Help, advice

[rons]

OK, for a month now I've been experimenting with jerky. Trying flavors and temps and such. Going to try another batch tomorrow but hoping for some advice. Let me give a quick rundown so you can see where I'm at.

Flavor-wise, tomorrow I'm going for a rich beefy flavor. I cut and even pounded (to even thickness and tenderize a bit) my strips, overnight in the cure with a bit of jerky seasoning. Now they are in a marinade, going rouge on this marinade, it's Au Jus .

(what I'm shooting for. My favorite store bought jerky is Oberto Thin Style Original, if you've had it, it's thin, tender and has a beefy smoky savory taste)

My last batch of jerky last week, I found an awesome way to make teriyaki, I used the same method I use for marinating terryaki steaks. 50/50 of Kikkoman Teriyaki and Pineapple juice, super good Hawaiian Teriyaki  flavor.

BUT, I don't know if its my method, temps, or meat but even though my Jerky tastes good, it's super tough and real connective tissue-ey. Like if you try to tear it by hand, you see all that white stuff in there just refusing to rip. I've been using eye of round.

This batch I'm using London broil.

Any advice on how to make sure it's at least semi tender?

Thanks in advance!

Ron

 

[doctord1955]

Always make sure u slice across the grain of the meat!

 

[rons]

Yes, have done that, I'm wondering if it's the eye of round, maybe it's just really connective tissue-ey

 

[daveomak]

Grind the round roast and make ground beef jerky....

 

[rons]

I have tried that,.... I just didn't like it :)
Oberto jerky is whole muscle, thin but tender, that's what I'm shooting for :)

 

[twoalpha]

The eye of round may be a bit tougher than what you will be getting with the London Broil. Let us know what your procedure, plus time and temperature you are smoking this. What kind of smoker?. This could provide some clues for improvement.

 

[rons]

OK, cool, here are the full details,

This smoker, Masterbuilt

Using charcoal since I can't get this thing below 200, even with the bottom door open if I use proprane

Meat: London broil, hand sliced thin, pounded thicker spots so it's even thickness. Put on cure Wednesday and a bit of high mountain original seasoning, it sat in fridge over night. Yesterday put in an au jus marinade till bed time, checked, seemed like it had enough marination so pulled from marinade and just put into a zip lock where it's sitting right now waiting to be smoked.

Method: Going to try the toothpick hang, going to follow what others have done on here and start really low, hoping like 120-130 no smoke, then add some smoke and go low till it's done. In the past, my temps have jumped so not sure if that's kinda cooking it and making it seem done before it is?

Anything I missed?

 

[rons]

OK, got it hung, wow that's tedious! This was just over a pound, can't imagine hanging 5 lbs like some do :)

Propped up a grate in the kitchen , got it hung and separated, then here it is in the smoker, temp about 110-120 right now.

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• rons
• Sep 11, 2015

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• rons
• Sep 11, 2015

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• rons
• Sep 11, 2015

 

[rons]

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• rons
• Sep 11, 2015

 

[rons]

11:21am All visible 'wet' is off meat now, so just added about 4 or 5 briquettes and small handful of hickory pellets for a little bit of smoke, hoping it moves up to 130

11:48am, was at 120F, so added 4 more briquettes (this has a way of getting too hot, so being over careful trying to sneak the temps up)

 

[rons]

1:02pm

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• rons
• Sep 11, 2015

 

[dirtsailor2003]

I think that the round roast is your main culprit in not getting tender jerky. The london broil will be better. Flank steak is even better than london broil. I have been using london broil because its been a lot less expensive than flank.

 

[rons]

You are right, this jerky came out awesome!
Using Johnnys ah jus was freaking killer good. You guys got to try that for a marinade.
Cure, season, 24 hours, then 12 hours in ah jus, I cannot say enough how killer good the flavor is. It's like smoked prime rib!

 

[dirtsailor2003]

There ya go! Now that you have your recipe down you can smoke up bigger batches! don't be afraid to try other spices. Make a big batch, portion a small amount out to play with and add too it. I always experiment with a pound and try new seasonings.

 

[rons]

Heck yeah :) just bought 2 lbs of London to do Sunday, yeah! :) :) :)

 

[dirtsailor2003]

2 pounds? Umm add ten more pounds to that and you'll be golden! [emoji]128513[/emoji]

 

[doctord1955]

Dont be afraid to try the round again but this time cure it for 2-3 days!

 

[rons]

Well, 2.75 lbs :)
Man, 12 lb? That'd be like $75.00! Eek

Does longer cure make it more tender?

 

[ron burgundy]

I've got venison marinading over night. I want to give it some smoke b4 it goes in the dehydrator. How long can/should I cood smoke it? Around 1/4 inch thick strips.

 

[rons]

Wish I knew the answer, I'm just learning myself, maybe someone else can chime in?