Questions on making venison snack sticks - need advice

[joaxe]

Bradley Smoker Forum,

Hello!  I'm going to try my 1st smoke this weekend.

I am planning to do some ground venison snack sticks (no casing) shot from a jerky cannon onto drying trays/screens.  I am going to be using Cabela's Smokehouse "Sweet and Hot" jerky seasoning.  I was researching how to do this.  There are many methods that are getting my head to spin...

I was thinking of placing the sticks in the BS611 for an hour or 2 with smoke then finishing them up (drying them) in the oven.  Does anyone have a foolproof (yes, I am a fool...) method and/or should I be doing these completely in the Bradley?

Need some expert help, my peeps!

Thanks in advance,

"Soon to be Smokin" Joe

[ragweed]

I usually do 2 hrs smoke at 150* F then finish in a dehydrator.  No dehydrator, then I'd finish in the Bradley @ 150* F, vent wide open, no water in the drip pan.  Remember, you want to dry it not cook it.  Good luck and let us see the results :) :)

[joaxe]

Thanks, ragweed!

I was checking out some YouTube videos by High Country seasonings.  They "flash cooked" the jerky in a pre-heated oven at 325 degrees F to achieve the 160 degree F internal temperature (took something like 11 minutes!).  Once that was done, they either used a smoker or a dehydrator to dry the jerky to the desired consistency.

I might try this method for my first time ("jerky virgin"  ;D) smoking meats.  I finally put together (and recently seasoned) my BS611 after 8 months of it sitting in the house with the shipping foam still in it.

Open to all other suggestions, though!

"Soon to be Smokin" Joe

[viper125]

If you want to do in oven its fine. Turn on oven to the lowest setting it will go. Prop door open with a spoon or fork 1/4 -1/2 inch. This allows moisture to escape. Check and pull when its to the point you want it. Or till you can bend it in half but cracks dont break. Made it many years this way as a child. So sure you'll be fine.

[joaxe]

Well...forum peeps...I did it!

Using the High Country YouTube video, PDF instructions and all of the expert jerky posts on here as a reference (yes, I looked through about 25 pages of posts!), I mixed up 5 lbs. of venison ground meat (absolutely NO fat in/on the meat as I am a stickler about that.  ;)) with the Cabela's "Sweet and Hot" jerky making kit.  Then, I shot the venison onto jerky trays using a Cabela's jerky cannon.

I had bought a cheap Taylor Remote Probe digital thermometer at Walmart so I could monitor the internal temp of the snack sticks and proceeded to load up the trays.  Once loaded, I placed them into a pre-heated GE electric oven (set at 325° F) for about 10 minutes until the IT reached 160°.  Then, I opened the oven door, removed the probe and left the door open about 5" for another 20 minutes with the oven set to 170°.  I went outside to heat up the BS611 smoker.

I had to take all of the snack sticks off of the tray screens and transfer them to the Bradley racks.  I had the BS611 hovering around 130° for about 45 minutes with the damper open all of the way.  Then, I applied hickory smoke for 1 hour (3 bisquettes) between 130° - 140° and rotated the racks about 1/2 hour into the smoke.  I removed the water pan after the smoke process and set the damper to about 1/2 open.  I raised the cabinet temp to about 140° - 150° and continued the drying process, rotating racks, until the snack sticks slightly tore after being fully bent.  I turned off the smoker and brought all of the snack sticks into the house, letting them cool for a bit before wrapping them in a damp paper towel and placing them into Zip-lock bags in the fridge.

I'm pretty satisfied with the results (see pictures below) even while being "injured".  ;D

Loading the trays:



Ouch!!! (Yes, I stupidly touched the aluminum "puck" that was sitting on the bisquette burner not realizing the burner was still ON!)


Finished product!


Any suggestions, recommendations or constructive criticisms are HIGHLY appreciated!

Thanks, everyone, for the help...and THANK YOU for this forum!  :D

...now the "sickness" begins!  ;D

"Smokin" Joe

[Saber 4]

Looks like a great batch of sticks. :)

[viper125]

Yes good job. I would smoke first if it was me then in oven. But it looks great. and if it tastes as great as it looks and your happy id keep the same way.

[watchdog56]

They look good but HMMM I can't seem to quite figure out the flavor. Maybe you should send me some? ;)

[pikeman_95]

You might like to look at this post. Just ignore the fat extraction part.

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=25768

kc

[pensrock]

Ouch!!! (Yes, I stupidly touched the aluminum "puck" that was sitting on the bisquette burner not realizing the burner was still ON!)

I know another forum member who did that also.  ;D  ;)
Bet you only do it once! Jerky looks like it came out good.

[joaxe]

You might like to look at this post. Just ignore the fat extraction part.

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=25768

kc

That's a GREAT post!  I especially like the bend test when frozen to determine the moisture content.

Joe

[joaxe]

Ouch!!! (Yes, I stupidly touched the aluminum "puck" that was sitting on the bisquette burner not realizing the burner was still ON!)

I know another forum member who did that also.  ;D  ;)
Bet you only do it once! Jerky looks like it came out good.

Yeah...you know it!  ;D

Jerky snack sticks came out great!  I used the Cabela's Sweet and Hot jerky mix but I can definitely see me coming up with my own mix in the future to tweak the flavor.  Now...if only I can figure a way out to make them last LONGER!  ;D

Thanks, everyone, for the assistance!

Joe

[joaxe]

Bradley Peeps,

I made another batch of deer jims last week.  I pretty much followed the same method as listed earlier in this thread except that I "flash-cooked" the jims in the kitchen oven (same as before) then moved them to the Bradley racks and applied 1 hour 20 minutes worth of hickory smoke.  Before I smoked the deer jims, I "misted" them with water using a spray bottle.  That seemed to allow the smoke to "stick" to the jims better.  I finished them up in the kitchen oven at 170 degrees F (with the door slightly open) for another few hours.  I didn't dry them out as long and that made for a better product.

...still trying to figure out how to make them last longer!  :(

Thanks, again, everyone!

P.S. Can anyone explain the "frog mats" and are they worth purchasing?

Joe

[tailfeathers]

Frog mats are almost a must have accessory in my opinion. I spray them with pam and use them no matter what I am smoking, nothing sticks to them and they clean up very easily. Instead of Frog mats you might want to check into "Q mats" at A-Maze-N's website. I have both, the only difference is the Q has a slightly smaller mesh size. They are much cheaper, and they come in rolls so you can cut them to fit however you want them. While your at it I also recommend A-Maze-N's tube, you put pellets in it and use it to generate smoke instead of Bradley pucks. I still use both, but find myself using the tube more and more often. I buy 5 lb bags of pellets for @ $6 and that will fill a gallon ice cream pail. You get about an hour of smoke per cup of pellets, if you do the math your tube pays for itself right quick.

[tailfeathers]

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=35141.msg406769#msg406769
The butts in the smoker are on Frog mats in the photos, that will tell you what they are like.