one more jerky question

[charlandk]

Hi all and thanks to those that have offered up some advice.

I have cured the beef and marinated it.  I think that I am ready to smoke and dry it.  My question is, do I put the meat in the BS and begin smoking it for 2 hours with no heat and then cook at 170 degrees for about 4 hours or bring the temp up to 170 then smoke for 2 hours while it is cooking and drying? ???

Thanks again all for the help!

Kevin

[Ontrack]

Welcome, Kevin. I smoke my jerky then finish in a dehydrator, but I do give it heat while smoking. If you are going start to finish in the Bradley, start the heat and smoke at the same time. (After preheating the smoker, of course)

[charlandk]

That is what I thought, but I was not sure and did not want to waste all this meat.

Thank you very much.

Is there a reason that you finish your in a dehydrator rather than doing it all at once in the BS?

[Ontrack]

Is there a reason that you finish your in a dehydrator rather than doing it all at once in the BS?

Well, uh...hmm. Cause that's the way some of the experts on here do it?? I do all my jerky with ground meat and a jerky shooter, and have been for years. I used to just use the dehydrator only, but after getting the Bradley and reading this forum, I tried it their way and I was estatic with the results. I'm sure there are many on here who do their jerky Bradley only, and I'd say there's probably little difference either way, just a matter of taste. Good luck!

[Gizmo]

I finish in a dehydrator for the ease of drying after smoking.  That is to say, the dehydrator has a fan and moves air, the trays are very easy to rotate, rotating trays does not cause a delay in drying as their is not box to cool down, all this means the meat dries more evenly.
As Ontrack mentioned, many here do it start to finish in the Bradley with great results.  Your choice. 8)

[Ontrack]

That's right Gizmo, that's what I wanted to say... ;)

[levonen]

I have cured the beef and marinated it

charlandk,
you don't cure the beef for jerky, you just marinade it. Because the jerky is so dry and because color of it is modified by the process of marinading, cure is not needed.

[Buck36]

The cure question seems to be up for debate...

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=4480.0

[Ontrack]

I only use Hi Mountain seasoning kits for my jerky and each kit comes with a pack of seasoning and a pack of cure.

[charlandk]

I went back to Cabela's today and exchanged my BS for a new one.  Worked great!
I probably sliced the beef a bit too think because it took close to 5 hours to completely dry it.  It came out very good and was worth the wait.  The finished product had a bit of a tacky almost greasy film on it when done.  Any idea what would have caused that?
I used eye round and trimmed all the fat.  I did cure the meat first for 7 hours then marinated in low sodium soy sauce, worchester sauce (butchered that spelling), brown sugar, onion and garlic powder, black pepper, cyanne pepper and crushed red pepper.  Taste is very good but a bit greasy.

Do any of you know if I vaccuum seal it and freeze some if it will be ok?  I have about 4 or 5 pounds of it I would guess.

I think that I may try Chevyman's turkey tomorrow.

Thanks again for all the help and advice I received!

Kevin

[acords]

I vac seal and freeze jerky all the time, It works great.

[Mr Walleye]

During the process of making jerky you will find some fat/grease pool on the tops of the pieces. Some of this is caused from it dripping from the tray above it. What I do is when I'm rotating racks I use paper towel and blot the fat/grease off. Make sure to keep the vent opened up to let the moisture out as well.

Vacuum packaging & freezing is a great way to store it.

Mike