Making some jerky, have questions from the pro's

I'm not familiar with your smoker but would drop the heat down to 160 and rotate your trays every so often. Are you using a cure? 

Hey Custom, I don't claim to be a Jerky Pro, but to date I have made probably several 100 pounds of beef jerky and everybody seems to love it.

I make my own marinade ( recipe on request ) but the main ingredients is Soy sauce, worshcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, granulated garlic, Granulated onion, black pepper, mexican hot sauce, and shasta cola. I slice the meat approx 1/4 inch thick, soak for at least 24 hrs. then when I pull the meat from the marinade, and lay it on my racks, I sprinkle on what what  have here in the Seattle area, a seasoning salt called Johnnies seasonong salt, and also I sprinkle on to taste Course ground black pepper. I have never used a cure in any of the jerky that I have made.

I have my smoker preheated to 140 degrees, put the meat in the smoker with smoke, and I try to keep my smoker temp at or near 140 degrees.I never let it get above 160 degrees.

I pull the meat when it feels right, still flexable, but not to much, I pinch it etc. This is just a feel that I have developed by trial and error.

Hope this is some help for you: Rich

I hear ya Rich..I have been making jerky for years without cure.

I just scored a bunch of venison and am gonna get with it this weekend.

I use an Asian type marinade.

Custom...  Put "jerky recipes" in google and in our handy dandy search tool up top.

Happy reading

  Craig

Your Cooking your jerky at such high temps not drying it. of course there's ways to dry jerky without cures and also there's belief that just the smoke will act as cure.I myself as you all have made my share and through the years Ive come to the conclusion that using #1 with my marinades and Drying at temps of 100-110 works best for me.there's as many ways of making it as people doing it.

I use cure and lower temps. Only hit it at 160 for the last hour. Here's what I do.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forum/thread/105990/my-first-beef-jerky-step-by-step-q-view

Use cure and keep it between 120° -  140° no water pan