The Onyx. Interesting fact, this animal can control its sweating turning on/off as need be to conserve water during droughts!
BANG!
ground onyx meat total was 2.25lbs
the steaks were 2.5 and very lean! these pic show oxidation of the meat on the outside the ground was red inside and still fresh I drained around 1/2 the blood from the steaks which gave it the off color you see in the pic due to a very gamey smell!
jerky strips cut from my light duty LEM slicer (next big purchase a Hobart slicer!) I used around .5 to .75 on the slices
since I don't plan on going into the jerky business ever. I don't mind sharing my recipe: equal parts soy sauce, worstershire sauce, 1 tbs black pepper 16 mesh (coarse grind) 1TBS onion powder (granulated) 1TBS garlic powder (granulated) 1 tsp cayenne pepper Marinate for close to 24 hours to ensure that optimum 1mm meat penetration.
for the sticks I use around 5 ounces high temp cheddar cubes, 1 cup of de juiced pickled jalapenos minced 4 TBS buttermilk powder, 6 TBS AC legs snack stick mix, 1 tsp pink cure, 1TBS black pepper 1 CUP of total liquid 8/10 water and rest was jalapeno juice. I also added 2.5 pounds of 85/15 to add some more fat and flavor this meat is VERY lean!
into the fridge for lack of time, DAMN YOU WORK!
This is my commercial
dehydrator I use and Thanks to my wife who encouraged me to buy it, it saves so much work and time. If you are on the fence about buying one DO IT! this one was around $200.00 to $250.00 on ebay and is worth every penny! Sorry its a little dirty on the outside. 10 tray, hits 155 degrees has a 12 hours timer back comes off with simple latches so you can power wash if need be and keep the heating element and fan dry all stainless steel, BOOOM! I love it.
Strips marinated for around 18 hours placed in pasta strainer. Meat was very tender already!
Into the
dehydrator for 1 hour at 135 to dry outside wetness in prep or smoke.
into the vertical offset smoker we are using some of my favorites today...Eastern red oak from east texas, (some of the last wood my dad ever cut and split) and pignut a mild hickory which was my dads favorite wood (very easy to overdo hickory but I have used this on briskets at 18 hours and never had overpowering smoke effect! The vertical smoker is PERFECT for sausage, ribs, pork butt. jerky. If it gets to hot just crack the door until desired temp is hit!
smoking the jerky for 1.25 hours at around 140-155 degrees
from the
dehydrator at 1 hour into the smoker they go!
coming out of the smoke at 1.25 hours and finishing in the
dehydrator for around 3-5 more hours pulling thinner smaller pieces as they become done.
Into a Ziploc bag cracked for 8 hours in order to breathe and cool overnight! They came out slightly darker than intended but are not burnt and tasted similar to deer jerky!
Back to the snack stick project the next day! Using my LEM 5# vertical stuffer *Only complaint its not big enough! haha* meat rested in fridge so you should note meat being colder will have same effect as being to dry for stuffer and will have a hard time stuffing! Using mahogany colored collagen 19mm strands today with my 3/8 OD stainless steel tube I got off Ebay. all stuffed and ready!
you will notice I have twined these at around every12" or less I had limited time due to work and family so decided to do entirely in the dehydrator. :( but here is a Qview of what my sticks normally go through.
after 11 hours in dehydrator these will sit out to rest overnight beside the jerky which is bagged up (sorry I ran out of nice labels)
All sealed up final product: Jerky made right at 1# (after taste testing ended) sticks made slightly over 3#'s (including end pieces and smaller cuts) The jerky was pretty good, I must say that I prefer deer jerky but is def. tasty. The sticks turned out to be some of the best wild game sticks I have ever made (makes me wish I coulda smoked them for a few hours) I also wanted to see if I could get that natural meat taste to shine through with the beef and I believe I accomplished that. The Crown Royal was my advanced payment from a friend who provided the meat! I hope everyone enjoyed the pics especially the Moderators! haha. Well Im off to deliver most of this to my buddy so he will not think I took his meat and got a free bottle of Canadian Whiskey out of the deal! Bye, bye and happy smoking!