Spicy Ancho Chili Jerky w/recipe & q-view

[forluvofsmoke]

I'll be smoking/drying 1-2/3 lbs of this Sunday along with 12 lbs of Pepper Jerky...all made of 85/15 ground beef/ground chuck for the Jerky Gun. Smoke will be hickory in Smoke Vault 24.

Spicy Ancho Chili Jerky Seasoning and Cure:
　
For 1 lb 85/15 ground beef or sliced whole muscle beef:

1 tsp Black Peppercorn, fine ground
2 tsp Spanish paprika
2 tsp Ancho chili powder
2 tsp New Mexico Chili, mild, powdered
1 tsp Garlic powder
½ tsp Cinnamon, ground
1 Tbls Tender Quick cure

* ¾ cup potable water (purified, filtered or spring for best results and taste) if using sliced beef.

Mix all of the above together, then mix thoroughly into pre-weighed meat. Cure in refrigerator over-night (min 8 hours for ground meat, 24 hours is preferable, min 24 hrs for sliced whole muscle meat) in air-tight packaging before smoking and/or drying.


Ingredients...bottom left is the Ancho Chili, bottom right is the mild New Mexico Chili:



Ancho Chili, crushed:



Ancho Chili, powdered:



New Mexico Chili crushed:



New Mexico Chili, powdered:


Just wanted to get this started this evening so I'm ahead of the game...lotsa stuff bein' smoked Sunday!

Catch ya in the morning!

Thanks!

Eric

 

[forluvofsmoke]

Nearing the finish line at last...lotsa other stuff smokin' today, so, I thought I'd catchup while I had a chance.



Just a few minutes into the Vault @ 120* with hickory smoke, 12* ambient temp and snowing (all day):



8 hours in, lotsa moisture present still, as evidenced by the steam:



Almost ready @ 9.5 hours:


Good load for the amount of rack space I used...I could actually put a total of about 20# of snack sticks in comfortably.

Finish pics to come later, and a review of my new Ancho Chili jerky seasoning!

Thanks!

Eric

 

[forluvofsmoke]

Ancho Chili seasoned came out really nice...I got mixed thoughts on how hot it is, but doesn't seem very hot to me...just nice spicy flavors and a touch of heat, I think.


Ancho, just out, removing exterior fat and tearing it up to cool & bag:


The smaller single bag is the Ancho seasoned, the rest is pepper seasoned:






That was just shy of 14# starting weight. I may have to do a larger batch next round. I can't keep up with this stuff around here!

Thanks!

Eric

 

[alx]

Looks great Eric.The anchos i grow are wicked hot,but flavor does mellow when cooked.Guess different regions/soil etc...Looks fantastic...

 

[BandCollector]

Anchos rule!........they do mellow out when cooked......real pleasant flavor.
Nice looking sticks.......nice job.

Take care, John

 

[forluvofsmoke]

Thanks, yes, they pack some heat...the dried anchos my wife gets even LOOK wicked, especially when you break 'em apart to powder 'em. But, when I've taken a pinch to taste the powder, it tastes great. I grind everything but the stem/core.

I'm finding that any recipes I would use regular store-bought chili powder taste much better with the ancho powder. I'm using them alot lately with excellent results. My wife gave me a friendly warning lastnight to stay out of her ancho stash because she uses them alot for her green chili recipe...we have to invest in alot more anchos!

Thanks, these sticks are pretty easy to do with a jerky gun...takes awhile to shoot out 12-14 lb batches, but worth the time.

I've also found that doing the sticks instead of strips has 2 benefits: I can fit about 2/3 more meat into the smoker, and the rendered fat removal of the finished product is very quick and easy as well. I can dump a double rack from the Smoke Vault 24 into a 12" x 18" baking pan with paper towels or napkins, then just wad-up a couple more in each hand and roll the sticks back and forth...sweet and simple method.

The sticks do take longer to dry than strips, but require little to no tending for texture checks because all you need to do is watch the color change and shrinkage. Works great!

BTW, I took some Ancho and Pepper stix to our Shop when they serviced my truck & trailer today. I handed out some of the ancho and the pepper seasoned to the mechanics...they love 'em both, so I left a 1/2 pound of each for them to snack on! I feel inclined to take care of these guys, as they do a fine job taking care of the equipment that pays my wages...they look forward to scheduling me to come in because they know I'll always have a new treat for them. And, they're just darn good people to have the pleasure of working with.

Thanks fellas!

Eric