To hang or not to hang

[curtis.venne]

Hey all, total newbie here. Made a batch of Deer, moose and northern duck (goldeneye/great scaup/ringneck) jerky and in all cases it turned out pretty good considering i've only had this smoker for 2 weeks. Now in all cases I take the meat out of the marinade (didn't wipe down or pat dry, not sure if i should) and laid it out on the racks. Is this the best practice or should i be hanging them via toothpicks on the racks??

Thanks

Curtis

[tailfeathers]

I use racks with frogmats when I make jerky. I also have a dehydrator so I usually smoke for 2-2.5 hrs, then transfer to the dehydrator to finish drying. With the frogmats I can just pick up the mat and move it from the smoker rack to the dehydrator rack without having to remove the jerky and arrange it again. Works like a charm. As far as I can see the advantage to hanging is simply the increased capacity it gives you. If you have enough rack space that's what I would do.


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[tskeeter]

To increase the jerky capacity of their smoker, some folks have purchased a second set of racks.  When an upside down rack is put on top of a right side up rack, the rack space is doubled, and there is still space for air and smoke to circulate through both racks of jerky.  The capacity increase similar to hanging, without the hassle.

[curtis.venne]

Ok, cool, i just thought maybe hanging was the preferred way..

Thanks all.

[tailfeathers]

Oh and by the way, I neglected to say hi and welcome you to the forums. So hi, and welcome to the the forum. Lots of good people hanging around here who are always happy to answer any questions that arise, so don't hesitate to ask! Oh, and we like pictures! And be sure to check this site for great recipes, tips and other useful information:
http://www.susanminor.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?180-Our-Time-Tested-and-Proven-Recipes

[tskeeter]

Ok, cool, i just thought maybe hanging was the preferred way..

Thanks all.

Curtis, I think you'll find, by reading posts here, that there are multiple"preferred ways" for many processes.  In some respects, it can be a little confusing to try to select an option from two or three suggestions.  The good thing is, they all work.  So, it becomes more of a question of which way you are most comfortable with.

The one thing that we all seem to agree on is that the link that Tailfeathers provided to Our Time Test and Proven Recipes is a great resource for ideas and specifics on how to do things.  The recipes were provided by the forum's most experienced members, so they are well tested by people who know exactly what they are talking about.  You will find that most of these recipes contain specific details that is absent from typical recipes.  The detail is possible because the equipment we are using to prepare these recipes is very similar.  The level of detail is one of the things that I found very helpful as I was getting started and trying to get a grasp on things.