Beef Jerky Using A Jerky Cannon

[DivotMaker]

Thanks Brian - I figured one of you would know!

[Smokster]

Both the strips and sticks form and keep their shape incredibly well.  The sticks in particular are solid, you would have to cut them with scissors when finished and you definitely don't need casings.

My wife prefers them because they have a nice leathery exterior with a chewy interior.  I find the flats are the same consistency as the sticks and drying time is the same for each.

I started with 9lbs of meat and my yield of finished jerky was 5lbs.

Below is a picture of the finished product.  Needless to say some of the jerky never made it onto the plate...

[DivotMaker]

Man, that looks good!  Lots easier than slicing and brining a roast, I'm sure!  I have a local Cabela's that sells that stuff, too...I can see a trip in my near future!

[Smokster]

After making jerky the traditional way and now with the cannon, I have to say that the cannon method is much easier with similar results.  I will start seeing great returns with the jerky fan and cannon in the future.

[mizzoufan]

I'm getting ready to order the stuff I need for extruded jerky (gun, seasoning, 10x15 shelves for the #2, side rail assembly for more racks...).  Looks like I can plan on 8-11 hours for flat strips at about 130?

My current plan is to try the Hi Mountain sampler pack for 5 different flavors and pick our favorite 1 or 2 out of that.  I plan on letting it sit in covered bowls in the fridge for about 24 hours.  Is there any benefit (or drawback) to making the strips one night and firing up the smoker early the next morning?  What about rack rotation, every 2 hours or so?

Any other tips/tricks for making extruded jerky in a #2?

[NDKoze]

I have done this before, and if you do not already have one or have it on your list, a Jerky Dryer like the James Jerky Dryer is an absolute must. Without it your jerky will just steam and the texture won't be right.

Regarding extruding the night before, you would only want to do this if your seasoning includes sure cure (aka Cure #1) as would be the case with the Hi Mountain Seasonings. You definitely want the meat to cure at least overnight. But, I am not sure if there would be any advantages or drawbacks to extruding the night before as I have never done it. It would start to air dry on its own I guess. Extruding with the Jerky Canon is soooo fast that I have never bothered. I have the double nozzle that shoots two strips out at a time and is well worth the money. The more I think of it, I don't think I would do this as it would just draw out the process even further than necessary as you would have to mix and let the mix sit overnight already. Adding another night to let the extruded jerky sit would be a waste of time IMO.

I would bump your temp to 140 and tray rotation every 2-4 hours is probably enough depending on how much your are doing at one time. Make sure you rotate top to bottom as well as front to back. I know on my smoker it is definitely hotter toward the back, so the front to back rotation is pretty important.

[gregbooras]

Excellent job on the jerky!

Greg

[mizzoufan]

Excellent, thank you.  I am planning on going the duct fan route rather than the James Jerky Dryer, but I did read through and realize that some sort of fan was necessary to draw the moisture out.  Not sure I have a front to back temp difference (at least not a major one), but I'll rotate them that way too.

What's the best test to decide when it's done (other than biting into one when I think it's there which I'll be doing regardless  )?  Bend it in a circle with resistance but no breakage?

[NDKoze]

The duct fan route should work fine. You just need some way of pulling that moisture out of there. I would smoke for 2-3 hours without the fan first as the fan may cause combustion by moving that much air through there.

When it is done is a pretty subjective thing, but I usually just bend them in half and make sure it doesn't break until it is bent pretty far. You don't want it brittle, but you do want it dried/cooked through.

[Eds smoking]

I' been using the jerky cannon over 8 years now with LEM backwoods seasonings. Had a masterbuilt smoker,set at 200F for 2 hrs  about 1 lb hickory chips,rotated at one hour. Perfect jerky. I make deer jerky but we make a lot of rabbit jerky,it takes 4 rabbits to make one lb. My sons crew loves the rabbit over the deer jerky.

I got my SI #2  Dec 23rd and had good luck with everything i've tried. The jerk was a let down, too much time in SI2. It took 9.5 hrs and a lot of time tending  shelves and rotating without the jerky dryer. I ended up to putting jerk in dehydrator for 3 hrs per load to finish. Loaded all 9 racks in SI2 and total of 6 hrs in dehydrator,with a total time of 15 hrs. Jerky came out great with 2.2 oz of hickory wood chunk. but the time!!  Going to order the jerky dryer today.

[NDKoze]

Yeah, the jerky dryer is a must. Otherwise you just end up steaming the jerky.

I still contend that 200 is too high for jerky. But, if you like the results you are getting it works for me.

[DivotMaker]

Yeah, the jerky dryer is a must. Otherwise you just end up steaming the jerky.

I still contend that 200 is too high for jerky. But, if you like the results you are getting it works for me.

+1!  200 is way to high for jerky.  The idea is to dry, not to cook.  No way you're not cooking at 200!

[Pork Belly]

we make a lot of rabbit jerky,it takes 4 rabbits to make one lb.

200 makes sense for rabbits to me.

[mizzoufan]

Forgot to get pics, but my first attempt at extruded jerky was a partial success.  It's pretty tasty, but could have gone a bit longer with a little less wood.  I'm going to try again this weekend (just made a 2lb test batch last weekend) with those things in mind.
The idea was to have snacks (especially at work) and that idea has been working out pretty well.  I pack some jerky, some fruit/veggies and some of the prepackaged cheese & crackers and eat half in the morning and half in the afternoon.  Healthy (at least more so than many snacks), easy and tasty.

[DivotMaker]

I'm sure you'll give us pics next time, Steven...