- Aug 27, 2008
- 5,170
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Once you took the meat out of the baggies did you rinse them off with water or place them right in the smoker?
Straight to the smoker, no rinse...it brings on a pretty intense flavor that way.
Eric
Once you took the meat out of the baggies did you rinse them off with water or place them right in the smoker?
Great Write up! i wanna try smoking jerky this way, do you have a write up of general guidlines for the process?
- temps?
- times?
- do's and dont's
- what to look for throughout the process
thanks
Hmm...if the meat was brought to safe temps, it is OK to eat, but product with more moisture content will have a reduced shelf life, varying from less than one day to several days depending on actual moisture content, I would think. Low moisture content is the key to a shelf-stable product...less moisture = longer life. My best finished jerky product has a loss of 48-52% by weight. If I get a shade less than half the weight of what I started with, I'm happy with it. I've had some with a loss of about 56% as I recall, and this was a very tough jerky...still great flavor, but more dry than it needed to be for my storage methods. If you have a food scale in the 4-5lb capacity, you can weigh your cured meat in the bag, then weigh it again after smoking and calculate the ratio of moisture loss. Actually, for the sake of proper curing, I would highly recommend using a food scale. After trimming the meat, you won't have any idea how much it weighs, and I have always gotten different weights than store labeling reads (always less than the label, of course). There is always some moisture lost in the packaging, and even more moisture loss after a frozen meat is thawed. So, scales are a must, IMO, being very inexpensive insurance and a tool which can tell you the overall outcome of your drying process as well.great thanks!
is there any problem with them being "under done" except for long term storage issues? meaning if i happen to under-do them...are they still safe to eat?
Ha-ha!!! That's the whole idea...no liquid smoke around my house...it's the real deal here. Hmm, come to think of it, I've never used liquid smoke for anything. I even smoke my bbq beans (from scratch).Eric,
This looks sooooooo goodYou have have inspired me to leave the dehydrator in the closet the next time I make jerky.
I'm so glad these posts stay here forever! I smoke all kinds of stuff ... but never have ventured past the dehydrator for my jerky. But I have a fairly new smoker now and plan to give this a whirl this week.
Eric,
This looks sooooooo goodYou have have inspired me to leave the dehydrator in the closet the next time I make jerky.
I'm just the opposite of most, I guess. I didn't own a dehydrator until a year or so ago. My main use for it has been to dry my own dry rub ingredients. I think you'll like the smoked jerky...you can really load them up with large batches if you want to, and that makes it easier to invest your time in the venture.
I'm so glad these posts stay here forever! I smoke all kinds of stuff ... but never have ventured past the dehydrator for my jerky. But I have a fairly new smoker now and plan to give this a whirl this week.