# Whole muscle jerky question



## toby bryant (Dec 12, 2012)

I have made a lot of jerky in the past using my dehydrator. I usually add a little liquid smoke and everyone always raves about the flavor. I would like to make a batch with my MES 30 and the AMNPS using PMC pellets. So a couple of questions:

I dehydrate at 160°, should I set the MES 30 at 160° for the smoke?

I have the mailbox mod set up for the AMNPS on my MES 30 and it works great, tons of smoke production. I am assuming that thin strips of beef can be oversmoked quickly. How long should I leave the AMNPS running?

Thanks in advance for all your help.


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## forluvofsmoke (Dec 12, 2012)

Run the same temps as you would have in a dehydrator, and with a heavy smoke like it sounds you'll be getting, 15-20 minutes with thin slices (1/8"), 30-35 minutes for thick slices 1/4"+). Increase smoke time according to thickness of slices and reduction in smoke production. Also, hickory is sharp, but matches well with the strong flavor of dried beef. Cherry is a nice twist, with a heavy fruit flavor and slight sweetness.

Will your MES go below 175* ? Thought they didn't, but maybe the newer MES will...

Eric


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## toby bryant (Dec 12, 2012)

Eric, thanks for the quick response. My MES 30 will run from 100° to 275°.  I use it for snack sticks and summer sausage and never get it over 160°

I will be hanging the meat thru the grates using toothpicks, I am assuming no water in the pan since I am drying the jerky?


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## forluvofsmoke (Dec 12, 2012)

You're welcome, Toby. Ah, that's right, I couldn't remember what the low-end temp was in the MES. OK, this may sound weird, but if you have water in the pan to add humidity, the meat will dry faster, as the humidity helps keep the surface fibers of the meat porous, thereby allowing moisture to evaporate more quickly from the meat. As the meat begins to dry, you could remove the water as the final stage, to set the firmness/texture of the meat. Tooth picks work great for being able to get a decent load of jerky into a smoker.

Those who dry-cure fermented sausages (room-temp @ 70% R/H) know how the principle works for drying...humidity is your friend when drying, until you're close to the level of dryness you're looking for.

Eric


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## toby bryant (Dec 12, 2012)

Eric, Thanks again!

Soooooo, water it is, lol.  I am going to try your pepper jerky recipe instead of the LEM seasoning I usually use. Your qview on that jerky post looked awesome. Won't smoke until Sunday, will post pics then.


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## forluvofsmoke (Dec 12, 2012)

Toby Bryant said:


> Eric, Thanks again!
> 
> Soooooo, water it is, lol.  I am going to try your pepper jerky recipe instead of the LEM seasoning I usually use. Your qview on that jerky post looked awesome. Won't smoke until Sunday, will post pics then.


I never tried LEM, High Country or High Mountain mixes, myself...used the mixes that came with a Nesco jerky gun kit...they were OK, but nothing to write home to mama about. My wife bought a couple extra boxes of different flavors, but after I made my own spice mix, she didn't want anything to do with the store-bought mixes...neither did the kids, or myself. Add your own smoke to your own fresh-ground and blended spices and your homemade jerky really soars to new heights. If you want to try building your own jerky recipe, start basic, with black pepper, garlic & onion...you'd be surprised how good just a few basic, simple flavors added to the intense flavor of dried & smoked beef jerky can really be. When you get a good feel for how much to add, you may want to branch out from there with a few savory spices like thyme & rosemary. KISS method does a lot for jerky.

The pepper jerky recipe used in that thread is a kicked-up, spicy jerky. And the hot version will but a bit of sweat on your brow...that one's not for faint of heart...LOL!!!

I'll be working Sunday (just rotating out of weekends off now), but I'll be on my Blackberry occasionally, so I'll check in. If anything else comes up, give a shout...happy to be of assistance.

Eric


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## toby bryant (Dec 13, 2012)

Eric,

Well, the wife said no experimenting on the jerky for the holiday gift baskets. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






    So, I will be using the LEM pepper jerky seasoning and cure for this batch.  But, I will be trying yours on the next batch.


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## fagesbp (Dec 13, 2012)

My entire basket for Christmas presents will be experiments almost lol. Summer sausage is the first time making, first time using new smoker. First try with a new salsa recipe and second time on pepper jelly. All of my past experiments have worked though. It's not like going in blind when we put in so much research and learn from guys who have used these recipes many times successfully. Maybe let her see his thread and she can be swayed lol.


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## toby bryant (Dec 15, 2012)

Got it done last night. Here are the pics.

4 1/2 lbs eye of round trimmed, sliced, stripped, marinated for 48 hours, drained in collander, and Montreal steak seasoning added. 













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__ toby bryant
__ Dec 15, 2012






And the jerky was hung in the smoker with care, in hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there, lol.













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__ toby bryant
__ Dec 15, 2012






Started the MES 30 at 100° gave it 25 minutes of smoke (PMC pellets in the AMNPS), bumped the temp to 160° for the remainder of the process. Here it is at the 3 hour mark.













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__ toby bryant
__ Dec 15, 2012






At the 5 hour mark I took out the water pan













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__ toby bryant
__ Dec 15, 2012






The jerky was perfect at the 6 1/2 hour mark, so I removed it paper towels to cool.













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__ toby bryant
__ Dec 15, 2012






While we were waiting on the jerky to finish my niece and I made sugar cookies













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__ toby bryant
__ Dec 15, 2012






Eric, thank you for the inspiration. This jerky turned out awesome and will be a great addition to the holiday baskets. My wife is now threatening to throw out my dehydrator so I can't use it for jerky ever again
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





I ended up with 2 lbs of finished product from the original 4 1/2 lbs of eye of round. After Christmas I will definitely be doing a batch of your pepper jerky. Thanks again.


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## forluvofsmoke (Dec 15, 2012)

Nicely done, Toby!!!

*"And the jerky was hung in the smoker with care, in hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there, lol."*

LMAO!!!

_*"Eric, thank you for the inspiration. This jerky turned out awesome and will be a great addition to the holiday baskets. My wife is now threatening to throw out my dehydrator so I can't use it for jerky ever again
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





"*_

You're welcome! Oh, don't let her ditch the dehydrator! How will you dry your own peppers, chilies, cherries, apples, etc, for dry rubs??? I mean, if you really want to get serious about your own rub blends and jerky marinade seasoning blends. Oh, and the dried cherries and apples for dry rubs, brines, wet cures, marinades and such?...yes, I use them...a lot! Along with dried red bell peppers, and occasionally green bells.

_*"I ended up with 2 lbs of finished product from the original 4 1/2 lbs of eye of round. After Christmas I will definitely be doing a batch of your pepper jerky. Thanks again."*_

If your yield was less than 50% of your starting weight, you got a really dry jerky, and if weights were accurate, you have a yield of 44.4%. Mine usually runs around 48-52%, but I like to be a little on the drier side. Shelf life will be very long @ 44%, even just in a sealed baggy @ room temp...of course, getting it to last long enough to test the shelf-life is the trick...LOL!!! Should be no problem to ship it as gifts, that's for sure...well as long as the postal workers don't get a whiff of it through the packaging and raid your gift packs...Ha-ha-ha!

Toby, if I can help a fellow outdoor cooking enthusiast achieve their goal (not just smoking and/or drying, but grilling, dutch ovens, etc) then it is a good day, and my time here on SMF was very well spent...this thread is no exception...I actively search for those wanting help with their projects...glad to help, any time, brother!

Eric


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## fagesbp (Dec 17, 2012)

Looks great!


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## sqwib (Dec 17, 2012)

Awesome.

Them sugar cookies look mighty fine as well.


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## toby bryant (Dec 17, 2012)

Thanks everyone.  Yes SQWIB, the sugar cookies turned out very well.  My niece was quite proud.  She helped me stuff 10 lbs of summer sausage later that night that I smoked on Sunday.  Not too many teenage girls would do that, I love that girl. 

Here is the summer sausage in the MES 30













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__ toby bryant
__ Dec 17, 2012






Finished product













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__ toby bryant
__ Dec 17, 2012






I also made 2 gallons of Jeff's BBQ sauce Sunday night













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__ toby bryant
__ Dec 17, 2012






I found these awesome little jars at the Dollartree to portion the BBQ sauce for the gift baskets













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__ toby bryant
__ Dec 17, 2012






Now I am just waiting on the smoked cheese to finish mellowing.  I should be able to break it out on Wednesday (Tuesday will be 2 weeks) and portion it for the gift baskets.


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## forluvofsmoke (Dec 19, 2012)

Man, Toby! That's quite the variety of stocking stuffers you whipped up! Can you add to to your Christmas list? LOL!!!

NICE WORK!!!

Eric


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## toby bryant (Dec 19, 2012)

> Man, Toby That's quite the variety of stocking stuffers you whipped up! Can you add to to your Christmas list? LOL!!!
> 
> NICE WORK!!!
> 
> Eric


Thanks Eric, 

Here is the lineup.













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__ toby bryant
__ Dec 19, 2012






Smoked mozzarella, colby jack, sharp cheddar, and swiss in the back.  Beef summer sausage on the right.  Smoked pepper jerky in the front. Snappy crackers on the left and Jeff's BBQ sauce in the middle.


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## fuzzyfishin (Dec 21, 2012)

The jerky and all looks great. Makes it fun to have help. i have a niece and nephew that love to help proccesing deer and fish. My nephew wants to try smoking as well.

 A tip for hanging jerky. I use scewers cut to fit the rack rails. I can fit 7 in a row with 12pcs of meat on. My smoker I use now looks very similar to yours. I can fit #14 this way.

 Just a thought to maybe help one out.


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## toby bryant (Dec 21, 2012)

fuzzyfishin said:


> The jerky and all looks great. Makes it fun to have help. i have a niece and nephew that love to help proccesing deer and fish. My nephew wants to try smoking as well.
> 
> A tip for hanging jerky. I use scewers cut to fit the rack rails. I can fit 7 in a row with 12pcs of meat on. My smoker I use now looks very similar to yours. I can fit #14 this way.
> 
> Just a thought to maybe help one out.


Thanks Fuzzy, that is a great idea. The toothpick idea worked well but was very time consuming. Looks like I need to add skewers to the Christmas wish list, lol. I have some bamboo skewers in the kitchen, will have to see if the are long enough.


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## shtrdave (Dec 21, 2012)

If you didn't like the toothpicks go get a few small S type hooks from the hardware just buy a box of the usually 100 in a box and now you can slip trough the meat and hand instead of lowering the slices through the rack


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## fuzzyfishin (Dec 22, 2012)

I didn't add that I use the metal scewers. I cut them just to fit the rail. Will have some sagging not enough to worry about. On occassion I have had a few pcs. of meat drop. All in all pretty easy to shishkibob the meat for hanging. What I like about the scewers, is if you get a cold spot you can easily move them around.


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