Big Bite Jerky Maker

[Rugerbear]

I got the Big Bite Ground Meat Patty, Jerky, Snack Stick Maker from LEM. I was wondering if I could make up a bunch of the jerky strips with the seasoning in it, then freeze them in a vac seal package and later thaw them out and put on the smoker as I need?

I usually do a couple of pounds of Hamburger with the LEM seasoning and use my Jerky Cannon to make the stripes and then put on smoker.

I am hoping to make up a few pounds of different flavors and just smoke as needed.

Sounded like a good idea to justify purchase of the maker.

 

[kilo charlie]

Why not smoke the meat and freeze them and just thaw them out as needed?

 

[Rugerbear]

Why not smoke the meat and freeze them and just thaw them out as needed?

That would make the most sense. I can only do about 3 pounds at a time. I smoke for about 4 hours. I guess I could make up 6 or 9 pounds, then set on a cookie sheet and put in fridge until the batch on the smoker is done.
Just trying to come up with a new method.

 

[tallbm]

I got the Big Bite Ground Meat Patty, Jerky, Snack Stick Maker from LEM. I was wondering if I could make up a bunch of the jerky strips with the seasoning in it, then freeze them in a vac seal package and later thaw them out and put on the smoker as I need?

I usually do a couple of pounds of Hamburger with the LEM seasoning and use my Jerky Cannon to make the stripes and then put on smoker.

I am hoping to make up a few pounds of different flavors and just smoke as needed.

Sounded like a good idea to justify purchase of the maker.

Hi there and welcome!

I think you could. What you want to do really doesn't have anything to do with the jerky maker. If I did what you are thinking by hand I would slice the meat and then season + cure and let it sit to cure through.
Then I could vac seal and freeze it no problem.

Defrost and then smoke to make jery.

I do this with cured sausages that are not smoked because I make like 40 pounds of cured pork franks at a time and I can't get to smoking them all. In all honestly 99% don't even get smoked they get grilled because it's faster and simpler BUT they are fully cured so I can smoke them as well. Best of both worlds with max versatility :)

 

[Rugerbear]

Hi there and welcome!

I think you could. What you want to do really doesn't have anything to do with the jerky maker. If I did what you are thinking by hand I would slice the meat and then season + cure and let it sit to cure through.
Then I could vac seal and freeze it no problem.

Defrost and then smoke to make jery.

I do this with cured sausages that are not smoked because I make like 40 pounds of cured pork franks at a time and I can't get to smoking them all. In all honestly 99% don't even get smoked they get grilled because it's faster and simpler BUT they are fully cured so I can smoke them as well. Best of both worlds with max versatility :)

Quick question on cure. I was doing the hamburger jerky then freeze and some later. Do I need to let them sit in fridge overnight before freezing so cure can work? Didn’t know if freezer immediately would stop the cure process.
Thanks, Harry

 

[tallbm]

Quick question on cure. I was doing the hamburger jerky then freeze and some later. Do I need to let them sit in fridge overnight before freezing so cure can work? Didn’t know if freezer immediately would stop the cure process.
Thanks, Harry

I think that as long as you mix the cure into the ground meat and it sits a couple of hours you should be fine. I've seen it "said" that once you mix cure into ground meat it's pretty much instantly cured.
I don't believe freezing kills the cure off but cooking/heating will make it stop doing it's thing. So if you naturally defrost in the fridge over a day or 2 then you should get even more cure travel throughout the meat.

I would just mix it in and not worry too much about it, you should be fine :)

 

[Rugerbear]

I think that as long as you mix the cure into the ground meat and it sits a couple of hours you should be fine. I've seen it "said" that once you mix cure into ground meat it's pretty much instantly cured.
I don't believe freezing kills the cure off but cooking/heating will make it stop doing it's thing. So if you naturally defrost in the fridge over a day or 2 then you should get even more cure travel throughout the meat.

I would just mix it in and not worry too much about it, you should be fine :)

Thanks. I used the Lem big bite jerky maker. Worked pretty good. But there was a lot of ground meat in the chamber and auger area when done. Put that in jerky cannon to finish making the strips. I may have to rethink my process. May get about 4 of the stackable Lem racks and mix up a bunch of meat, use the jerky cannon and smoke all at the same time on the traeger. Then after they cool, vac , seal, then freeze.

 

[tallbm]

Thanks. I used the Lem big bite jerky maker. Worked pretty good. But there was a lot of ground meat in the chamber and auger area when done. Put that in jerky cannon to finish making the strips. I may have to rethink my process. May get about 4 of the stackable Lem racks and mix up a bunch of meat, use the jerky cannon and smoke all at the same time on the traeger. Then after they cool, vac , seal, then freeze.

Yeah you'll get it all sorted out.

I think I am now down to just rolling out my ground meat jerky between silicon mats for one solid meat sheet. THEN I put my silicon grill mat with the grid holes on top and flip it all onto the smoker rack. Then load rack into the smoker.

About halfway through the jerky smoke I get my meat scissors and cut the sheet in half and rotate the racks. When it's done I use the meat scissors to cut my jerky strips.

Sounds like a lot but it's super streamline, fastest approach, and efficient. Also less stuff to clean in the end :)

See what I mean here:

Ground Venison Jerky, New Approach Success!!!

Here's the Q-View then the writeup: So I think I may have reached the end of my jerky evolution hahaha. This was the last 10 pounds of my 100% ground venison I had form last year's hunt [no hunting this year :( ] Yep that is 10 pounds flattened into 4 sheets and loaded into the smoker on...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

 

[Lonzinomaker]

Like tallbm I do ground meat jerky in sheets and cut them up when smoked. Doing this kept me from having to buy a jerky canon.

 

[tallbm]

Like tallbm I do ground meat jerky in sheets and cut them up when smoked. Doing this kept me from having to buy a jerky canon.

Yeah I'm a total convert to this approach. So much faster, efficient, and simpler than all the other approaches I've tried. My LEM jerky cannon is now collecting dust lol