Sweet Maple Jerky

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foamheart

Gone but not forgotten. RIP
Original poster
OTBS Member
Sweet Maple Jerky

This sounded good since we are talking about snacking now mostly instead of a real trail food. Although this would still qualify I think. Something Dave said on one of his jerky threads about honey got me thinking. I always used a little honey in my own homemade jerky before, but I never used cure. Dave used a big scientific word meaning that the honey somehow relaxed the drying reaction and you got a jerky that folks like me with store-boughts might be able to appreciate. Also it my baby Sis’s ‘girls only’ hiking trip in two weeks so I thought they might like the sweetness, besides it just gave me a good excuse to try.

Ingredients:

2 ½ T      Jerky Mix

¾ t           #1 pink cure

½ t          Worcestershire Powder

¼ C         Maple syrup, Grade B

¼ C         Brown sugar

¼ C         Honey

Note I used the powder vice liquid because of all the sugary sweets.

I use Eye of Round, its extremely lean, its a straight grain, and its more tender IMHO. This was not on sale, but since its for Baby Sis and on a time line, she's worth it.


I cut the meat on a 45 degree biase, it has some pull but won't pull your teeth out.


Notice the plastic tupperware on the side, its actually a marinading dish. It turns over and over and has little points all over it.

Ain't no flys on brother!


Some of the ingredients, I forgot the brown sugar and Honey. Insiduious Dave? Something like that.


Its all mixed up now and in the fridge resting till tomorrow when it will be smoking time! I can hardly wait to smell the smoke!


Well, we will let it sleep and start again tomorrow. AND yes I did lick my fingers.....
 
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Lookin'' good....    I'm in........  
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After a good nights rest...... I removed them and since there was so much sugar in my cure I decided to towel 'em dry a little before they started smoking. I then gave each rack some sea salt, and one I sprinkles ancho pepper, one I sprinkled with Chipole, the last plain. Just a little pepper goes really well with sweet!


Rack number 1


Rack number 2


AND Rack number 3


Got that smoke generator a generating.....


I decided to rack this time instead of hang, its a load easier to me. I realize that hanging better facilitates the loss of liquid, but thought I would check just to see for sure.

Started the smoker at 10 AM at 250, lite the Amps at 10:30, loaded with peach. Added meat at 11 AM, vent full open for drying, reduced temp to 110.

Whoever sliced that meat should have been a butcher, precise thickness of 3/32 of an inch with a perfect 45 degree angle. <in my best Irkle voice> Did I do that?

Will check it again later.
 
I can hardly wait. I have yet to do smoker in the jerky and this might tip me over. I'll tell the missus to blame you.

Disco
 
Foam, I'm real curious if you have done this before without any salt? I see this time you used a small amount of pre-mix which I would guess is about 50% salt so this is still a low salt marinade. I have been trying low salt jerky but the texture just isn't coming out the way I want it. I haven't been using any sugar either because I am trying to cut that out too.
 
You did a do a nice job of slicing. I can't wait to see the finish. I tried the smoker method once before the dehydrators and jerky kits became popular.
 
Foam, I'm real curious if you have done this before without any salt? I see this time you used a small amount of pre-mix which I would guess is about 50% salt so this is still a low salt marinade. I have been trying low salt jerky but the texture just isn't coming out the way I want it. I haven't been using any sugar either because I am trying to cut that out too.
No, because I have always in the past used Soy and Lea & Perins, but before I always just used salt/pepper/onion/garlic. Plus a bit of honey. Honey is my cooking secret, everybody has one, I use a little honey in lot of foods to get that kick because no one really ever can taste it. They honey also gives the jerky a nice glaze, and I have heard texture but when I could eat jerky I never noticed and now its too late for me.

Jerky is a treat, it doesn't last long around here. A little salt, a little sugar, you deserve it for being bored all those other days. Its a treat.
 
 
You did a do a nice job of slicing. I can't wait to see the finish. I tried the smoker method once before the dehydrators and jerky kits became popular.
I have a dehydrator, I have done 100% on it, I have done 100% on my old Redi-Smok, I had been doing a 50/50. I am going to do thei about 4 or 5 hours onthe smoker and finish if needed probably on the dehydrator. It has a faster fan for getting that last oil off.

Best jerky I ever made I forgot was on the redi-dmok and forund after a weekend on low. It was like hard rock candy. brittle and crunchy......was pretty dang tastee!
 
Its has spent 4 hours in the smoker at 110, I just jacked it up to 140 an hour ago to help it along. Its not even close to ready yet. Its no longer under the smoke, so I make less trips to check it.....LOL
 
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Its been a day! At 6PM I realized the smoker had been off for an hour.... my bad. Kicked it back on and did 140 till 8PM (two more hours). Below is the pictures. LOL.. it quit smoking so I had other things to do.


Is it done? I think so. is it sweet? Definately not, there is a very very hidden honey taste. Other than that it is mucho bland!


Note when you bend the jerky it is perfect IMHO, colors right, the stringy striations in the muscle layers. You can chew this stuff till the cows come home and you still have a mouthful.....LOL

It would be the perfect jerky for back in the old days when it was for nourishment only because you coud boil it and make anything. You could chew it all day while walking. Its just not sweet and extremely bland. BTW the color is not that dark as picture above.


Note the vertical strip on the far left, I pulled it and it just stretches and all the string pull apart.

I now know there is a reason that everyone uses salt pepper onion garlic soy and lea & perrins w/ just a little honey.

Thats the end of my 'speriment. The honey does make the color beatiful, to me it makes the pull right where it needs to be. But it really needs some salt and pepper.

Thanks for following my escapades...... Its a lesson learned.
 
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