Deer Jerky on the '4

[paidin]

First time trying to smoke jerky.  Usually I use my 10 tray Lem dehydrator.

Deer Jerky Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

·         10 pounds deer, cut into thin strips

·         1 cup soy sauce

·         1 cup teriyaki sauce

·         1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce

·         1/2 cup liquid smoke (Omit this if you are smoking it)

·         1/2 cup brown sugar

·         1/2 cup honey

·         1.5 tablespoons ground black pepper

·         2 tablespoons meat tenderizer (Morton’s Tenderquick)

·         1.5 tablespoons garlic powder

·         1.5 tablespoons onion powder

·         1.5 tablespoons paprika

·         1/2 cup hot pepper flakes

·         1 can of Chipoltes in Adobo Sauce

·         3-10 fresh jalapenos blended up

DIRECTIONS:

1.            Combine soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, brown sugar, honey, black pepper, meat tenderizer, garlic powder, onion powder, hot pepper flakes, jalapenos, and paprika. Mix marinade with a wire whisk to ensure even distribution.  Taste marinade to ensure the appropriate amount of sweet, salty, and spiciness.  What you taste here is what the jerky will taste like when it is done.  Pour marinade into sliced deer meat.  Mix to assure all the meat is evenly coated. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 8 hours or overnight.

2.            Arrange the meat strips on the tray of a dehydrator and dry at 155-160 degrees until done to your liking, at least 5 hours.  Store in an airtight container or resealable bags.


For this, I am smoking at 125 degrees until done.  This is my first time doing it in the smoker so I hope it works out!

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[Pork Belly]

Looks great! I'm glad to see the Tender Quick in the recipe, curing salts are important. What wood did you go with and do you have the Jerky Fan?

[paidin]

Looks great! I'm glad to see the Tender Quick in the recipe, curing salts are important. What wood did you go with and do you have the Jerky Fan?

Yes the tenderquick is to prevent getting sick!  ha!  I am a poet and I did not even know it.
I tossed a ton of cherry chips in the smoker box and filled an ampns with oak and some other wood pellet.  I know this is against everything all you guys say about how much wood is needed but some of us have to learn the hard way and I justify it because the fan is continuously pulling out the heated smoky air so I do not think I have to worry about creoste on the jerky.  Like I said, this is my first time and I do not know what I am doing.

also, yes I do have the fan   It is in one of my pictures above.

thanks for looking!  They are still smoking so I dont have any finished pictures yet.  I am getting impatient so I cranked it up to 150 degrees.  I already noticed some case hardening while at 125 degrees...  I have rotated the racks when I took that picture.  That was about 3 hours into the smoke.

[DivotMaker]

Looking great, Paidin!  Personally, I use 140 throughout the whole jerky smoke. 

[NDKoze]

I would be worried that drips from your jerky may put your AMNPS out. Unless you have them pretty dry before putting in the smoker.

If you have an Auber, I would agree with Tony and set the temp at 140. If you don't have your Auber, the temp swings at 125 may be about right. Without the Auber, I am guessing you could bump it up to 130-135 and be OK though. You just want to avoid the spikes up to 160 which is where you would end up cooking verses drying.

Looks like it is going to be a nice mess of Jerky. Feel free to PM me for my address if you want to send some my way.

[paidin]

I would be worried that drips from your jerky may put your AMNPS out. Unless you have them pretty dry before putting in the smoker.

If you have an Auber, I would agree with Tony and set the temp at 140. If you don't have your Auber, the temp swings at 125 may be about right. Without the Auber, I am guessing you could bump it up to 130-135 and be OK though. You just want to avoid the spikes up to 160 which is where you would end up cooking verses drying.

Looks like it is going to be a nice mess of Jerky. Feel free to PM me for my address if you want to send some my way.

amnps is running strong and has about 1.5" left before going out.  I lit both ends at once.  No issues with the amnps  going out like I had with the MES40.  so far so good!  found a sacrifical sample to try and so far its out of this world with the smokiness taste!

I have not hooked up the auber yet.  no time at the moment.  one day I will have it set up!  just using the dial for now.

I have free samples for everyone who wants to stop by and try some!  after this smoke, I have 20 pounds of ghost pepper snack sticks that need to be smoked tonight.

[DivotMaker]

I forgot to mention wood amount, Paidin. For jerky, I only add enough to last the first couple of hours, before I turn on the fan.  Let the cold, raw meat absorb the smoke, then let the fan dry it.  No need to have smoke rolling the entire time.  You actually can over-smoke jerky - even with the fan! 

[Pork Belly]

I gone heavy on the wood amount with my last few batches of jerky with no negative affects. I seem to be the dissenting opinion on temp for jerky, I like it low. I stay at 100 for the entire smoke.
http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=1831.0

[DivotMaker]

Nothing wrong with real low and slow, Brian, if you have the time!    I just like 140 because it doesn't cook the meat at all (the jerky is almost translucent when done), and it sure speeds the process.  I would be interested in comparing the results between the two temps.

[paidin]

DISASTER!!! 

it appears the fan broke early on.  All my jerky is waterlogged.  I just spent the last hour and a half moving everything over to my dehydrator and cleaning up the grates.  so sad

It looks like the plug into the fan shorted.  I cannot even remove the plug from the fan.  I have attached pictures.  I take deer meat seriously and when I cannot prepare it to the utmost of my ability, I feel I am doing a disservice to the deer that I killed.  This batch appears to be ruined, I hope the dehydrator can fix it.

[Pork Belly]

I think you will be fine, I understand your frustration. There is nothing in the freezer more precious than meat you have harvested yourself.

You should email SI and send Steve pictures of the fan issue. He is pretty good about fixing problems.

[paidin]

The power supply died from the short at the jack. An electrician at my work hard wired another power supply after I bribed him with some jerky.

[DivotMaker]

Paidin, that's a tough deal!  Surprised this happened, but sounds like you got it fixed pretty easy!  Steve would have sent you a new one, no question.  Just sucks that it happened in a batch of jerky!  Did the dehydrator save the day?