1st time venison in the Masterbuilt

[2cycle]

I always wanted to make jerky, but never got around to it. So now that I have this new toy, I decided to give it a go. Pulled two tenderloins from the freezer, thawed and then sliced 3/16-1/4in by 8in slices with the electric knife. Marinated for 24hrs in a mix of soy, kosher salt, onion and garlic powder, and brown sugar. Then a sprinkle of course black pepper. Put it in the smoker at 10am, and gave it smoke for only the first 3 hrs. with temp at 180deg. Then set it to 140deg. pulled it out at 7pm. It didn't have the dark color of the storebought kind, but the taste turned out great. I had to work for a few hours, and didn't want to trouble the wife with tending to it. I would have thought the brown sugar would have made it darker, but didn't. Why didn't it get darker like the other pics I've seen on here?

Greg

 

[earache_my_eye]

I haven't done jerky in a smoker, but have done it in my dehydrator.....my best guess is that you could have kept the temp UP a little higher after you cut off the smoke. I run my dehydrator at 150* and check the trays periodically for done-ness (is that a word?..heh). Only other thing I would suggest is to use a cure, such as "insta-cure" or "morton's tender quick". That has been a topic of discussion as to whether "cure" is needed with jerkey....I prefer it because I don't always store mine in a fridge or freezer.

 

[2cycle]

I took some pics I had to resize to post.

Greg

 

[earache_my_eye]

ok.....1 other thing I see.....was there water in that foil pan?......that will inhibit the color change in jerky too.......you are trying to "dehydrate" the meat....any extra moisture will keep it from drying properly.

Top vent should be open to let moisture escape....then try to keep smoker in the 150* range.....it will fluctuate up and down....just try to "average" 150.
Beyond that.....keep an eye on it and pull it when it gets to the way YOU like your jerky. Some like more moisture.....some like less......

L8r,
Eric

 

[2cycle]

No water, and vents open. When the smoke died down, I even opened the chip loader slightly for more air flow.

Greg

 

[justsmoke2]

2 cycle when i have done a marinade on jerky I have had the same color or texture. When I used Hi Mountain Jerky dry rub I get the nice dark color you probably want. I only smoke mine for an hour then I put into a food dehydrater I get better resultd this way. Commercial jerky is mostly all done in a dehydrater. If ya want it little sweeter change to teriyaki and drop the soy sauce.

 

[waysideranch]

still nice regardless of color.