# first time making jerky in a smoker



## afogg (Jan 23, 2017)

Hello

I have a dehydrator that I regularly make jerky in but I just got a new toy and I want to play with it.

I'm 100% new at this smoking thing so I have a bunch of questions. I appreciate any I can get! 

Objective: Lamb jerky

Equipment: MasterBuilt 20in electric smoker

1. What the heck is cure#1 and how do I use it? I keep seeing it in the forum but I've never heard of it when I was doing research for the dehydrator

2. What temp and how long should I smoke it for?

3. What kind of wood chip? I have a choice of Maple, Peach, Apple, or Cherry

3. How much wood chips do I use? If I'm suppose to smoke it for 6 hours, do I put enough wood chips to last that long?

4. Do I soak the wood? I've read contradicting info about soaking the wood vs dry wood + water in the tray vs no water at all. If I put water in the tray, won't it contradict the "drying" process?

5. Do I want air vents open or close or a combination of both?

Now, I understand that smoking is basically an art form with lots of flexibility but I'd like some structure and guidelines until I'm confident enough to mess with things (I also rather not ruin an expensive batch of meat 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






)

Thanks a bunch!!

Jan


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## daveomak (Jan 24, 2017)

afogg said:


> Hello
> 
> I have a dehydrator that I regularly make jerky in but I just got a new toy and I want to play with it.
> 
> ...


Morning and Welcome.....   The MES 30 is a good unit...    making smoke can be a problem...  most of us use the AMNPS, a smoke generator imagined, built and sold by Todd Johnson... a long time, great member on the forum...  he owns AMAZN products......    http://www.amazenproducts.com/....

I hope I have helped you get started....   others will chime in with support...   
Dave


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## afogg (Jan 24, 2017)

Thanks a bunch Dave!

If I'm reading correctly, I want to add cure #1 to my marinade and then put my meat in? And it's not necessary when I use the dehydrator to dry the meat?


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## daveomak (Jan 24, 2017)

That's correct...    dehydrators are NOT an oxygen deprived atmosphere...   However, it is recommended when using a dehydrator and no cure, to get the meat up to 160 ish deg. F while it is still wet from the marinade... that kills the food borne pathogens...  then the temp can be lowered during the drying process....

I have read where, when drying jerkies as an example, if the meat is allowed to dehydrate at low temperatures, the food pathogens can also dehydrate without being exposed to temperatures that will effectively kill them....  they "can" go into a "suspended animation" of sorts that will allow for growing again when the proper environment is reestablished...  like in the gut maybe...   not good for the person eating it... 

One way to insure death is to cook the jerky in the brining solution..  simmer at 160 ish for a bit so the meat IT comes up, then dehydrate as normal...   The reason I say this is...    it's difficult at best to get the internal temp of a piece of meat that's 1/4" thick..   easy if it's in a liquid bath...

Anyway, this stuff I read is not perfectly clear to me so I do interpret as best I can...  they just give values and no appropriate methods for achieving same...


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## afogg (Jan 30, 2017)

Hey Dave I did what you said. Start jerky at 110 for a couple hours then raise temp incrementally until 170 with wood chips added but it took a really long time. I started at 10am and when I checked at 8pm it still didn't seem to be dry enough. I ended up moving them to my dehydrator for another 2 hours but even then it doesn't seem like the jerky I was used to. This jerky was soft. 

Am I doing something wrong? Should I have left them in the smoker longer?


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## daveomak (Jan 30, 2017)

If it's soft now, it will "harden up" as it cools.....   OR there is a lot of moisture retention stuff, in the mix....   Are you making your own jerky mix ??   Whose are you using ??    Sugar and syrup will hold moisture and keep the jerky soft, as will Sodium Tri Poly Phosphate....  not sure on the spelling....  Higher temps, usually will not dry the meat, as it may have formed a case hardened outer surface, making moisture release from the interior meat darn near impossible.....   

Take the jerky out and put it in a brown paper sack and in the refer...   check it every few days...   texture should change...   I've made jerky soft and NOT chewable...  after a week or three, in the sack in the refer, it was perfect..   Hey, stuff happens....  sometime you can explain it....  Sometimes not...  Keep trying and write down everything you do...  ingredients, temperature ramps, ramp times, etc....   Sometimes smoking meats can be "almost" rocket science...   everyone has made stuff they have doubts about...


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