Curing jerky??

Randy Wieland wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>glenn57 wrote:</div>
do you deliver!!!!!!!!! devil

Glenn, its 12 hours round trip and I charge both ways – still interested?? LOL

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>ThunderLund78 wrote:</div>
Heck yeah! Looks GREAT Randy. I’ve only dabbled in Jerky and have only gone with the store mixes so far. I’ve been meaning to find of good base recipe to try so I can tinker with it.

Love that deep red color and the pepper flakes. Looks perfect!

I buy the sodium cure at a meat shop that I hit once in a while. Great thing about deer (whitetail or muley), elk and Antelope is that the meat season’s so well. I do a mix of pepper, red pepper seed, garlic and mesquite. I gave up on the ground meat years ago. Full muscle, cut about 1/4″ish. half a batch gets smoked, and the other half is hung on the racks in the convection oven. Oven is 195 for about 2 hours-2:15 +/- pending how its drying.

Same mix, but I wet brine the hearts. I trim and then slice to a little thinner than 1/4″. mix a few times throughout the day and let sit over night in fridge. I only do the oven with the hearts and they are done in about 1-1/2 hours at most.

i’m good Randy……enjoy!!!!!!!!

suzuki wrote:

Randy, in that pic is it wet or dry brined?

Dry- I lay all my meat on paper towel to dry, then on cookie sheets and use a shaker bottle for each side of the meat. Then into a huge stainless bowl and add a little more pepper and keep mixing. Once its mixed, I stack all the strips together and wrap tight in plastic wrap and in the fridge for 24-30 hours. Next – oven or smoker. The only meat I wet brine is heart and ground meat

When you guys are smoking your jerky, do you have water in the pan? Trying jerky or the first time Saturday and I’ve read both ways.
DT

I do not. Watch your temp and check t so you don’t over cook it

I have not done Jerky in my smoker but I would not – as the intended outcome is dried meat (unlike pork shoulder or brisket where you want moisture in the finished COOKED product). I see the only difference between a smoker and dehydrator is the ability to impart a smoke flavor. Turn on the heat, open the vents, crank up the smoke and let the convection do it’s work.

Finally I just sliced up 7 pounds of venison last night and used the High Country Original this morning. Measured correctly it seems like a lot of dust. After shaking both sides of the meat lightly I still had quite a bit left so I dumped it in the meat and mixed it all up before putting in a 2 gallon baggie. Hopefully its not too strong? I sliced it 1/4 inch. Smoke tomorrow at 24 hours.

suzuki wrote:

Finally I just sliced up 7 pounds of venison last night and used the High Country Original this morning. Measured correctly it seems like a lot of dust. After shaking both sides of the meat lightly I still had quite a bit left so I dumped it in the meat and mixed it all up before putting in a 2 gallon baggie. Hopefully its not too strong? I sliced it 1/4 inch. Smoke tomorrow at 24 hours.

YUM – I just ran out, so I might need to come sample that batch and make sure its edible for you

Im out as well. My daughter was mad last weekend when i showed her videos of deer i didnt shoot cause she said she needs jerky.

Do you ever rinse your rubbed jerky before smoking to ensure its not too salty?
This relates directly to the High Country rub. Thanks.

no, just shake off or pat with paper towel

I’m in Randy’s camp on the 3/8″-1/2″ thick meat. I mix the cure and seasonings together and coat the meat well with it. From the fridge while curing to the smoker racks I do nothing…. no rinse, no try to shake off anything. And I do NOT put water in the smoker.

Thin jerky slices can be tougher than nails while the thicker jerky seems to have some chewable character to it. The thicker slices are fully cooked at around 160 degrees but generally are not dry enough so I leave in the smoker to get up to about 205 degrees, the smoker gets shut down and the meat is left in the smoker until its at air temp. IF it is still too moist, I place it on oven racks and set the oven at 200, checking the jerky every hour until it can be sent without breaking.

Moisture is the enemy of any smoked product as far as spoilage is concerned. The pink cure goes a long way in preventing spoilage but if any smoked product has too much moisture in, it even after curing, it can and will mold. And this is where home smoked products differ from those that are bought in packages at the store. That store bought stuff has a multitude of other curing agents in it that allows the product to go on store shelves for an extended period of time. The pink, or quick, cure cannot offer the same degree of safety.

The Morton Tenderqwik product mentioned here in this thread and others will work for those who want to make their own curing product. For Lake Trout and salmon I mix equal parts of tenderqwik a name brand, not a store brand, of dark brown sugar and rub this into both sides of the fish fillet and set in a glass baking dish for a couple days in the fridge. A quick rinse under cold water, dried on a clean towel and in the smoker it goes. I try to hold the smoke temp at around 175 degrees until the meat is pliable but not soft and mushy. Shut the smoker down and allow to come to air temp in the smoker.

You’ll notice that I allow anything in the smoker to come to air temp inside the unit. Taking warm product out and sealing it in a vacuum bag then to a freezer with any kind of warm in it will result in a mushy product when thawed for use. Summer sausages 2″or greater in diameter I will allow to cool to air or room temp once the links have reached and internal temp of 152-154 degrees as they’ll still cook to a higher temp for about 1/2 hour from removing them from the smoker. Universally, everything I smoke will be allowed to come to air or room temp BEFORE it gets vacuumed sealed. If just putting the product in a ziplock you can do whatever as ziplocks offer zero protecting from freezing temps.

It turned out great thanks to all the info here. I wouldnt use the same flavor again. Its pretty bland but texture and appearance are perfect. And definitely not too salty.

That’s the fun part making different batches for personal preference. Glad that everything else worked out for you

2nd that Randy!!

Adding a bit of brown sugar to store-bought mixes will give the finished jerky a nice glaze. Doesn’t take much.

I think a person that knows how to cook without measuring everything would do a fine job making jerky to taste. The only thing I measure any more is the pink salt. Everything else is there for flavor, so use what you like. I believe the LEM bag of pink salt I bought says 1/4 teaspoon per pound of meat. A quick Googling indicated one teaspoon curing salt for #5. If I’m going to use Worcestershire or soy sauces I use it sparingly. Salt, pepper, garlic powder, cayenne and/or pepper flakes go a long way. Making it in the smoker is 10x better than a dehydrator, but you can smoke for a short time and finish in the dehydrator so it’s more hands off. No maple syrup or sugar for me. I’d rather it be savory and spicy.