Smoking jerky for the first time!

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dasabonis

Newbie
Original poster
Apr 12, 2013
5
10
Hi Everyone, I just bought my first smoker and am extremely excited to make jerky for the first time. my smoker is very basic, vertical smoker with no vents, therefore limited temp control.

I have read many topics on this forum for the past few days and have decided to attack this jerky in the following manner:

1) Marinated the meat for 36 hrs in soy/worchester/various spices/etc

2) I am planning on running my smoker with no meat in it for a couple hrs too see if i can hold 150-170 degrees.(I will attemot to keep this low temp using the minion method starting with 15 coals.

3) If this is temp achieved and maintained, i will hang the meat on skewers vertically in the smoker (add wood chips to coal at this point).

4) This is the part i need help. Should I smoke with water in the pan?? Should I put water in the pan for a couple hours then remove???

5) I will check periodically and remove jerky when ready.

Any input or changes to my strategy would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for everyone who has posted so much useful info in here!
 
4) This is the part i need help. Should I smoke with water in the pan?? Should I put water in the pan for a couple hours then remove???

Do not put water in the pan.....  You are trying to dry the meat and the water will slow or stop that process.....   Also, bury the wood chips in the unlit coals to reduce the possibility of flare-up....  Dave
 
First, I would move the smoker outside.
yahoo.gif

 

I'm thinking about trying jerky in a smoker as well.  I've used Alton Brown's method but the filters get a little expensive.
 
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