Last fall I decided to start making jerky. I often need a quick infusion of protein and jerky is perfect. Commercial jerky is just too expensive, so heck, I can make my own for less than a quarter of the price of store bought. It is SOOOO easy to make. If you own a WSM and are not making jerky, and you like jerky, start. You'll never buy jerky again.
The grocery store where I shop cuts Bottom Round into 1/4" slices and labels it Carne Asada. It goes on sale quite often. Regular price is $3.98/lb, but I stock the freezer when I see $2.48/lb, which is often 2 or 3 times a month.
I do not own a dehydrator, nor do I want one. I made several batches of jerky first in the oven. See YouTube for guidance if making jerky in the oven appeals to you. I wanted to perfect my technique there before I moved to the WSM. Plus, it was always raining last Fall, Winter, and Spring so the oven was convenient. Interesting difference is that the oven jerky came out a little tough. The jerky on the WSM was tender.
Here's the recipe I adapted from online sources that I like the best. There's no soy sauce per se other than what is in the teriyaki sauce. I call it Barbeque Jerky. You could easily add red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper if you like a little heat.
Barbeque Beef Jerky Recipe on the 22.5" WSM
Came out tender and delicious! 3.5 lbs of raw meat would fit in the WSM if split between the two grates. A little less than 2 lbs will lay flat on a grate. For 3 1/2 lbs of beef, bump the 2/3 cup quantities up to a cup, the Worchester up to 1/3 cup, the spices to 2 tsp, and the cure to 3/4 tsp. It is a little lite on the cure, but the salt in the teriyaki sauce makes up for it.
Ingredients
2 1/2 lbs lean beef
2/3 cup teriyaki sauce
2/3 cup Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder (or 1 Tbs minced garlic)
1 1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp cure #1
Smoker Directions
1. If the beef is not pre-sliced, slice into 1/4" thick strips and put in a 1 gallon Ziplock bag. Combine all curing ingredients and pour into the bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible and marinate overnight in the refrigerator, or up to 2-3 days.
2. In the WSM put down a layer of used or new cold charcoal. Pile 9 RO Ridge briquettes in chimney. Will need probably 12 if using Kingsford. Heat until they are ashed over. On the bed of new/used charcoal, put 4 pieces of hickory or mesquite in a small square. Pour hot coals into middle of square. Immediately reassemble the smoker and set the vents or the Guru for 150F.
3. Bring grates in house and lay meat on grates. Once the grates are put back in the smoker, work the vents or bump the Guru up to 165F.
4. Smoke at 165°F until ready, about 5 hours.
5. Let cool, then use meat scissors to cut into bite-sized pieces. Cut off and discard any excess fat. Store in Ziplock bags in the refrigerator. Delicious when 1.5 to 2 oz is heated in the microwave for 15 seconds prior to eating, but not necessary.
Setting up fire ring:
9 Royal Oak Ridge briquettes in the chimney on my gas grill burner. Took forever to heat so I ordered the small chimney off Amazon for Father's Day. That's my excuse anyway!
Hot briquettes added to center of pile.
Initial temp of 150F. Ready to load meat. This was also a first test run of a new lid thermometer. The 2" River Country is adjustable, but I haven't touched it yet. With a 9/16" drill bit it would install in probably 15 minutes. I used a 1/2" drill bit and had to use a round file to increase the diameter of the hole in the housing and the lid. Still, only took an hour to install.
I had every intention of using skewers and feeding the meat through the grates so it would hang between the grates. After messing with it for probably 15 minutes, I said ....... well, never mind what I said. I decided to just lay the meat flat on the grates. And I didn't get any pics of the meat on the grates. Sorry.
Temp stabilized at 165F, or close enough.
Final product after 5 hours on the WSM before trimming fat and cutting into five pieces each. Oh so good. I actually did about 1.75 lbs yesterday afternoon and the remainder this morning. The first batch I did last night was twice what you see below. Again, no pics of that, sorry.
Wait, here you go. Here's the bag with last night's batch, minus five pieces that the smoker needed to test.
The grocery store where I shop cuts Bottom Round into 1/4" slices and labels it Carne Asada. It goes on sale quite often. Regular price is $3.98/lb, but I stock the freezer when I see $2.48/lb, which is often 2 or 3 times a month.
I do not own a dehydrator, nor do I want one. I made several batches of jerky first in the oven. See YouTube for guidance if making jerky in the oven appeals to you. I wanted to perfect my technique there before I moved to the WSM. Plus, it was always raining last Fall, Winter, and Spring so the oven was convenient. Interesting difference is that the oven jerky came out a little tough. The jerky on the WSM was tender.
Here's the recipe I adapted from online sources that I like the best. There's no soy sauce per se other than what is in the teriyaki sauce. I call it Barbeque Jerky. You could easily add red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper if you like a little heat.
Barbeque Beef Jerky Recipe on the 22.5" WSM
Came out tender and delicious! 3.5 lbs of raw meat would fit in the WSM if split between the two grates. A little less than 2 lbs will lay flat on a grate. For 3 1/2 lbs of beef, bump the 2/3 cup quantities up to a cup, the Worchester up to 1/3 cup, the spices to 2 tsp, and the cure to 3/4 tsp. It is a little lite on the cure, but the salt in the teriyaki sauce makes up for it.
Ingredients
2 1/2 lbs lean beef
2/3 cup teriyaki sauce
2/3 cup Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder (or 1 Tbs minced garlic)
1 1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp cure #1
Smoker Directions
1. If the beef is not pre-sliced, slice into 1/4" thick strips and put in a 1 gallon Ziplock bag. Combine all curing ingredients and pour into the bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible and marinate overnight in the refrigerator, or up to 2-3 days.
2. In the WSM put down a layer of used or new cold charcoal. Pile 9 RO Ridge briquettes in chimney. Will need probably 12 if using Kingsford. Heat until they are ashed over. On the bed of new/used charcoal, put 4 pieces of hickory or mesquite in a small square. Pour hot coals into middle of square. Immediately reassemble the smoker and set the vents or the Guru for 150F.
3. Bring grates in house and lay meat on grates. Once the grates are put back in the smoker, work the vents or bump the Guru up to 165F.
4. Smoke at 165°F until ready, about 5 hours.
5. Let cool, then use meat scissors to cut into bite-sized pieces. Cut off and discard any excess fat. Store in Ziplock bags in the refrigerator. Delicious when 1.5 to 2 oz is heated in the microwave for 15 seconds prior to eating, but not necessary.
Setting up fire ring:
9 Royal Oak Ridge briquettes in the chimney on my gas grill burner. Took forever to heat so I ordered the small chimney off Amazon for Father's Day. That's my excuse anyway!
Hot briquettes added to center of pile.
Initial temp of 150F. Ready to load meat. This was also a first test run of a new lid thermometer. The 2" River Country is adjustable, but I haven't touched it yet. With a 9/16" drill bit it would install in probably 15 minutes. I used a 1/2" drill bit and had to use a round file to increase the diameter of the hole in the housing and the lid. Still, only took an hour to install.
I had every intention of using skewers and feeding the meat through the grates so it would hang between the grates. After messing with it for probably 15 minutes, I said ....... well, never mind what I said. I decided to just lay the meat flat on the grates. And I didn't get any pics of the meat on the grates. Sorry.
Temp stabilized at 165F, or close enough.
Final product after 5 hours on the WSM before trimming fat and cutting into five pieces each. Oh so good. I actually did about 1.75 lbs yesterday afternoon and the remainder this morning. The first batch I did last night was twice what you see below. Again, no pics of that, sorry.
Wait, here you go. Here's the bag with last night's batch, minus five pieces that the smoker needed to test.
