# Next project.....JERKY!!



## bladeguy (Dec 30, 2016)

Titled edited.....thanks

So I made two lb.'s of beef jerky a few weeks back, and it turned out so good, it was gone in less than a week, so I bought some top round for a reasonable price and put it in the freezer until I had some time to do more. Well, Monday I'm off, so I can smoke it then, so the roast came out of the freezer Wednesday, and today was prep day. I'm making about 10 lb.'s, 3 will be pepper jerky, 7 will be teriyaki jerky. I got the recipe from Cougar78, and they were great last time. I subbed onion and garlic powder for the fresh stuff because I didn't have it on hand, and now my recipe just calls for the powders instead, so that is how I made this batch also. Thanks to my daughter Sarah for helping me with pics and holding the bags open for me......she is a sweetie!

Recipe came from Cougar78's thread here (thank you, it is excellent!!
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/138397/beef-jerky-ten-pounds-two-types-with-pics

Top round roast, would have preferred eye of round.....next time.












image.jpeg



__ bladeguy
__ Dec 30, 2016






Need to trim most of the outside fat off, it will be the first part to go rancid when sitting out.












image.jpeg



__ bladeguy
__ Dec 30, 2016






Fat trimmed off, much nicer.












image.jpeg



__ bladeguy
__ Dec 30, 2016






Meat was partially frozen, so slicing went well. I didn't pick a size, just went by eye.....less than 1/4".












image.jpeg



__ bladeguy
__ Dec 30, 2016






Weighing out pepper jerky












image.jpeg



__ bladeguy
__ Dec 30, 2016






Remainder for teriyaki.












image.jpeg



__ bladeguy
__ Dec 30, 2016






Pepper jerky ingredients.












image.jpeg



__ bladeguy
__ Dec 30, 2016






Teriyaki jerky ingredients












image.jpeg



__ bladeguy
__ Dec 30, 2016






Used gallon zip lock bags, and split the teriyaki batch into 2 because I don't think all 7 lb. would have fit in one bag. Put into a glass dish in case of leaks, and into the fridge for a couple of days. Smoking on Monday, will post more then.












image.jpeg



__ bladeguy
__ Dec 30, 2016






My dad made this jerky slicer, I had no idea, but my mom found it Christmas Eve....we lost dad two years ago. I tried it, and it was ok, but with the meat frozen, slicing by hand was easier. Kind of a cool find knowing my dad enjoyed jerky and sausage making.












image.jpeg



__ bladeguy
__ Dec 30, 2016


----------



## mossymo (Dec 30, 2016)

Your jerky is looking good so far!
Out of curiosity may I ask what you do for a living? Reason I ask is your username, I operate a motor grader for a living.


----------



## bladeguy (Dec 30, 2016)

Lol, I find it interesting how the name Bladeguy can conjure up everything from a skater, to a knife collector, to now a heavy equipment operator. That's great! Actually, I'm in sales, and one of my jobs used to be selling saw blades for the woodworking industry as well as picking them up for repair, so many of my customer's would yell when I showed up, "The blade guy's here".....I found it catchy and have used it ever since. Today, I'm in industrial distribution with a focus on cutting tools for the machine tool industry. I love trying to help companies be more profitable by helping them be more productive on the shop floor. Probably more info than you were looking for, but thanks for checking in!


----------



## JckDanls 07 (Dec 30, 2016)

Jerky should be awesome...  great find by your mom... I have one also and as you say...  just cutting by hand is easier... 

to edit your title... scroll up to top of page.... right underneath the title you will see "edit thread" ...  click on that and then you can fix the title... Thumbs Up


----------



## klutzyspuds (Dec 30, 2016)

You have my interest, Sean.  We do all our jerky as ground with the dehydrator, but I really want to try whole muscle in the smoker.  I will be watching this and learning.

Mark


----------



## mossymo (Dec 30, 2016)

Bladeguy said:


> Lol, I find it interesting how the name Bladeguy can conjure up everything from a skater, to a knife collector, to now a heavy equipment operator. That's great! Actually, I'm in sales, and one of my jobs used to be selling saw blades for the woodworking industry as well as picking them up for repair, so many of my customer's would yell when I showed up, "The blade guy's here".....I found it catchy and have used it ever since. Today, I'm in industrial distribution with a focus on cutting tools for the machine tool industry. I love trying to help companies be more profitable by helping them be more productive on the shop floor. Probably more info than you were looking for, but thanks for checking in!



Thanks, I see blade and just have to ask!
Like your father's jerky slicer, it is very nice!


----------



## bladeguy (Dec 31, 2016)

JckDanls 07 said:


> Jerky should be awesome...  great find by your mom... I have one also and as you say...  just cutting by hand is easier...
> 
> to edit your title... scroll up to top of page.... right underneath the title you will see "edit thread" ...  click on that and then you can fix the title... Thumbs Up





MossyMO said:


> Thanks, I see blade and just have to ask!
> Like your father's jerky slicer, it is very nice!



Even if I don't use the slicer ever, it is a memory trigger...my dad was one of my best friends, and making sausage and jerky reminds me of him.



klutzyspuds said:


> You have my interest, Sean.  We do all our jerky as ground with the dehydrator, but I really want to try whole muscle in the smoker.  I will be watching this and learning.
> 
> Mark



Thanks Mark, should be fun. You must farm potatoes based on your location and handle, huh? I've always done ground jerky also, but I'm switching and happy to do it.....I like it better.


----------



## SmokinAl (Dec 31, 2016)

The jerky sure looks good so far!

Nice job with the slicing!

Al


----------



## bladeguy (Dec 31, 2016)

SmokinAl said:


> The jerky sure looks good so far!
> 
> Nice job with the slicing!
> 
> Al



Frosty meat and a filet knife.......works wonders! Thanks.


----------



## klutzyspuds (Dec 31, 2016)

Thanks Mark, should be fun. You must farm potatoes based on your location and handle, huh? I've always done ground jerky also, but I'm switching and happy to do it.....I like it better.[/quote]


Farmer, yes. Potatoes, not any more.  Family farm was a potato farm for some 50+ years, but got out of taters in 2010. Now mostly corn and beans, but still have some grown on our land.

Mark


----------



## bladeguy (Jan 2, 2017)

So after about 70 hours in the fridge, with a little flipping, squishing, etc....in that time, I pulled it out and stuck toothpicks in the pieces. Then throwing them on the smoker with heat only for an hour or so to dry a little. In that time, I will modify my new mailbox attachment to shorten the pipe and make sure it is on an incline. I have a separate thread going on that. Here are some pic.

Jerky with toothpicks in them, left is teriyaki, right is pepper.....mmmmmm, jerky!












image.jpg



__ bladeguy
__ Jan 2, 2017






Hanging to dry, no smoke, will try to keep temp around 140. I really like this toothpick method....kudos to the one who posted it in here somewhere.












image.jpg



__ bladeguy
__ Jan 2, 2017


----------



## dirtsailor2003 (Jan 2, 2017)

Looks like antasty start!


----------



## cmayna (Jan 2, 2017)

I could think of worst ways to spend on a Monday.  Very interested in the results of this batch.  What type of smoker are you using?  Electric?  Propane?


----------



## bladeguy (Jan 2, 2017)

That's a propane, smoke vault 24. I debated between electric and propane when I bought it last year......was looking for more of a set it and leave it smoker. The guys at Amazingribs dot com suggested propane strongly over electric.....they claimed there are "off" flavors in some electrics. Seems many here use electrics and are very happy with them, so I don't think I could have gone wrong either way. Down side to propane is getting tanks filled often, but I have about four tanks, so I am usually ahead of the game. Down side to electric is making sure you have a large enough wire to bring the current needed. I'm happy with my choice, as others are with their electrics, and at the end of the day, that is what matters in the decision if you ask me.


----------



## redheelerdog (Jan 2, 2017)

Jerky is looking good. I love jerky. I got a Christmas basket with some Oh boy! Oberto! - not as good as the home made stuff.

Yours is looking great!


----------



## crazymoon (Jan 2, 2017)

BG, Looking good, I'm in !


----------



## BGKYSmoker (Jan 2, 2017)

Yum Yum

Looking good.


----------



## bladeguy (Jan 2, 2017)

So I obviously have some hotter areas on my smoker, high is normal, but really show up doing jerky. Fortunately, I've kept the temperature fairly low as I've tried to start the jerky drying prior to smoke. Some pieces are quite a bit drier than others already depending on where they are in the cabinet. So I decided I better start smoking before it gets too dry. So I started my A-Maze-N tube in the mailbox, and shortly thereafter, I'm getting thin blue smoke in coming out of my cabinet. I'm going to let the tube run out, probably two plus hours, and then just dry the rest of the way. I want the teriyaki and pepper flavor with light smoker, not smoke flavor with light teriyaki and pepper. More pics of progress.

If you look in the upper right of the picture, you can barely see the smoke......the mailbox mod is doing its thing.....beautiful.












image.jpeg



__ bladeguy
__ Jan 2, 2017






The jerky on the left side of this picture is dryer. I may spin the racks around after another hour or so.












image.jpeg



__ bladeguy
__ Jan 2, 2017


----------



## cmayna (Jan 2, 2017)

Looks great. I assume you've ran your smoker at low temps before such as the 140 without the flame going out?  For many gas owners, this is a challenge unless they've installed a needle valve.


----------



## bladeguy (Jan 2, 2017)

cmayna said:


> Looks great. I assume you've ran your smoker at low temps before such as the 140 without the flame going out?  For many gas owners, this is a challenge unless they've installed a needle valve.


Yes, as you can see, I'm in the frozen tundra.....a couple of hours west of Lambeau Field, anyway...but yeah, I had my smoker at 98 degrees at first this morning, had to increase the flame to get it up to 140, and now I'm at 168. I have lots of room to run it back down to 120 at least if I want to. No needle valve. I purchased the Smoke Vault because I read some reviews online that said they could hold 160 for sausage. I have had no issues, but I use the "Warm" side of the knob to adjust, not the "Low" side of the know. The valve goes from Warm, High, Med, Low, but low doesn't get low enough. Warm does. If it was very windy, I would need to setup a wind block to maintain 120 or so, but otherwise that low flame keeps on a burnin'! I am very happy with the Smoke Vault and would recommend it to anyone wanting a propane smoker.


----------



## bladeguy (Jan 2, 2017)

Pulled all of it off of the smoker a little over an hour ago. Some of the thicker pieces went into the dehydrator, the rest just threw in cake pans. The flavor is very good, the texture is not as good as my first batch. My theory is this......if you look in the pics of me slicing it up, this top round is certified angus beef, which is like a high grade of USDA choice, which means it has good marbling, and that shows up in those pics. I think the marbling is great for a roast or for steaks, not so great for jerky. I will stick with eye of round next time, and since I purchased this top round, I have found a cheaper source for eye of round. I, not disappointed, mind you, and it will all get eaten, I just want to make the best product I can, and this wasn't that. I did learn, too, that it is easier to get consistency of drying in smaller batches, so I will do 5 lb. instead of 10 next time and see if the drying is more consistent. Thanks for looking!

Here is the pic of what is done, the rest is in the dehydrator behind the jerky.













image.jpg



__ bladeguy
__ Jan 2, 2017


----------



## SmokinAl (Jan 3, 2017)

The jerky looks fantastic!

Well done!

Al


----------



## bladeguy (Jan 3, 2017)

SmokinAl said:


> The jerky looks fantastic!
> 
> Well done!
> 
> Al



Room to improve, but it will not go to waste.....maybe my waist, but not to waste....


----------



## dirtsailor2003 (Jan 3, 2017)

I almost exclusively use too round. Choice. Usually the "London Broil" cut. When trimmed properly almost no fat. As you've found you don't want fat. 

Are you buying the whole primal cut and breaking it down?


----------



## bladeguy (Jan 3, 2017)

. 


dirtsailor2003 said:


> I almost exclusively use too round. Choice. Usually the "London Broil" cut. When trimmed properly almost no fat. As you've found you don't want fat.
> 
> Are you buying the whole primal cut and breaking it down?


No, in this case, I just bought some top round roasts at my local grocer. The further I cut into them, the more marbled they looked.....I didn't think they looked that marbled in the meat case, but maybe I was just overlooking the marbling because I had jerky on the brain.

I can buy a whole eye of round and trim it up, and I think that is what I will do next time. The last eye of round I used looked like venison in that there was no fat marbled in the meat, just meat.


----------



## cmayna (Jan 3, 2017)

Lots of good info here.   Getting ready to do my first beef jerky and am sitting here learning.


----------



## dirtsailor2003 (Jan 3, 2017)

Bladeguy said:


> .
> 
> No, in this case, I just bought some top round roasts at my local grocer. The further I cut into them, the more marbled they looked.....I didn't think they looked that marbled in the meat case, but maybe I was just overlooking the marbling because I had jerky on the brain.
> 
> I can buy a whole eye of round and trim it up, and I think that is what I will do next time. The last eye of round I used looked like venison in that there was no fat marbled in the meat, just meat.


It sounds like you got part of the cap and not the "London Broil" part of the top round The hunk that you got is what I'd normally grind for ground beef. I can also get eye round but it is $4 per pound more than top when I buy it whole from the restaurant supply. Since I grind my own burger the whole top round makes the most sense price wise. I get a good portion of jerky and the rest ends up being ground beef.


----------



## 4 seasons jerky (Jan 31, 2017)

Great jerky recipe and the photos look good! My kitchen looked very similar to yours back when I was first starting off making homemade jerky! I have since launched a craft jerky site at www.4seasonsjerky.com Please go check it out and let me know what you think. There are available discounts! Good luck in making awesome, delicious jerky!


----------

