First time smoker / making jerky (w/q-view!)

[blade]

  I have a Traegar pellet grill to which I added a cold smoker from Smoke Daddy it works great at all grill temperatures and it a very easy install.  I do make jerky almost weekly with great success, I try to maintain the temperature at 150 which this grill does with about 5 degree plus or minus variance.  My normal cooking time is 4 hours minimum but some batches have almost 6 hours.  The variance is most likely my meat slice thicknes, the cut of the meat and the kind of meat.  All my jerky thus far has been red meat which inludes beef, but many different species of wild game meat.
 

 

[bbqonice]

drooling already...how was the taste test?  I use tenderquick exclusively also...sausage, jerky whathave you.  I also use the original Mortons Tenderquick jerky recipie then add some extras to make it a wet marinade teryiaki style.

good job on the jerky...keep the pics coming

 

[waymore3]

I never used liquid smoke or tender quick I make jerky in 6 1/2 using a Luhr Jensen Big Chief.  My meat is cut in 1/2"x1/2" strips about 5-6" long.  I made a video to prove it.

 

[sqwib]

I never used liquid smoke or tender quick I make jerky in 6 1/2 using a Luhr Jensen Big Chief.  My meat is cut in 1/2"x1/2" strips about 5-6" long.  I made a video to prove it.

I made a video to prove it. (hell of an intro!)

Dude, I don't mean to sound negative but your video leaves a few important things out and that's the smoking temp, which is very important if you're saying you don't use cure. And there is no brine recipe.

I love this statement on your description.

A quick video on how to make jerky the right way. (You better be ready for some other opinions on this forum)

If you cut against the grain it's basically a smoked steak. (hmm, that's a new one, for me anyhow.). (I always thought that slicing with or against the grain was a preference for degree of chew.)

1/2" x 1/2" strips ??? (I have done this with Biltong but not jerky).

Leave the fat on? it will hold the flavor from the brine a little bit better than the meat?? and give you something to chew on?

cut with the grain holds the flavor of the brine better??

Of course you have to move as fast as I do or you won't get it done in time (What does that even mean?)

Wow I guess I have been doing it wrong for 30 years.

Well everyone has their way and if this works for you AWESOME!

 

[fishinman89]

Well I tried smoking some jerky a couple weekends ago.  When I went to the grocery store I bought a cut of beef that I was familiar with but I thought it was flank steak turns out it was thin sliced and layered kind of like sliced roast beef.  I was a little worried but used it anyways.  So I soaked it in a marinade I made over night, smoked it for a couple of hours and finished it off in the oven.  It turned out great!  In fact, my wife and I ate it all lol. I don't have any Q-views but I can assure you that it happened lol.  Opening weekend for rifle season here in MN, so hopefully my next attempt at smoked jerky will be with some fresh venison.

 

[jhilla68]

Glad this thread is getting so much activity. 

I'm hoping to smoke more beef jerky this weekend.  I'll probably slice the meat a little bit thinner this time around, but follow a similar process that I did last time.  I was shocked at how quickly it went, but I did only end up with ~2.5 lbs when it was all said and done.
 

 

[kusinskij]

Has anyone tried using an AMNPS in a MES 40 for jerky?  I was thinking of using some Pitmaster or Bourbon barrel pellets, sent my temp for 140 and let it go until the AMNPS runs out (roughly 8 to 12 hours depending on amount of meat, outside temp/humidity). 

 

[tjohnson]

Has anyone tried using an AMNPS in a MES 40 for jerky?  I was thinking of using some Pitmaster or Bourbon barrel pellets, sent my temp for 140 and let it go until the AMNPS runs out (roughly 8 to 12 hours depending on amount of meat, outside temp/humidity). 

A little smoke goes a long way on jerky

Remember, it's very thin meat......

Maybe 45 minutes to an hour for me

TJ