Man of Wack...needs some help with JERKY

[MallardWacker]

OK...here it goes, I know I going down a slippery slope here.  I am going to make some jerky.  I am going to stick with some Hi Mountain (Bourbon BBQ) that I picked up yesterday.  Can you give me the short version but I would like to make this jerky thicker than some of this razor thin stuff I have seen, plus I like chewing on the stuff and I think thicker would lend itself to that.  I am seeing way too much thinly cut meat at Wally's that gets marked down not to take advantage of this.  Some of my questions are...

What is TOO thick?

What temps and basically how long??

What am I looking for when it is done?

Is 7lbs pounds of meat too much to start off with?

I think I could fill in the rest if I get these answered.

Any pit falls I need to look out for.

Thanks....

[Wildcat]

Hi MW!  I want to see these answers as well since I love jerky and have not tried it.  I do not have a meat slicer, but then again ugly is fine as long as the taste is right!

I do not think you have to worry about too much meat.  Unless I am mistaken jerky, especially if vac sealed, will keep for a very long time>

[Tiny Tim]

I did some that I sliced 1/4" thick.  Don't think it shrunk more than 1/32 in thickness, but I haven't measured it.  Didn't completely dry it either, as I didn't want it crispy or breakable.  Only thing I would have done differently is to rinse it or let it soak 10 minutes in water to get rid of the excess salty taste.

[Mr Walleye]

What is TOO thick?

What temps and basically how long??

What am I looking for when it is done?

Is 7lbs pounds of meat too much to start off with?

I think I could fill in the rest if I get these answered.

Any pit falls I need to look out for.

Thanks....

Hi MW

I've made a fair bit of jerky. I'm assuming you are doing whole muscle. IMHO I think much over 1/4 inch is too thick. The outside tends to get drie but the inside does not if it's too thick. Using my PID I like to keep the tower around 160 to 165 degrees now. Prior to the PID I set my DBS to 170 and it worked ok. I usually apply about 1 hour and 20 minutes of hickory. The overall time is usually around 8 to 9 hours for 8.5 lbs. Although anytime after about 4.5 to 5 hours you might be starting to remove some pieces. What you are looking for when done is kinda personal preference but I usually look for a color change, it gets darker but not too dark and when you bend it you can see the fibers of the meat kinda get lighter in color. But it's not brittle. I find that once you cool the jerky and refridgerate it for a couple of days (if it lasts that long) it actually seems to be dryer. You will also have to do some rack rotations. It helps if you have a circulation fan but I still do 1 rotation at about the 2 hour mark. It seems the first couple of hours when the heater is running at full tilt to keep the temp up it dries the bottom rack a little faster.

Good luck with it.
Mike

[MallardWacker]

Thanks folks....that is the type of info I am looking for.

I plan on using Eye of Round...It seems that my store always seems to have this marked down and already sliced at less than a 1/4.  Do you folks typically have the butcher slice it?  I would think the some sort of uniformity would help?

[iceman]

Thanks folks....that is the type of info I am looking for.

I plan on using Eye of Round...It seems that my store always seems to have this marked down and already sliced at less than a 1/4.  Do you folks typically have the butcher slice it?  I would think the some sort of uniformity would help?

If you don't have a slicer by al means let the meat counter do it for you. Eye of round works good IMO but that's just me yaking away. :D

[PigOut]

Hi !
  I've been making alot or jerky lately and I'm putting out some good product. At the start though when the DBS was new, I ruined 7lbs with poor vent management and to hi of a temp. Ended up with steamed meat.
   I use a marinate and the meat is pretty wet when I start so I dehydrate it for 1-2hrs to start the drying process then put it in the DBS using just the smoke gen for heat and smoke. The cab climbs to about 115-120.Low and slow.
  Jerky is supposed to be dried and not cooked, any thing over 150 and your cookin the meat. After a few hrs. I might even put them back in the dehydrator if needed.
  Of course there are variables. Air is really dry this time of year or you might be using a dry rub and not need so much drying.
  They guys at work are always trying to give me meat money ! I did 6lbs last weekend of top loin and it was highly acclaimed at work. Gone Mon. afternoon.
  Thickness is best at 3/16" IMHO. I've made it thinner and thicker and this works the best for me.
  Good  luck and let me know how you make out.

                                               Skip
  P.S Remember, Slice with the grain, not against it

[Mr Walleye]

Yup, I let my butcher do it because I don't have a slicer and like "O" says....

Even the butcher's gotta eat!  ;D

Mike

[Smudge]

O Mallard Mauler,

I picked up some Bourbon-flavored Hi Mountain seasoning myself a month ago. I bought a whole 3 pound eye of round and instead of slicing it in the traditional thin jerky style, I chunked it up in big enough squares so they would not fall through the regular Bradley metal racks, yet could be consumed within two bitefulls. I suppose they were slightly larger than one inch squares.

They were exceptionally good. I don't recall how long I had them in the smoker, but I was just going by appearance. When I opened the door and saw the mahogany brown chunks just begging to be eaten I knew they were done.

Keep that method in mind.

[jaeger]

MallardWacker,
I have had good luck with the High Mountain.  I tend to use bottom round mostly but Eye of Round should work fine. I usually slice at least 1/4 " thick across the grain. With eye of round you will have jerky puck shapes. When I make jerky I like to use 4 racks instead of stacking the racks. I usually get about 5# of meat  to fill the four racks.
I use a high temp and  I leave the damper wide open the whole time. I smoke for at least 3 hours. With rotations starting at 1 1/2 hours and then every hour. With the door open and damper wide open, the temp works for me. Total time 4.5 hours.
A lot of good points mentioned here by Walleye and Pig and everyone else.
Most important IMO, rotation...you know the drill. I start taking pieces off as they appear done and move the pieces around. 
Also as mentioned earlier, the pieces will be more firm once they are cooled. If some pieces get to dry........eat them right away!!!!!! ;D ;D ;D

[Wildcat]

MallardWacker,
I have had good luck with the High Mountain.  I tend to use bottom round mostly but Eye of Round should work fine. I usually slice at least 1/4 " thick across the grain. With eye of round you will have jerky puck shapes. When I make jerky I like to use 4 racks instead of stacking the racks. I usually get about 5# of meat  to fill the four racks.
I use a high temp and  I leave the damper wide open the whole time. I smoke for at least 3 hours. With rotations starting at 1 1/2 hours and then every hour. With the door open and damper wide open, the temp works for me. Total time 4.5 hours.
A lot of good points mentioned here by Walleye and Pig and everyone else.
Most important IMO, rotation...you know the drill. I start taking pieces off as they appear done and move the pieces around. 
Also as mentioned earlier, the pieces will be more firm once they are cooled. If some pieces get to dry........eat them right away!!!!!! ;D ;D ;D

This is on my list to do real soon also so let me get this right.  You leave the door open as well with only the puck burner going?

Unlike MW, I may need a little info on meat prep.  I already know about having it sliced to 1/4.

[jaeger]

Wildcat,
Sorry about the confusion. By damper, I meant the vent.
There have been a lot of good responses to this thread on jerky. Everyone does have different techniques, this is how I make jerky.
I like you use bottom round and slice it against the grain.
I would recommend High Mountain for your first batch. If you follow the amounts they call for you should be good. With each kit, you will have 2 packets. One is cure,(similar to a brown sugar cure) and the other packet is the spices/seasoning. I usually mix both packets together right away. Now, the kit should season 14# of meat. If I have 5# of meat I will divide out the mix to 1/3. Take the leftover 2/3 and wrap it airtight until next time you make jerky. Now take the 1/3 and use the shaker and evenly sprinkle on the pieces. Just keep an eye on the amount of seasoning you are using. When you have seasoned half the meat, you should have half the amount of your portion of seasoning/cure. This is how I guide how much seasoning I am applying.
When you have the meat in a plastic container, cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours. Longer won't hurt.
Time to smoke the jerky:
I turn on the smoke generator and the heat on the cabinet to high. Open the vent fully.I spray my screens with Pam or similar product, and layer out the meat so that the pieces do not overlap. If they touch, no worry. No overlap though. The main thing is to spread out the meat as much as possible for the amount you are making. (If you are not making 5#, maybe you are making 3#, you can spread it out evenly) Use all 4 racks and spread it out.
The cabinet is usually ready within half an hour.  I have the heat slider almost all the way to high. I start the hickory pucks smoking as soon as the screens go in.
No longer than 1 1/2 hour, rotate the racks. Top to bottom, front to back.
Within the next hour, rotate again.
At this point, the meat has been in the smoker for 2 1/2 hours. You may want to rotate a little more sooner than one hour marks from here on out.
By this point or soon after I usually start taking pieces out that look done. I move the pieces around on the racks, sometime flip some of the pieces etc.
I have never had a whole batch of jerky get done at exactly the same time. Even when I was making 60# batches of jerky at a time commercially, I have ALWAYS removed pieces as they were ready.
I usually keep the smoke going for at least 3 hours and a 5# batch of jerky usually takes about 4 1/2 - 5 hours from start to finish.

I don't worry about using the higher temps because I have the vent open, and with the rotations and maybe opening the door for a peek once in a while, the heat is not constantly building up for the whole 5 hours. I am not worried about opening the door a crack every so often. It lets out the humidity and moisture from the cabinet.
  The meat will be more firm/dry, after it has fully cooled down. After you make your first batch, you will have a pretty good idea what kind of texture you are looking for.
When you think your first pieces are ready, just kind tear off a piece and see how it looks and feels.
I like to vacuum seal the jerky, and freeze some for later. There is no better snack than to be away from home, and pulling out some SMOKED jerky for a real treat.
:P :D ;)

[PigOut]

I usually use a London broil cut and slice with the grain because this is what was sugg. by high mountain . But you guys are saying eye of the round sliced against the grain. I was told that you get less connective tissue going with the grain. Am I missing something here ? I have done some against the grain and it stretches when you pull it apart or bite into it. Is eye of the round different ?

                                          Skip

[MallardWacker]

jaeger ....

That last post was in the ten ring...excellent.  You need to re-post that under a new thread, something like "directions for..." and I would be voting for a "STICKY".

[MRH]

The way I have done it sounds pretty much the same as Mr Walleye does his.  I use 170 degrees and it is sliced about 1/4 inch thick, use about a couple hours of smoke, and remove/rotate as they are getting done.  I temd to pull themoutbefore they are really done as I would have them a little on the chewy side, not like a peice of leather.  I have been using the high mountain seasoning too,I really like the cracked pepper and garlic one!  All I have done is venison and usually fit 4 to 5 lbs on the racks.

Mark