Unstuffed Smoked Beef Logs (slightly hot) -- Bearcarver Qview

I noticed the back of the package on my TQ says 1 TBSP per pound of meat, but Bear uses half that amount in his recipe. Has TQ changed it's recommendations since 2011, or you just don't like using the full amount?

Preacher Man said:

I noticed the back of the package on my TQ says 1 TBSP per pound of meat, but Bear uses half that amount in his recipe. Has TQ changed it's recommendations since 2011, or you just don't like using the full amount?

Click to expand...

I table spoon per pound for whole muscle meat not ground . He's using ground meat , that amount is as he posted .

chopsaw said:

I table spoon per pound for whole muscle meat not ground . He's using ground meat , that amount is as he posted .

Click to expand...

Glad I asked, I had no idea it was different. Thanks!

Bearcarver said:

Like Chopsaw "Rich" has said, that is 1 TBS per pound of whole meat, but 1/2 TBS per pound of Ground Meat.
Been like that as far back as I know of.
I've often thought about adding a little more, or some salt to the Ground meat stuff, because there is ZERO salt flavor, but I never have.

Click to expand...

I'm giving these logs a shot starting this evening. I usually don't like much added salt on my food anyway, so I might really like this recipe.

Finally got these done. Started Monday evening and had 'em smoked by Wednesday evening.

My kids love meat sticks, so I took 2lbs off the top of this batch and rolled up some meat sticks to cook along with these loaves. Like Bearcarver I didn't use any casings and I found the rolling of the sticks to be quit relaxing.

Just one thing: delicious!

A few observations from my experience:
For some reason, I had a heck of a time getting them up to temperature. I followed Bearcarver 's cooking method, but by Wednesday evening they still weren't rising in temp. I thought they'd be done before I went in for church, but they were still at 129° when I had to leave. So I just left 'em and decided to hurry home afterwards. When I got home (3 hours later) they were up to 135°. So I set the oven to 350° and brought 'em inside. They rose to 165° in about 15 minutes. The upside to this was that they got some serious smoke laid on 'em since they were in the smoker for so long.

I used 9 lbs. of mule deer that a buddy gave me when he was cleaning out his freezer (you should see the Alaskan moose he just got!). He packages his deer straight, whereas I mix in beef tallow to give mine an 85/15 fat mixture. I decided to just go with the straight lean deer and see how it turns out. Next time I'll add in some fat. They're a bit on the dry side, but no matter - these things are still delicious and definitely won't make it past hunting season.

I mixed a few loaves with jalapeno and cheddar. Mmmmm! And I think the cheese gave off a little bit of that needed fat moisture to these loaves.



How about that TBS?



Group photo, everyone! (You can see the grainy texture from the lean deer)



I fried some up like you said, Bear, and then went ahead and threw an egg on top. This is a breakfast I could get used to!

Just added these to my list of things to try in the new smoker in the next couple of weeks. Looks killer!