First try at ground jerky

[Mauritius]

I did my first batch of ground jerky with a jerky cannon last week and it turned out really good! I used two super lean eye round roasts totaling 5 lbs and ground 1/4 inch. I did a mix of round and flat and ended up liking the flat. They dried faster and I couldn't get the cat turd visual out of my head with the round sticks. :eek: I think I'll go back to using casings for sticks.

I made up two different seasonings. One kinda plain - pepper, onion, garlic, worcestershire and soy - and one with an Asian twist - sriracha hot sauce, ginger, chili paste. I mixed the batches and let them sit overnight in the fridge before busting out the meat cannon. Both turned out fantastic smoked at 160 for 6 hours. Smoke was on 3-4 hours with a mix of hickory and apple in the AMNPS.

Once this is used up I'm going to try with venison. Had to perfect the process first ;)

 

[jimmyinsd]

did you use cure? I have been doing ground jerky for years but I use the pre packaged mixes with cure. the stuff lasts damn near forever.

 

[Mauritius]

Yep, used cure #1.

 

[SonnyE]

Cat turd visual... :D
Took me 5 minutes to stop laughin at that...

I'm still up in the air about my ground beef. But it is tasty! But I tend to get it a tad too dry.

I made a 'form' with some 1/4" white plastic pegboard I had laying around.
Simply a 4" hole in the middle. Then I put a 1 ounce dipper of mixed meat on a baggie cut for squishin.
I just use a flat bottomed pan and squish it into a cookie shape, peal and place on my screen, and dehydrate at 165 degrees till dried out. The form holds it to 1/4" thick.
Jerky Cookies. Still laughing about your Cat Turd visual.
If I use a custom press plate, maybe I can make miniature cow pies....
Grandpa's Cow Pie Jerky. :eek: It's all in how you market it. Put it next to the gold moose turds.

Cat Turd Visual, ROTFLMAO!

 

[dward51]

Ha!!!!! Sounds somewhat like the "dog turd" jerky I made like that one time.... Taste was good, but looks... not so much...

 

[SonnyE]

Yeah, tell them it dog-doo Jerky and they'll leave it alone.
More for you.
That looks more like Coyote or Raccoon scat to me.
I'd eat it. Might close my eyes for the first bite, but I would.

 

[Mauritius]

Ahahaha that's some chunky stuff. I agree about the coon scat, way more fitting.

I just realized the photo in my post didn't work, here's what I made...sans cat turds.

 

[SonnyE]

Cow Pie Jerky...

 

[Mauritius]

Buffalo biscuits!

 

[SonnyE]

Prairie Flyers.... :D

I've come to the conclusion 2 pounds makes a mixed load in my Presto Dehydrator for now.
(I finished a pound of ground, and a pound of Bottom Round Roast the other day.)
I could might get more, but I don't want a small amount waiting to go on. Besides, I can only eat so much.
that 2 pounds made a quart Ziploc bag and I've been enjoying way more than I should.

I suppose it is all a matter of preference, but I find I'm leaning toward the ground meat again.
For one thing, I take a pound, and I made up the dry ingredients in a plastic food jar, 6 tsp per pound.
Add the Worcestershire sauce, and the soy sauce, and mix by hand. Ready to use! (I use plastic food service disposable gloves handling raw meat.)
(However, if the mix is allowed to rest in the Fridge for an hour or two, the flavors have a chance to mingle. ;) I can't see any harm in it setting in the fridge.)

It all looks good to me! ;)

 

[SmokinAl]

Looks real good for your first try!
Al

 

[tallbm]

Both turned out fantastic smoked at 160 for 6 hours. Smoke was on 3-4 hours with a mix of hickory and apple in the AMNPS.

Once this is used up I'm going to try with venison. Had to perfect the process first ;)

Man that looked good!
I think I'm going to give smoking my ground jerky a shot this weekend. I'll probably just do a simple 5 pound batch to make sure I get things right before go and do larger and more complex batches.

What was your percentage mix of apple and hickory used in your AMNPS?
Also would you say you wanted more or less smoke on the jerky?

I'm asking because I'm debating on going 100%Cherry but I know it is a lot weaker than a Hickory/Apple mix.
I'm hoping I can guess as to how much Cherry smoke to apply by using your Hickory/Apple info and your thoughts as a guide :)

 

[Mauritius]

It was pretty close to 50/50 mix on the pellets. I filled the AMNPS a little over 1/3 full, just around the first corner, so 3ish hours of smoke. I think the smoke level was good. Maybe a little strong the day after but once it had time to mellow it was perfect. That was probably the hickory talking. I don't think a little more or less would have changed the end result much.

If I was in your shoes I'd do the same thing with cherry, maybe aim closer to 4 solid hours in the smoke. The spice mix and how well it dries down so it has a good chew matter more to me for jerky. The smoke is just a plus :)

 

[tallbm]

It was pretty close to 50/50 mix on the pellets. I filled the AMNPS a little over 1/3 full, just around the first corner, so 3ish hours of smoke. I think the smoke level was good. Maybe a little strong the day after but once it had time to mellow it was perfect. That was probably the hickory talking. I don't think a little more or less would have changed the end result much.

If I was in your shoes I'd do the same thing with cherry, maybe aim closer to 4 solid hours in the smoke. The spice mix and how well it dries down so it has a good chew matter more to me for jerky. The smoke is just a plus :)

Thanks for the input. I thinking 4-6 hours of 100% Cherry should be good since cherry is much weaker than hickory and apple. I think I'll do a row and a half of the AMNPS and see how it comes out :)

 

[Mauritius]

Sounds good man, I'm sure it'll turn out great! What meat/mix are you using?

 

[tallbm]

Sounds good man, I'm sure it'll turn out great! What meat/mix are you using?

100% ground Venison no fat added so it is likely about 98% lean.
I have a bunch of LEM Mixes from some variety packs I received as gifts so I'll probably just use one of those up for this test batch.

The plan is to figure out my process with the smoker and then move on to making my Italian Caccetore Salami style jerky mix I came up with a while back. That one uses the LEM's original snackstick seasoning as a base but with other stuff mixed in and comes out awesome!!!