It has been a while since I made any jerky and Todd from Amazen products was kind enough to ask me to help test his new product Q-Matz. So what a great way to kill two birds with one stone. In previous jerky smokes I have experienced unreal sticking of my jerky on Bradley non-stick baskets. I bought the baskets hoping to make smoking jerky easier but that certainly wasn't the case...the cured jerky seamed to weld to the baskets in the drying-smoking process. Lets hope for better results with the Q-Matz...
I went to the local super market to pick-up some beef for the jerky and found these 2 sirloin tip roasts on sale for 3.49 a lb. The combined weight of the roast was 6.8 lbs. but after trimming and waste i figured i would end up with 5 lbs. of jerky meat. Here is my two victims
I was used Lem hickory flavored jerky mix with cure.. so i mixed the season and cure to let the spices meld while i sliced the beef on my slicer.
After the meat was sliced and trimmed of any fat and gristle it was mixed in the curing bowl. Then put in the fridge for a 24 hour rest. I mixed the meat three times over the 24 hour period to make sure every piece was evenly covered and cured. A quick note on slicing the meat...freeze it until it is firm before slicing...it makes the slicing process much easier on a inexpensive slicer like i own. I really need to upgrade to a 10 inch deli slicer.
After the 24 hour rest the jerky made it's way to the Q-matz for smoking...Todd sent enough material to cover two of my racks in the MES 40. The Matz came in a large piece and it was real easy to cut with a sharp pair of scissors. With enough Q-Matz material for 2 racks i made a quick call that two racks of jerky would be smoked and the rest would be put in the dehydrator without smoke..This would give me two flavors of jerky...i also decided to make the smoked jerky black pepper jerky. I topped it with course ground black pepper before the smoke. Here is one rack loaded with pepper jerky.
After the two racks were filled the balance of the jerky hit the dehydrator. Nothing special here just a quick photo of the regular jerky drying
I preheated my MES 40 to 150 degrees and put the jerky in the smoker. I wanted to give the jerky five hours of smoke and finish the drying process in the dehydrator. The jerky hits the smoker...
I loaded my AMNPS with two rows of hickory dust ... got it lit...and ready to roll. I started with the dust in the first series 6x8 AMAZEN and still love it today for shorter smokes. If you AMNPS owners haven't tried dust in your smoke generators.. give it a try...you won't be disappointed!!!
Here is the jerky in the thin blue...i pulled the chip loading tube out about a inch on the MES to increase air flow in the smoker. This will help with the drying of the jerky.
.
After five hours of smoke the Jerky was brought in to finish drying in the dehydrator. This is where i will find out how the Q-Matz performed...the moment of truth.
It looks to me like the jerky is well stuck to the Q-Matz when i brought it in to finish... so i give it a tug to remove it from the Matz. TO MY SURPRISE THE JERKY LIFTED RIGHT OFF!!! I was totally AMAZED how easily the jerky lifted from the matz!!! Very little to zero stuck on jerky and i have to say right then and there i was sold on these Q-Matz. Todd expect a order to cover the rest of my racks soon!!
Here is a photo after the jerky was removed and look how cleanly the jerky released from the Matz.
I racked up the jerky to finish in the dehydrator and decided to see how hard it would be to clean the Matz. In a earlier thread by S2K9K he smoked some wings on the new Matz and said cleanup was a breeze...it was my turn to find out. I hit the Matz with hot water from the sink sprayer to get them wet and scrubbed them briefly with a dish cloth with a few drops of soap on it. I stopped after a few passes and to my amazement it was cleaned. Flipped it over repeat and I was done...I can tell you one thing this will make the dishwasher {AKA my wife} real happy when we cleanup from a messy BBQ. Here is a photo of the cleaned Q-Matz...still looks like new!!
I can say i'm very impressed with he quality of these Matz...Todd has a real winner here. They preformed flawlessly in my jerky test and i can wait to try these with fish...nuts...veggies...cheese etc on my smoker. They will be a awesome tool in my smoking arsenal...nothing will fall through the rack again on my smokers.
Well i let the jerky finish drying and removed the pieces as they finished.
Here is the non smoked dehydrated... not my favorite but the wife loved it.
Now the bell of the ball in my eye the pepper smoked jerky...what a difference in color and taste the smoking made....
Been handing out samples to my buds and they all like the smoked pepper jerky better...i have to agree. The pepper and smoke put it over the top. With the ease of smoking jerky on the Q-Matz I'm looking forward to making more jerky soon.
Thanks for taking the time to read my Q-view and my test of the Q-Matz. I gotta run... i have a beer to drink and some jerky to eat.
Len
I went to the local super market to pick-up some beef for the jerky and found these 2 sirloin tip roasts on sale for 3.49 a lb. The combined weight of the roast was 6.8 lbs. but after trimming and waste i figured i would end up with 5 lbs. of jerky meat. Here is my two victims
I was used Lem hickory flavored jerky mix with cure.. so i mixed the season and cure to let the spices meld while i sliced the beef on my slicer.
After the meat was sliced and trimmed of any fat and gristle it was mixed in the curing bowl. Then put in the fridge for a 24 hour rest. I mixed the meat three times over the 24 hour period to make sure every piece was evenly covered and cured. A quick note on slicing the meat...freeze it until it is firm before slicing...it makes the slicing process much easier on a inexpensive slicer like i own. I really need to upgrade to a 10 inch deli slicer.
After the 24 hour rest the jerky made it's way to the Q-matz for smoking...Todd sent enough material to cover two of my racks in the MES 40. The Matz came in a large piece and it was real easy to cut with a sharp pair of scissors. With enough Q-Matz material for 2 racks i made a quick call that two racks of jerky would be smoked and the rest would be put in the dehydrator without smoke..This would give me two flavors of jerky...i also decided to make the smoked jerky black pepper jerky. I topped it with course ground black pepper before the smoke. Here is one rack loaded with pepper jerky.
After the two racks were filled the balance of the jerky hit the dehydrator. Nothing special here just a quick photo of the regular jerky drying
I preheated my MES 40 to 150 degrees and put the jerky in the smoker. I wanted to give the jerky five hours of smoke and finish the drying process in the dehydrator. The jerky hits the smoker...
I loaded my AMNPS with two rows of hickory dust ... got it lit...and ready to roll. I started with the dust in the first series 6x8 AMAZEN and still love it today for shorter smokes. If you AMNPS owners haven't tried dust in your smoke generators.. give it a try...you won't be disappointed!!!
Here is the jerky in the thin blue...i pulled the chip loading tube out about a inch on the MES to increase air flow in the smoker. This will help with the drying of the jerky.
.
After five hours of smoke the Jerky was brought in to finish drying in the dehydrator. This is where i will find out how the Q-Matz performed...the moment of truth.
It looks to me like the jerky is well stuck to the Q-Matz when i brought it in to finish... so i give it a tug to remove it from the Matz. TO MY SURPRISE THE JERKY LIFTED RIGHT OFF!!! I was totally AMAZED how easily the jerky lifted from the matz!!! Very little to zero stuck on jerky and i have to say right then and there i was sold on these Q-Matz. Todd expect a order to cover the rest of my racks soon!!
Here is a photo after the jerky was removed and look how cleanly the jerky released from the Matz.
I racked up the jerky to finish in the dehydrator and decided to see how hard it would be to clean the Matz. In a earlier thread by S2K9K he smoked some wings on the new Matz and said cleanup was a breeze...it was my turn to find out. I hit the Matz with hot water from the sink sprayer to get them wet and scrubbed them briefly with a dish cloth with a few drops of soap on it. I stopped after a few passes and to my amazement it was cleaned. Flipped it over repeat and I was done...I can tell you one thing this will make the dishwasher {AKA my wife} real happy when we cleanup from a messy BBQ. Here is a photo of the cleaned Q-Matz...still looks like new!!
I can say i'm very impressed with he quality of these Matz...Todd has a real winner here. They preformed flawlessly in my jerky test and i can wait to try these with fish...nuts...veggies...cheese etc on my smoker. They will be a awesome tool in my smoking arsenal...nothing will fall through the rack again on my smokers.
Well i let the jerky finish drying and removed the pieces as they finished.
Here is the non smoked dehydrated... not my favorite but the wife loved it.
Now the bell of the ball in my eye the pepper smoked jerky...what a difference in color and taste the smoking made....
Been handing out samples to my buds and they all like the smoked pepper jerky better...i have to agree. The pepper and smoke put it over the top. With the ease of smoking jerky on the Q-Matz I'm looking forward to making more jerky soon.
Thanks for taking the time to read my Q-view and my test of the Q-Matz. I gotta run... i have a beer to drink and some jerky to eat.
Len
