First time jerky questions.

[clifish]

I am sure somewhere here is my answer but I am going to present my plans anyway...lol

I Have some eye round I got fairly cheap, plan is to slice to 1/4". I have LEM backwoods jalapeno jerky seasonings to try. Weigh this out to what ever weight meat I want to use and sit over night.

I have 2 ways I can go to finish off:

1) smoke on the MB 800, I have read it can go as low as 180 deg but have not verified this yet. Is there a time frame for this or is it just get to the "feel" I want?

or

2) I have an old Ronco dehydrator as below, There are no temp settings, no fan, just rotate the racks. If going this route should I "dry" fire this up with some probes to get a feel for what temp it will run at?

Any thoughts or input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[chopsaw]

I Have some eye round I got fairly cheap, plan is to slice to 1/4".

I have an idea of how thick I want it when dried / done , and slice a little thicker than that .
I've had it get to thin on me a couple times because I sliced to a finished thickness .

I always use cure in mine . I used to use an old Ronco like that , and just rotated the trays . Pulled out the ones that were done ahead of others .
It died , and I do mine in the oven now .

Never used the LEM mixes , but some have whole muscle and ground meat formulas / amounts .

smoke on the MB 800, I have read it can go as low as 180 deg but have not verified this yet. Is there a time frame for this or is it just get to the "feel" I want?

I've used my pellet grill , and just set it as low as I can get on that day , and pull when I like the texture .

 

[clifish]

I have an idea of how thick I want it when dried / done , and slice a little thicker than that .
I've had it get to thin on me a couple times because I sliced to a finished thickness .

I always use cure in mine . I used to use an old Ronco like that , and just rotated the trays . Pulled out the ones that were done ahead of others .
It died , and I do mine in the oven now .

Never used the LEM mixes , but some have whole muscle and ground meat formulas / amounts .


I've used my pellet grill , and just set it as low as I can get on that day , and pull when I like the texture .

Thanks Rich, I will have to think about the thickness, how much width do you typically lose in the dehydration? The LEM mix has the cure in it already, I will need to mix all the mix very well then scale weigh it to amount of meat I have after slicing.

I might just use the Ronco for this run as it can be done indoors, weather has been flaky here lately.

 

[Gonna Smoke]

Congrats Cliff for taking the plunge. I always use whole muscle and slice my jerky ¼" thick. It loses about half the thickness when done and it's the right thickness for me. Not familiar with that seasoning, but I use a marinade and I always add cure #1 to it by total weight of everything, or "stuff" as tallbm says...meat, liquid, etc. That way it would be shelf stable, no refrigeration required.

I used that same dehydrator for years until I bought one with a fan, temp & time control on it, but that one will serve you well. I never worried about the temp of it, just kept checking and rotating the trays every few hours until it was done to my liking. Be sure to post up what you do, pics required...

 

[chopsaw]

how much width do you typically lose in the dehydration?

It depends . Ground meat is worse for that than whole muscle . Just something to think about . You should be good at 1/4 " with the whole muscle .

The LEM mix has the cure in it already,

Did you mix it already ? I looked up the directions for the LEM Jalapeno jerky . It's shows different directions for whole muscle and ground meat .
A package of cure , and a package of seasoning .

 

[clifish]

It depends . Ground meat is worse for that than whole muscle . Just something to think about . You should be good at 1/4 " with the whole muscle .


Did you mix it already ? I looked up the directions for the LEM Jalapeno jerky . It's shows different directions for whole muscle and ground meat .
A package of cure , and a package of seasoning .

No I have not mixed it or even opened it yet. So not sure if the cure is mixed in or in a separate pouch.

 

[gmc2003]

I've never made jerky Cliff, but you've got some good tutors helping you. I'm sure however way to do it. It'll come out fantastic.

Chris.

BTW: Did mother nature help you mix the seasoning the other day. Some of my neighbors felt the aftershock.

 

[clifish]

I've never made jerky Cliff, but you've got some good tutors helping you. I'm sure however way to do it. It'll come out fantastic.

Chris.

BTW: Did mother nature help you mix the seasoning the other day. Some of my neighbors felt the aftershock.

It was pretty weird, whole house shook.

 

[gmc2003]

Is the beer pedestal still standing? That's the important question.

 

[clifish]

Is the beer pedestal still standing? That's the important question.

totally

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

You definitely have some good advise… I have done jerky both ways you mentioned… just matters what I feel like that given day… sometimes I will start in the smoker and finish in the dehydrator due to just wanting a hint of smoke. And totally agree with chopsaw on the thickness comment… I have also sliced too thin… edible yes… but certainly not the texture I was wanting. Good luck with whatever way you choose to go.

 

[clifish]

You definitely have some good advise… I have done jerky both ways you mentioned… just matters what I feel like that given day… sometimes I will start in the smoker and finish in the dehydrator due to just wanting a hint of smoke. And totally agree with chopsaw on the thickness comment… I have also sliced too thin… edible yes… but certainly not the texture I was wanting. Good luck with whatever way you choose to go.

For anyone that used the Ronco, did you use the jerky inserts in the trays? Seems like they are a solid plastic and would prevent the bottom from dehydrating?

 

[chopsaw]

No I have not mixed it or even opened it yet. So not sure if the cure is mixed in or in a separate pouch.

OK . It's separate packages , and there are 2 different sets of directions . Marinade ( whole muscle ) and then ground meat .

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

For anyone that used the Ronco, did you use the jerky inserts in the trays? Seems like they are a solid plastic and would prevent the bottom from dehydrating?

I did not use that plastic tray… I think that is more for making fruit leather type of stuff. For what it’s worth on the trays I will spray down with a touch of Pam spray to prevent the meat from sticking to the trays.

 

[clifish]

I did not use that plastic tray… I think that is more for making fruit leather type of stuff. For what it’s worth on the trays I will spray down with a touch of Pam spray to prevent the meat from sticking to the trays.

I just realized mine had the solid tray and then some perforated ones, will see if I use any of them or just put onto the basket itself.

 

[Buckeye1]

I make mine on my recteq at 180. I flip the pieces on the racks and rotate the racks top to bottom after 1 hour. Check again in 1 hour. Some pieces are done at that time, so I pull those and put in a 3/4 closed zip lock bag. Check the other pieces in 30 minutes and pull the ones that are finished.
The next day the smoke flavor really kicks in:)

 

[clifish]

Well it is sliced and in the seasoning/cure for a ride. Will post up after conclusion - Thanks all

 

[Gonna Smoke]

For anyone that used the Ronco, did you use the jerky inserts in the trays? Seems like they are a solid plastic and would prevent the bottom from dehydrating?

I did not use those jerky inserts...

 

[Winterrider]

I would do the smoker for a couple hrs, then Ronco to get your desired texture.

 

[jcam222]

I do 1/4" against the grain. I've always used a dehydrator. I usually stress trying to figure out when it's done. Generally when you bend and see like whitish fibers and no moisture you are there. I run the dehydrator at 160ish. I like Winterrider idea of smoking for awhile and finishing in the dehydrator.