My First Jerky

[dougmays]

So i posted some questions  about smoking in the WSM for the first time and here is my results. 

i Used Lazy Man's basic jerky recipe with some slight modifications

2.5lbs of Eye of Round

1 cup Yoshida's sauce Used Teryaki instead
2 tablespoons Worcestershire
1 tablespoon black pepper
2.5 tablespoons Morton's Tender Quick
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 crushed garlic clove

Added tablespoon of crushed red pepper for spice

Marinated for 4 days (didnt mean to go that long but ran out of time over the weekend to do this)

Got the WSM heated up with about half the unlit charcoal that i usually use for long smokes and about 10 brickets lit.  Right away it shot up to 130 and then quickly to 175.  i closed the vents about 80-85% hoping the temp would go down.  Mean while headed inside and removed the jerky after resting in room temp for about 30 mins and laid the pieces down and patted dry. 

i went to check the smoker and it was holding steady at 190....i wanted lower so i closed the bottom vents all the way and closed the top vent half way....temp would not lay down so i threw the mean on and hoped that i could get it to go down. Long story short i couldn't, even all vents being almost closed i even got up to 215.  so i only smoked for 3 hours and then threw them in the dehydrator.

Next time i'll try to do far less lit and unlit coal and just add as needed.  i started this process around 6:30pm and the meat looked good and ready to go by midnight.  i felt like this process should have taken longer, anyone agree? disagree?

Here are more pics, the final one is a thick piece bent and broken in half, this is how i figured it was done....the "squishyness" was 90% gone.  I tried it and it tasted great!  a little "salty", i think this was from the tender quick so i might counter next time with brown sugar....anyone else experience this?

 

[SmokinAl]

Looks great Doug, I'm not a jerky guy so can't help you with your questions, but I'm sure they will be along shortly.

 

[tyotrain]

Jerky looks good. Nice job

 

[fpnmf]

Looks good.

 I usually cut mine a bit thinner.

 I don't heat it up that much,usually not past 90.

  Have a great day!!

  Craig

 

[dougmays]

unfortunately i asked the butcher at publix to cut them in 1/4" slices but they were closer to 1/2 :/

i wanted to keep a temp between 120-140 but my  Weber just wouldn't do it

 

[java]

jerky is lookin good. i think (from my exp.) you just have to try at least a hundred batches before you figure out just what works for you.

i know i have tried one recipe and method with elk and it turns out to be the best i ever ate. then try the same everything on beef and you cant

believe that the dog is that picky!  one thing i am starting to figure out is that you dont dry it out as long as you think you should,becouse

after its been in the fridge overnight,it seems to have dried out to much. just my lowly observation. your jerky looks great and has made me decide to try

again (at least a hundred more times)

 

[justpassingthru]

Good looking jerky Doug, now you're hooked!

I have a WSM and have made the same mistake as you, to much charcoal, ...what works for me is to arrange it in a line inside of the charcoal ring, each piece of charcoal resting on another and lighting one end and let it burn its way around, I use lump so the pieces are bigger than briquettes, so if you're using them you might have to use two or three in a row.

Granted this is a time consuming process arriving at the correct amount of charcoal and vent opening for the desire temp, but it can be done, ...I used this method for smoke drying Jals so my burn time was 3 to 4 hours.

A tip on cutting your own meat, it's easier to cut when it's semi frozen.

Gene

 

[beer-b-q]

Great looking jerky, nice job...