James Jerky Dryer Pepperoni

[RG 2.0]

Has anyone here used the jerky dryer to make pepperoni? If not, how about making pepperoni in general. I've made a batch recently but it's not what I'd call true pepperoni and I would like to know if anyone has a method/recipe that makes a great product. Any help appreciated!

 

[RG 2.0]

Anyone?

 

[DivotMaker]

Jason, not sure on the pepperoni recipes (saw yours, and it looked pretty darn tasty), but I do know the jerky dryer works great for jerky and sausage, to remove moisture.  I would think pepperoni would benefit from moisture removal, just like any other sausage.

 

[RG 2.0]

Jason, not sure on the pepperoni recipes (saw yours, and it looked pretty darn tasty), but I do know the jerky dryer works great for jerky and sausage, to remove moisture.  I would think pepperoni would benefit from moisture removal, just like any other sausage.

Yep, that's my thought. I may order the JJD once I do a little more research

 

[DivotMaker]

I'm surprised Gregg hasn't chimed-in!  We have a lot of sausage guys that swear by the dryer!  Not much research needed... If you're doing jerky or sausage, it's an essential.

 

[NDKoze]

I have zero experience in the pepperoni area, but I do smoke several hundred pounds of sausage and snack sticks per year and will tell you that a Jerky Dryer (or some type of homemade varient) is ABSOLUTELY necessary for smoking sausage, snack sticks, or jerky.

Without it there is just too much moisture in the super insulated and moisture rich Smokin-It smokers.

My first batch of snack sticks was done in my #3 without the dryer and it was a total bomb. With all the moisture in the box, the sticks basically just steamed and never turned the nice dark red that you look for in a smack stick and the texture was awful.

Tony, I could sworn that I did already "chime in" in this one, but I think it was on another post that Jason posted with his pepperoni project.

 

[NDKoze]

Aha, I found it.

I am not an expert and have never made it. But, it seems to me that Pepperoni is a lot dryer than summer sausage and could benefit from a similar treatment to jerky with a jerky dryer and a long time in the smoker. I am not sure how you would accomplish that in your Traeger though.

I could be wrong. This is just a wild guess.

Regardless, those links are a beautiful dark red and look awesome!

 

[DivotMaker]

Hehe, yeah Gregg, you found it!  I remembered you addressing the fan, lots of times, but thought that was on someone else asking about it.  So many posts, hard to keep them all in memory!