Jerky

OK I love Jerky but so far all of my forays into the land of Jerkydom using a smoker have been lukewarm at best. Most people have liked what I have tried but I have been underwhelmed.

So rather than wallow in the past I am hopping back on the horse and giving it another whirl.

Just looking for some input, my plan of attack is to try BP's video jerky recipe and use flank steak. What are some other good meat choices and does anyone have proven recipes they would like to share? There seem to be a lot of Teriyaki / soy based recipes but i would like some other flavors. Also curious about temps for cooking.

One more thing, has anybody tried making turkey jerky? Would love to try that as well.

I use eye round. I cut it into ~1 inch cubes.

I use Hi Mountain bulk cure, then add my own flavors, usually garlic powder and fresh cracked pepper.

A 2 day rest in a zip bag in the bottom drawer of the fridge is next.

Honestly, I don't smoke it all that often, it goes into the dehydrator at 145-150F for 8-12 hours.

I do about 15 to 30lbs a month.

I did try making buffalo chicken jerky once, it was ok.

Made turkey, chicken and goose jerky many times.

Recipes......ohhhh now themz a secret

In South Texas we get top round sliced wafer thin from the walmart also called meat for milanesa (mexican chicken fried steak)
marinate it in favorite bbq sauce cut with 1/2 cup worshire sauce 24hrs. Rinse off marinate sea salt and black pepper it. Punch in the black pepper or it comes to easy when eatting. Put it in 140 deg. smoker w/ jack daniels pellets. Now jerkey needs hot air over it to dry it
out. Which I don't have in my masterbuilt smoker so I smoke it for about 4 hours then finish it off in 150 deg. countertop convection oven.

To minimize the number of things that can (and usually will) go wrong, I have tried several Hi Mountain jerky flavor mixes with some elk round steak sliced into thin strips. Then the only thing I had to really concern myself with was the actual smoking of the jerky on my MAK. So far they have all worked really well. Just another approach to the problem.

Art

Use a lot of liquid in your marinade...Did you just get a vacuum one? I have yet to make a bad one just tossing a bunch of ingredients in the tumbler

CarterQ

I have done this turkey jerky recipe La Cosa Smokestra: Maple Turkey Jerky....Can healthy really be this good?


Deb

jerky

I really like my jerky and started making it when I was 9 years old in my homemade smoker I am close to mid 50's now. I perfer my jerky one eighth to quarter inch thick myself I did a batch in my new mak and came out great. I have tried and experiment all the time but have found a great combination. I have used many brines and jerky mixtures from dry to wet. now I do not use any brines. my current one I use is apple juice, apple cider vinegar, pure toasted sesame oil, mr. yosida gourmet sweet & savory sauce, sea salt all with no msg or additives,a little mesquite seasoning and then marinate 24 hrs and then add a mixture of white and black pepper and then smoke. I can give exact amounts.

sounds great Malawoo

Great stuff guys! I ordered the vacuum tumbler but it has not arrived yet, I can't wait to try it out using all of this advice. Deb thanks for the Turkey recipe, that looks outstanding and will be trying that one as well. I will definitely post pics of the final products!

I like making a homemade Teriyaki style marinade from low sodium soy sauce, Burgundy Wine, garlic, brown sugar and a little filtered water (to cut it a bit).

After marinating overnight I like to sprinkle on some Red Pepper Flakes before drying.

Years ago, after ruining a few batches of jerky with black pepper I got to where I prefer Red Pepper Flakes for a few reasons: Black pepper can be unpredictable with its heat level, hard to see how much is getting on the jerky, and can easily become overwhelming in taste. Red Pepper Flakes are much more predictable, easy to see on the jerky AND can easily be knocked off by those who don't care for the heat.

For Turkey Jerky I prefer dark meat. White meat = too dry = cardboard. But it's cheap enough to try it for yourself and see which you like.


RedFish1 touched one really good word of caution. For safety reasons, if your not using nitrite cure in your marinade, then get your pit temp up above 150 or 160 for a while to kill any boogers, and BE SURE its thoroughly dried. Botulism can sure ruin a person's day !

I forgot the brown sugar I put in also. Yes When I don't use a nitrate cure I always like to stay 160- 180 to make sure you kill anything.

I finished it off in a food dehydrator. Caution not for people with loose teeth.Not trying to jump this thread,but I was wondering of the people that keep the jerky in their smoker
until done . How long does it take?