Jerky Cook Times...Help????

[zr2paul]

I bought the Jerky cure from High Mountain and on the instructions it says in order to make jerky I need to set the Smoker at 200F and suppose to leave the meat in the smoker for 1.5 - 2 hours?  Does this make sense???  I thought to make jerky I need to keep it in the smoker for about 5 hours at 150F?  I really need to make this jerky this week so if someone could please help me out on the proper Temperature and Time I'm  suppose to set the smoker at I'd really appreciate it!

Thank You!

Paul

[Wilbur]

I like to keep the heat no hotter than 150 and rotate the racks around a bit, the bottom ones are always hotter than the top.
Doing a batch right now, usually first pieces are ready in bout 5 hours. Just keep an eye on it and sample the odd piece, depends how dry and chewy you like it.

[n/a]

Thanks Wilber,

I just did a batch yesterday, this was the third batch so far that I've done, I was keeping the smoke on for about 6 hours and the heat up and after the 6 hours I turned the smoke off and opened the vent on the top and left on high for another couple of hours to dry it a little more. I used some Maple bisquetts for this last batch with the High Mountin Mandarin Teriyaki Jerky seasoning. It turned out very good!! I will try turning the heat down a little as I thought it was a little high. I'm cutting my filetted Steelhead in quarter inch, not square pieces, it works better if the fish is a little frozen. Please send any other helpful hints you might have to offer.

Thank you,  Larry M[;)]

[zr2paul]

So If I keep the temperature at 170F and cook for about 5-6 hours and have the smoke on for the first 4-5 hours, the jerky should be fine correct?  Do I keep the vent open at all times when cooking the jerky?   What do I need to do once the 5-6 cooking hours are done?  Do I need to let them stay in the cooker for an hour with everything off?  Please any help would be very much appreciated.  I'd like as much detail from start to finish if possible.  Thank you!

Paul

[Wilbur]

Paul, I only use 3-4 wood biskits with the vent half open. When you first put in all the cold meat it will take a while for the heat to build up again, once it does I keep it no hotter than 150.
I just did a batch of 8 pounds with the high mountain seasonings as well. Get yourself some an extra set of racks so you can do more at once. Last pieces I just took out were on there 10 hours or so, if its too hot you'll 'cook' the meat rather than just dry it.

Haven't done any smoked fish in it yet Larry, but at least that's covered in the manual unlike jerky which isn't even mentioned in the Bradley manual.
Hope this helps
will

[zr2paul]

A few questions if you can answer for me please:

Do smoke the meat first using the smoker only?  Then once the smoking bisquettes are done you set the heat to 150F and leave it in there for as long as it takes?

Also...I did some research and it says in order to kill all bacteria you must use at least 165F to be safe.

This is the process Im going to do...please correct me if I am doing anything wrong?

1.Place the meats strips on the trays
2.Smoke the meat (not cook) for about 1.5-3hours.
3.Turn off the smoker and now turn the cooker on and set to 165F.
4.Leave in the meat until fully dried as desired.  In the meantime, rotating the racks so they meat is evenly distributed to all of the meat.

How does that sound?

Or can I smoke and cook at the same and then once the smoking bisquettes are done I just turn the smoker off and let the cooker stay at 165F?

Thanks..you've been a real help!

Paul

[zr2paul]

I forgot to add in....what do I do with the vent?  Should I keep the vent totally closed while smoking then once the smoking is done, keep it fully open as the meat is drying at 165F?

Thanks!

Paul

[n/a]

Paul, it sounds like Wilber is our man!  I've been leaving my vent just cracked during smoking but have had the heat up on high, like I said I opened the vent full after smoking, I'm going to try the next batch following Wilbers suggestions, hopefully he will respond to the vent......Another thing I forgot to mention is I alway's skin my fish as I think it takes the fishy taste away and gets a better smoke throughout.

Larry M [;)]

[zr2paul]

Yes he's been great!  I just put in my moose jerky strips into the Smoker about 30minutes ago.  This is what I did and plan to do:

I put in 24 Hickory Briquettes (4hours 40min) into the smoker...I hope this is not too much!?!  Maybe Ill do less.  I turned the smoker generator on, I started the cooker and have it set at 160F with the vent quarter open.  I figure at around the time the briquettes are done I can check to see how the meat is doing.  Ill probably stop the smoke generator and keep the cooker at 160F until the meat is fully dried.  Hows does that sound?  I noticed a lot of moisture around the vent...is that normal?  I guess its coming from the meat or maybe because it's cool (damp) outside.

I hope this is right...the thing that worries me the most is getting seriously sick because I did something wrong.

The only problem Im having is gettting to 160F....it takes sooooooo long [:(!] but after 30min it finally reached 160F.  I just need to keep checking on the temp to make sure it stays at 160F.  Its currently raining very lightly (misty) and temp is a little damp outside not very cold at all.  Put the smoker in my shack with the door open to get the smoke out.  I hope that does the trick!

Where you guys from?  I live in Ontario, Canada....20min north of Toronto.

Larry M....Ill have to get some fish smoking tips from you one day.  My Dad is the one who bought the smoker and since he loves smoked fish, Im going to buy some fresh Trout and Salmon and smoke it for him as thank you for the Smoker...I would love to try Salmon Jerky again...it was very good when I last had it.

Paul

[Wilbur]

Me again, I've been using both the main heater and the smoke heater all the time, once the biskits are gone, if it gets too warm I turn off the biskit heater.
The manual says you can do a cold smoke by not using the main heater but I haven't done any fish yet, when I do I'll be asking you guys for advice!  [:o)]

I keep the vent half closed when 'smoking' and adjust it and the burner level to maintain the temp to around 150.
 
I got my Bradley at an auction for a great price and I've made quite a bit of Jerky. It's a little cooler here in the Vancouver BC area now and I don't have to turn the heat down so much like I did earlier in the year. (I used to have to put the box over my little chief  to keep it warm.) I knew nothing the first time cuz its not covered in the manual so I did some searches on the internet and here's some of the links:
http://homecooking.about.com/library/archive/blbeef98.htm

http://www.melborponsti.com/rindex.php?source=webpage&rtype=jerky&ttype=Jerky

http://www.greatjerky.com/beefjerkyrecipes.html

http://www.alljerky.com/wwwboard/wwwboard.html

The last link is great, they talk about all sorts of things and have lotsa recipes.

Good luck!
Will

[zr2paul]

So basically what I said above is correct?  After 5 hours, the Moose Jerky should complete or almost complete correct?  How can I tell if the jerky is ready?  Im scared to under cook (dry) it and dont wont to over do it and make it like leather.

Thanks!

Paul

[n/a]

Paul,

I don't think you will have to worry about getting sick from not cooking enough if your leaving it for that period and temp for that time!

Your going to get quite a bit of condinsation from the meat and also from the water pot in the bottom, like I said I generally turn off the bisquette heat and remove the water to dry to taste, like Wilber says, he use's the vent to also control the heat a little better also. I have been just cracking the vent for the first few hours then opening more through the process, I think it's still trial and error for the first few times....  Wilber has been a great reference as I'm sure he's done a lot more of this with this kind of unit then most! Thank you Wilber [^]

I'm from Pullman, Washington and do a lot of Steelhead and Salmon fishing on the Clearwater and Snake rivers in Washington and Idaho. So far we've boated over 75 Steelhead this season, only keeping 8 of them but now that I've gotten this smoker will probably keep a few more!! I've only tried the Alder and Maple so far, I like the milder smoke for my fish.

[zr2paul]

Well its 4:00pm and its been about 4.5 hours the Moose Meat Strips have been in the smoker.  I have about another hour or so worth of smoking bisquettes left.  I think the next time I do jerky im only going to put in 3-4 hours worth as that should be more than enough.  Id like to try Maple next time to for the Jerky.  Around 4:30 Im going to put the bottom tray on the 3rd level and put the 3rd level tray at the bottom and leave the middle tray...since I only have 3 trays worth of jerky (1lb/tray)...3 different flavors from Hi Mountain (Hickory, Black Pepper & Garlic, and Cajun).  Once the smoke briquettes are done im going to stop the smoke generator and take the bowl of water out.  Then im going to let the meat sit for a couple more hours, checking it often to make sure i dont over dry it.

Paul

[zr2paul]

Its 5:00pm and I went to check the meat about 20min ago...the jerky seems to be ready, maybe even a lil too dried BUT its good!  Well good enough for my first try at Smoking Jerky!  Thank you both for all the help and support!  I hope we can keep in touch on this forum...seems like nobody chats on here at all which really sucks!  I plan to check this forum at least 1 a week if not more just in case somebody needs help!  Once again thank you!

My next project will be smoked Trout and Salmon...Stay Tuned!

Paul

[Wilbur]

Let us know how the fish turns out, might do some myself before Christmas. Didn't kill too many trout this year and so far no coho but I've only been out a couple times. Plus I only flyfish so which is not always the most productive for salmon! [:p]

Enjoy your jerky Paul, I musta had 2 pounds worth last night, great when washed down with a beer or 2!  [:D]