Fritz, Thanks alot!! This has me thinking about some alternatives. So far the main options I see are:
1. buy an expensive smoker (last option, high investment just to test)
2. Fridge smoker - could be getting too technical for my abilities, would probably need a friend to help with any saudering/advanced metal or electrical work. Advantage: insulated for smoking outdoors in cold weather (what I will be doing).
3. Build a UDS - Tons of info availble online, even found a step-by-step video. This is something I could do even with my limited abilities it seems. Disadvantage: circular shape maybe not ideal for maximum jerky racks, i think square/rectangular would be better for maximizing yield. However just for expirimentation this could be ok. Other problem I see is I think a UDS would be too difficult to keep at low temps for jerky, unless i made it an electric one...
4. Some kind of super basic/cheapo smoker - something along the lines of what fritz mentioned (
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Cardboard-Smoker/?ALLSTEPS). Advantages: low initial cost to test jerky recipes and get a feel for smoking jerky. Low risk, if I make mistakes its just some boxes and time. Disadvantages: would it be a good representation of the quality of jerky I can make on a large scale or in production mode?
So far I am leaning towards building some kind of very simple, small electric smoker. One other thing I want to mention: its getting cold as hell here (it will probably float around freezing, and in some cases below freezing for the next few months). I think I should consider this in whichever smoker I decide to go with/make.
Again thanks so much for the great info. I have been reading lots of books in the meantime including "jerky" by A.D Livingston, backyard BBQ, and next is Smoking Meat.
Also anyone who has suggestions on the following tools (when I get to this point) I'd like to start researching them:
1) a meat cutter - something to ease the pain of cutting up beef into jerky strips.
2) a vacuum sealer - i have seen plenty but wondered if people have any specific reccomendations for producing/packing and selling jerky.
Thanks!