cooking time for jerky please.

[holysmokers]

doing some jerky (beef) and need some time guild lines if anybody would care to share with me?? I have a six rack digital if that matters thanks.

[tailfeathers]

I can't really give you a set time, but I will offer you a little advice. (I'm far from an expert by the way, this might be a case of the blind leading the blind so to speak). First thing to remember, when you are making jerky you are trying to dry the meat, not cook it so use a low temp setting. I use 150F and it seems to work for me. I also only apply smoke for the 1:40 (five pucks) then just continue drying until I get the texture I want. The meat should bend but not break when you check it, and you should see some fine white threads when it is bent. Just keep an eye on it, rotate racks top to bottom and front to back periodically so your pieces get done somewhat evenly. KEEP YOUR VENT OPEN so moisture doesn't build up in the cabinet. Check the ceiling of the tower once in a while and if any moisture has accumulated wipe it off with a paper towel, you do not want "black rain" falling on your food, its very bitter. You will probably find that all your jerky doesn't get done at the same time, just remove the pieces as they get done. I like to cool mine in brown paper bags to absorb anything on the surface of the jerky. Again, you really can't go by a set time, but I would "guestimate" 5-6 hours using this method. You didn't specify whether you are making whole muscle or ground beef jerky, but this method should work for either. If you don't mind, what kind of meat and what cures/spices are you using?

[tailfeathers]

I should have mentioned this on the other reply, but I would have the meat as dry as possible and at room temp when you put it in the smoker, and have the smoker preheated to 150F before putting in the meat. Doing these few things will reduce your drying time, and when I guesstimated 5-6 hrs that was assuming these were followed. Putting refrigerated, wet meat into a cold smoker will drastically increase drying time. I would also preheat the puck burner for at least 20 minutes before advancing the first puck onto the burner plate. Let us know how it turns out for you, we like pictures!!

[Saber 4]

TF has you going in the right direction.

[RAF128]

I've got a 6 rack and just finished a couple of batches, one whole muscle and one of ground moose.   I like a little more smoke flavor so smoke for almost 3 hours with maple.   After the smoke, I remove the water and keep going.   I apply the smoke at 140 and then step the temp up to 180.   Have to rotate several times.   Usually takes 6 hours but some pieces come out early.   The ones in the front and back of the smoker seem to get done sooner.