No success yet

Check with Guvana his recipie looks easy and tasty as hell

pierce652 really not sure what I can tell you. I have used HM Jerky seasoning and have never experienced any trouble. Could there be anyway you are adding to much cure? I slice my meat at 1/8 to 1/4, lay it over wax paper and then season both sides. I usually mix up enough for a few lbs more then I am doing. Then I layer them in a plastic container and let set for 24 hours. I then place in my smoker for a 1 hour smoke then into my food dehydrater to finish. I found the longer you let marinate before smokeing you do get a stronger flavor. Now for doing burger I have only done once it was okay but I like the strips of meat better. The other with strips of meat you have to get rid of any fat. It will leave a very bad taste in your mouth imo.

If you have a Food Saver, vac seal the meat and marinade instead of using a dish or a zip loc. Most of us believe that pulling the vacumn helps get the flavor into the meat.

I like to put the sealed bag in the refrig over night, and turn it over once if I think of it while it is soaking.

FWIW here is what I use for a basic recipe. Attached the link to the last post I had on jerky. Hope some of it helps.

2 tsp salt
2 tsp Instacure #1
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp black pepper
1/2 C Soy Sauce
2/3 C Worcestershire sauce

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ad.php?t=19312

Be sure you are using the exact amount of meat for pre-packaged cure. Less and you'll overcure <salty/too much nitrate> too much meat 0 undercured and possible not storage safe, or worse.

Just a thought here and keep in mind I've never made jerky from ground meat but store bought ground meat usually comes with a percentage of fat content. When doing strips all fat must be removed or you get a funky taste. If the ground meat has a fat content could this be the culprit?

As I havn't made any ground beef jerky, I prefer whole meat muscle for my jerky, I'm not sure what to advise there. I think lcruzen is spot on with the fat content, whether that is your problem or not it is a problem. The leaner the better. I can't help but wonder if maybe you just don't like salt much. I know I love it so the Hi Mountain cure is perfect for me. I've tried the other flavors they offer but the original is the one for me. I recently added some Smitty's dust I got from Richtee to a batch and boy did it come out delicious!!! Maybe try a little less cure and like Richtee said make sure your meat to cure/seasoning ratio is accurate. I weigh all me jerky meat after trimming so I know I am using the right amount of cure/seasoning. A lot of commercial jerky has sugar in it and I cannot stand that stuff, sweet does not work in jerky for me. Different folks = different strokes you know! That being said maybe you should sweeten up your mix a bit if thats what your after. Or maybe try a teriyaki batch, I'll be trying that for the first time this weekend. Someone here recently mentioned Jack Links Jerky and that it was pretty good stuff. I bought a bag of that stuff once and it went straight to the trash can. Worst jerky I've ever had.

Anyways don't give up! Keep trying different things until you come up with something that works for you.

I have been viewing the threads about making jerky and what " meat " to use, listed below arethe particular cuts referred to in the threads and there tenderness.

Shoulder..........This piece of meat is going to be the toughest of the bunch
Anything from the front of the animal ( shoulder,chuck ) will
potentiallly the toughest.

Bottom Round.. This piece of meat will be the next toughest, it comes from
hind of the animal and is sometimes referred to as the
outside round, as with the shoulder, the bottom ( outside )
round has more movement when the animal moves, this
making the muscle tougher

Eye round........ This piece of meat also comes from the outside round,
but is more tender than the bottom round.

Top round....... This piece of meat will be more tender than the bottom, it
comes from the hind of the animal and is referred to as an
inside round, as with the name inside relates to less
movement on the animal making it more tender.

Sirlon Tip
(Knuckle)....... This is a piece of meat is often over looked. The solid side of
Sirloin tip is a lean and tender cut that would work well for
Jerky. The Knuckle connects to the bottom( outside round )

Sirloin top butt........ This piece of meat has sadly not been mentioned. This
particular piece of meat is the intersection of the hind and
middle( loin) of the animal. If you have the opportunity to
buy the silver side ( solid muscle side ) of a sirlloin, you
will not be disappointed in its tenderness.

Flank ............. Flank steak comes from the loin section ( middle )of the
animal, less movement, more tender.

Stir fry meat..... Usually made from any portion of the round, meaning it could
made from a bottom, top, eye or sirloin tip. It's basically a
crap shoot as to what a particular store may be cutting at
the time. You may find the product used is a little less
consistant than you may like. It is usually more expensive
because of the convenience of already being cut for you.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last edited by tsulcoski : 03-07-2007 at 05:06 PM.