I've been thinking about trying to make some jerky for a while, so I came here to read up. Based on that, I ordered some Cure #1 last week and that came in quickly.
I was inspired by Kevin (Couger78)'s thread and recipes here:
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/138397/beef-jerky-ten-pounds-two-types-with-pics
So I got the other necessary ingredients and five pounds of beef chuck roast the other night.
I didn't have time to freeze the meat, but just sliced it by hand from a "refrigerator cold" state. It sliced OK, but I think I'd like to have a meat slicer if I'm going to be doing a lot of this. It also went quite a bit better once I sharpened the knife I was using!
I made up the marinade/cure using Kevin's Basic Black Pepper Jerky recipe, but modified slightly. I added some chopped scallions (mentioned in his Teriyaki recipe) and used five cloves of garlic rather than the three in his Pepper Jerky recipe.
Here's how the marinade looked as I was starting to slice the meat and toss it in:
As I added more and more of the meat, I became concerned that there wouldn't be enough liquid to really soak the meat, so I put in an additional 4 oz of Soy Sauce and one more oz of Worchestershire sauce just to increase the liquid volume.
I then bagged it all in a one gallon storage bag, and tried to get all of the excess air out:
So that's the state of things right now. It's been in the fridge for approximately 24 hours, and I've periodically flopped the bag and kneaded things a bit to try to make sure the marinade is getting to every piece equally.
I may have messed up by adding the additional liquid ingredients since looking at Kevin's photos, his bagged meat looks like it didn't have any more liquid than what mine did before I added the extra. Well, we'll see how it turns out, I guess!
I plan on putting it in the smoker tomorrow at about 02:00. It will have had 48 hours of marinading at that point. I often work strange hours, and I figure I can get off of work about then and have a chance to get it started. If I have to stay later, it'll soak a few more hours. Hopefully that won't make any significant difference.
Any suggestions or recommendations are welcome.
I'll be drying/smoking it in a first generation MES40 with an AMNPS pellet burner for the smoke. I'm not sure which wood pellets I'll try. I've got a few different varieties on hand, so any recommendations along those lines would certainly be welcome!
Also, I'm not sure exactly how I'll hang it. I saw the toothpick technique, and that looks promising. I also read about the non-stick coated skewers that are supposedly available at Wal Mart, so those might be a good idea, too.
I love jerky. Time will tell if I love this batch!
Jim
I was inspired by Kevin (Couger78)'s thread and recipes here:
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/138397/beef-jerky-ten-pounds-two-types-with-pics
So I got the other necessary ingredients and five pounds of beef chuck roast the other night.
I didn't have time to freeze the meat, but just sliced it by hand from a "refrigerator cold" state. It sliced OK, but I think I'd like to have a meat slicer if I'm going to be doing a lot of this. It also went quite a bit better once I sharpened the knife I was using!
I made up the marinade/cure using Kevin's Basic Black Pepper Jerky recipe, but modified slightly. I added some chopped scallions (mentioned in his Teriyaki recipe) and used five cloves of garlic rather than the three in his Pepper Jerky recipe.
Here's how the marinade looked as I was starting to slice the meat and toss it in:
As I added more and more of the meat, I became concerned that there wouldn't be enough liquid to really soak the meat, so I put in an additional 4 oz of Soy Sauce and one more oz of Worchestershire sauce just to increase the liquid volume.
I then bagged it all in a one gallon storage bag, and tried to get all of the excess air out:
So that's the state of things right now. It's been in the fridge for approximately 24 hours, and I've periodically flopped the bag and kneaded things a bit to try to make sure the marinade is getting to every piece equally.
I may have messed up by adding the additional liquid ingredients since looking at Kevin's photos, his bagged meat looks like it didn't have any more liquid than what mine did before I added the extra. Well, we'll see how it turns out, I guess!
I plan on putting it in the smoker tomorrow at about 02:00. It will have had 48 hours of marinading at that point. I often work strange hours, and I figure I can get off of work about then and have a chance to get it started. If I have to stay later, it'll soak a few more hours. Hopefully that won't make any significant difference.
Any suggestions or recommendations are welcome.
I'll be drying/smoking it in a first generation MES40 with an AMNPS pellet burner for the smoke. I'm not sure which wood pellets I'll try. I've got a few different varieties on hand, so any recommendations along those lines would certainly be welcome!
Also, I'm not sure exactly how I'll hang it. I saw the toothpick technique, and that looks promising. I also read about the non-stick coated skewers that are supposedly available at Wal Mart, so those might be a good idea, too.
I love jerky. Time will tell if I love this batch!
Jim