My son gave me about 8 pounds of Deer hind quarter.
Gotta try making some Venison Dried Beef.
Day #1:
I cut the quarters into easy to cure pieces, trimmed all of the fat, some of the other stuff & small loose pieces off.
Rinsed it all real good and patted dry with paper towels.
Then I weighed each piece, calculated how much Tender Quick to use, and weighed those amounts in paper plates (1/2 ounce of TQ per pound of solid meat).
Next I rubbed those amounts of cure, along with equal amounts of Brown sugar on each piece, and put the pieces of meat into zip-lock bags. I was very careful to put anything that fell off of each piece into the bag with the piece that it fell off of, so the right amount of cure stays with the piece of meat it was designated for.
Then I put those pieces in my meat fridge at a constant 37˚/38˚.
The thickest piece of meat was 2", so I calculated the length of time to be 6 days in cure. (See "Note" below)
I massaged & flipped each bag over every day.
Note: I Never cure for less than 8 days.
8 Days Later:
I drained and rinsed each piece, and soaked them in ice water for 1/2 hour.
I then removed one piece & sliced a few little sample strips, and did a fry test---Perfect--Not salty at all!
I pulled them all out of the ice water, and dried them all off real good.
Then put them on my MES racks, and seasoned them with a coating of CBP, Garlic Powder, and Onion Powder.
Then back into the fridge uncovered for an overnight air drying.
Next Day #9:
Outside temp at start was 14˚.
6:40 AM----Pre-heat smoker to 130˚.
7:00 AM----Put meat in smoker at 130˚ (no smoke---to dry better before adding smoke).
8:00 AM----Load A-MAZE-N-SMOKER with Hickory Dust, light both ends, and put in bottom of smoker.
11:00 AM--Bump heat up to 140˚.
1:00 PM----Bump heat up to 160˚.
1:30 PM----AMNS burned out. Removed and put Hickory loaded 6 X 6 AMNS in dry water pan.
3:00 PM----Bump heat to 180˚
5:00 PM----AMNS 6 X 6 burned out. Removed AMNS & bumped heat up to 190˚.
6:00 PM----Bumped heat up to 200˚.
8:00 PM----Checked all pieces for at least 158˚. All pieces were between 159˚ and 172˚.
Removed & spread out on two dishes outside of smoker (19˚ outside).
After cooling down good, I took the meat in & put it in the microwave (keeps the cat away) to cool some more.
After cooling down to about 90˚, I wrapped all pieces in plastic wrap & put in fridge overnight.
Slice real thin the next day.
This stuff is Awesome!
Qview with comments below.
Thanks for looking,
Bear
6 1/2 pounds of Venison Hind Quarter meat:
Cure weighed out to match the 6 pieces of meat in the first picture:
Meat & cure & Brown Sugar in bags, ready for fridge:
Soaking in ice water, after 6 days in cure:
Test frying a few slices----Perfect!
Pieces all seasoned up, ready for overnight in fridge, uncovered to dry well:
Pieces after smoking, and overnight in fridge (wrapped), and ready for slicing:
All sliced up---MMMMmmmm............
All ready for freezing and eating:
Gotta try making some Venison Dried Beef.
Day #1:
I cut the quarters into easy to cure pieces, trimmed all of the fat, some of the other stuff & small loose pieces off.
Rinsed it all real good and patted dry with paper towels.
Then I weighed each piece, calculated how much Tender Quick to use, and weighed those amounts in paper plates (1/2 ounce of TQ per pound of solid meat).
Next I rubbed those amounts of cure, along with equal amounts of Brown sugar on each piece, and put the pieces of meat into zip-lock bags. I was very careful to put anything that fell off of each piece into the bag with the piece that it fell off of, so the right amount of cure stays with the piece of meat it was designated for.
Then I put those pieces in my meat fridge at a constant 37˚/38˚.
The thickest piece of meat was 2", so I calculated the length of time to be 6 days in cure. (See "Note" below)
I massaged & flipped each bag over every day.
Note: I Never cure for less than 8 days.
8 Days Later:
I drained and rinsed each piece, and soaked them in ice water for 1/2 hour.
I then removed one piece & sliced a few little sample strips, and did a fry test---Perfect--Not salty at all!
I pulled them all out of the ice water, and dried them all off real good.
Then put them on my MES racks, and seasoned them with a coating of CBP, Garlic Powder, and Onion Powder.
Then back into the fridge uncovered for an overnight air drying.
Next Day #9:
Outside temp at start was 14˚.
6:40 AM----Pre-heat smoker to 130˚.
7:00 AM----Put meat in smoker at 130˚ (no smoke---to dry better before adding smoke).
8:00 AM----Load A-MAZE-N-SMOKER with Hickory Dust, light both ends, and put in bottom of smoker.
11:00 AM--Bump heat up to 140˚.
1:00 PM----Bump heat up to 160˚.
1:30 PM----AMNS burned out. Removed and put Hickory loaded 6 X 6 AMNS in dry water pan.
3:00 PM----Bump heat to 180˚
5:00 PM----AMNS 6 X 6 burned out. Removed AMNS & bumped heat up to 190˚.
6:00 PM----Bumped heat up to 200˚.
8:00 PM----Checked all pieces for at least 158˚. All pieces were between 159˚ and 172˚.
Removed & spread out on two dishes outside of smoker (19˚ outside).
After cooling down good, I took the meat in & put it in the microwave (keeps the cat away) to cool some more.
After cooling down to about 90˚, I wrapped all pieces in plastic wrap & put in fridge overnight.
Slice real thin the next day.
This stuff is Awesome!
Qview with comments below.
Thanks for looking,
Bear
6 1/2 pounds of Venison Hind Quarter meat:
Cure weighed out to match the 6 pieces of meat in the first picture:
Meat & cure & Brown Sugar in bags, ready for fridge:
Soaking in ice water, after 6 days in cure:
Test frying a few slices----Perfect!
Pieces all seasoned up, ready for overnight in fridge, uncovered to dry well:
Pieces after smoking, and overnight in fridge (wrapped), and ready for slicing:
All sliced up---MMMMmmmm............
All ready for freezing and eating:
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