thinking i messed up??? any help?

[clark337]

I marinated my meat for 24hrs pur some hickory chips in set to 130. (Mes 30) was in for about 3hrs. Was still wet so i added more chips and turned to 150 for another hr. Than noticed my vent was closed and was still wet so opened vent and turned to 170 For 45 mins. im thinkin i oversmoked/cooked the meat instead of drying it cuz got a bitter taste and its really not that dry. Gotta sittiN on some racks in the garage till morning to see what happens. Any suggestions. I followed someones recipe from here that has a sticky or something for a couple different marinades. Id like to give it another shot this week. but i dont wanna mess up more meat. I see some ppl say to dry it for an hr or so at 140 than smoke. And others say the opposite. Im trying to get it down in a smoker or im just gonna be a dehydrator

 

[clark337]

my smoker is brand new 2nd time using it. I also have the amnps but no pellets or dust. Just chips. If i get pellets put that at the bottom with burner on at 150 would that be different? Or when u use that thing do u just use that and no heat? new to this whole smoking aspect.

 

[elginplowboy]

Bad news. The closed vent and wet meat caused your food to pick up creosote and thus the ash tray bitter flavor. No easy way to get out and tastes nasty. Toss it and chalk it up to lesson learned. It happens to everyone at some point. I did it on my first try at cold smoking bacon. He is my process and opinions. Make sure u use and understand cure #1. I preheat my smoker to 200. I take the meat out of the fridge and set it on the counter to get it to room temp while smoker is preheating(don't put cold meat in a hot smoker). Usually around 1hr. I then load meat and set temp to 130 no smoke vent wide open. After 1hr dry time check for wetness. Meat should be tacky. Based on ambient temp and humidity it might take longer. 2 hrs sometimes. Be patient. Once ready set temp to 150 and roll smoke. Wait till done based on the bend test. Mine usually takes around 8hrs. Pull and let rest on counter for two hours. Then paper bag in fridge. Good luck

 

[clark337]

Thanks for the advice. I kinda figured that after reading post im pickin up more meat and some cure one this week to do it again. But dont really understand the cure 1. I kno its like tc. But less salt. I did have tc in my mixture. cuz i havent been able to find cure at a store yet but now i know where its at

 

[westby]

I like to do mine at 180 with as much air flow as I can get.  Air flow is key for jerky.

 

[clark337]

Thanks everyone that put there 2 cents in. I appreciate that. I ended up doin another batch that turned out amazinG. Got some almonds on it now and a salmon in some brine for 6 hrs and a pork butt in some root beer. for the weekend