Well, I guess I'm a JERK today

[polarlys]

Today's my first run at jerky with my new 3d.  I've had a few goes at ribs and Butt bacon with very good results and just today got the James dryer delivered.  I made a small batch of jerky the other day using a de-hydrator with good results.  I'm doing 5# of sliced london broil this go.  I think I could have gone for 6# as a max in the 3d but that would be cutting it close.  I'm using a combination of hickory, cut into small chunks, and dampened cherry saw dust and am getting a very light smoke.  That was my goal.  I started off at 140 deg to get the smoke started and lowered temps to 125 after it got going.  I began without the dryer since it hadn't been delivered yet but put it on after about 2 hrs of light smoke.  If I had realized just what a simple device it was I may have just built one but it looks to be neat and well constructed.  Easy to clean too so not a bad purchase.  Looks cool too.  Things are cookin out there.  I know the instructions advise to NOT use the Smokin-its with an extension cord but I'm using one with good result.  I run it in my tool shed. 

ThanX all for all the great advice found here on the forum.  Lots of good experience here.  Keep up the good work.

Roger from NJ

 

[ZoomByU]

I've become a JERK too. Just put my first batch in the Model 2. Mixed up some Grandpa Josh's and added a little Colorado Spicy for my spice combo yesterday. Went in between 9:00 and 10:00 this morning. Just getting out deer hunting and it always make me crave some jerky, so away I go. About 12# of some deer in the freezer that needed to be used up. I found out that with 4 racks in the smoker, I probably got a little more than half of that to fit into smoker. The rest went into the dehydrator. Using around 2 oz. of Hickory slivers in the smoker set at around 160. I will put on James Jerky dryer after a couple hours and back temp down to around 140. Will be real interesting to see the difference between the dehydrator and the smoker.

 

[polarlys]

Well.  Been a week or so since I did my first batch.  My son's pushing me to get some more started.  It all came out very well.  I might try to kick up the seasoning a bit.  It seems to mellow out over the drying process.  But it's almost gone.  I saved a bag for my buddy but having difficulty not tapping into it.  I didn't keep real accurate measurement but about 50% weight loss is about what I expected.  I had done some the other week in my dehydrator and it came out nicely also.  I do add a little liquid smoke to the dehydrator batch.  Overall a very satisfactory first attempt at jerky using the SI 3d.  I found that the dehydrator works quite a bit faster than the 3d.  Might have something to do with the smaller spaces and much smaller batch.  The 3d ran for around 10 hrs.