking for. Then I kept adjusting and hit what I was looking for.

What is so great about this hobby is you can take a recipe and tweak it around to your own tastes.

You are so right, I'm getting in touch with my inner mad scientist more and more.