Hello everyone. First off, thank you for this site. I got a smoker for Christmas 2016, and have been using it approximately twice a month since. I have referenced this site more times than I can count. Usually, I can find the answer to the question I am asking, but I can't seem to find much on this one.
We are taking a boat trip on Sunday this weekend, and I decided I wanted to try to make some beef jerky for the boat. I went out and bought a 1.5 (ish) pound of beef top round and got it home. I whipped up a marinade consisting of soy sauce, worschester, bourbon, garlic and onion powder and pepper.
I cut the beef into 1/4 inch strips, and placed it in a kosher salt dry brine for a hour or so, rinsed, and placed in the marinade. In the time since, I have been reading about cure #1 and why I should use it. I went out and picked some up, but now I am a little hesitant to use it..
My plan was (not using any cure) to get the smoker (MES-30) up to about 180 degrees, and hang the beef strips from the top rack. I was going to let it roll smoke at 180 for about a hour, then bring it down to 150ish for the remainder of the time. I was going to eyeball the meat to see when it needed to be pulled.
After reading, it sounds like I may want to use the cure, but I have a couple issues - one, the meat is currently in the marinade, and I am not sure if I need to factor in the weight of the liquid when measuring out the cure #1 or not. I am not entirely sure of the exact weight of the meat either, as I cut some pieces off as I was trimming it. I also am not sure if I even need to use the Cure #1 since I am putting the meat into a 180 degree smoker for a hour, I mean, I eat medium rare steak that I am sure isn't over 160 degrees, right?
I don't really want to give any of my friends botulism (I don't think my wife would ever let me live that down), so I figured I would get some insight.
Thanks!
We are taking a boat trip on Sunday this weekend, and I decided I wanted to try to make some beef jerky for the boat. I went out and bought a 1.5 (ish) pound of beef top round and got it home. I whipped up a marinade consisting of soy sauce, worschester, bourbon, garlic and onion powder and pepper.
I cut the beef into 1/4 inch strips, and placed it in a kosher salt dry brine for a hour or so, rinsed, and placed in the marinade. In the time since, I have been reading about cure #1 and why I should use it. I went out and picked some up, but now I am a little hesitant to use it..
My plan was (not using any cure) to get the smoker (MES-30) up to about 180 degrees, and hang the beef strips from the top rack. I was going to let it roll smoke at 180 for about a hour, then bring it down to 150ish for the remainder of the time. I was going to eyeball the meat to see when it needed to be pulled.
After reading, it sounds like I may want to use the cure, but I have a couple issues - one, the meat is currently in the marinade, and I am not sure if I need to factor in the weight of the liquid when measuring out the cure #1 or not. I am not entirely sure of the exact weight of the meat either, as I cut some pieces off as I was trimming it. I also am not sure if I even need to use the Cure #1 since I am putting the meat into a 180 degree smoker for a hour, I mean, I eat medium rare steak that I am sure isn't over 160 degrees, right?
I don't really want to give any of my friends botulism (I don't think my wife would ever let me live that down), so I figured I would get some insight.
Thanks!
