# Backstrap Dried Beef (July 2020)



## Bearcarver (Aug 6, 2020)

*Backstrap Dried Beef (July 2020)*​

Bear Junior gave me this Backstrap from Last Year’s Doe.
There isn't very much, as it wasn’t a huge Doe (only about 110 lbs dressed), however I was totally out of Dried Beef, so I needed to get some done.

*Day #1 (Prepping & Curing):*
I thawed, rinsed, Dried, weighed, and put in 2  Ziplocks.
Each bag got two pieces with the following totals:
#1—1 pound, 8 ounces meat + 3/4 oz of TQ, and approximately 2 TBS of Brown Sugar.
#2—1 pound of meat + 1/2 ounce of TQ, and approximately 1 TBS of Brown Sugar.
Be sure to pick up any TQ that fell off before going into bag, and put it in the bag with the meat it fell off of. That will keep the proper amount of TQ per pound in the bags.
BTW: I added 2 TBS of water in each bag, just to be sure there would be enough liquid to transport the cure.
These pieces were only a little more than 1 1/4” at the thickest point, so I only put them in my curing fridge for 9 days @ 37*--38*. I also flipped the packages over every afternoon.

*Day #10 (Prep for Smoking):*
Remove pieces from bags, rinse, and soak in cold water for a half hour to remove surface salt.
Cut a couple slices from middle of the thickest piece to check that cure got to center, and to do a salt-fry test.
No salt flavor at all, so Dry pieces & sprinkle with CBP, Garlic powder, and Onion powder.
Put all pieces on a grill rack, and put rack in fridge overnight to start pellicle.

*Day #11 (Smoking Time):*
6:30---------Pre-heat MES 40 to 150°.
7:00---------Put rack with meat in 2nd position (6 rack) MES 40. Also Fill AMNS with Maple Sawdust, and light one end.
8:00---------Put Well lit AMNS on bottom rack on Right end, above chip dumper, with dumper out 3”.
10:00-------Insert Maverick meat probe in thickest piece. Internal Temp is 118°. Bump heat to 170°.
12:00-------Internal Temp is 142°.
1:30---------Internal Temp is 151°. Bump heat up to 180*.
2:00---------Internal Temp is 158°.
2:30---------Internal Temp is 162°. Cut Heat to 100°.
3:00---------Internal Temp is 156*. AMNS stopped smoking—Burned out.
Put in big bowl to carry in & Kill MES.
Allow to cool to about 100°, and put the bowl in fridge uncovered for 2 days.
Put in freezer for 4 hours before slicing, and then slice very thin, across grain.

Eat some----Freeze the rest in Vacuum sealed bags.

Also made a few of my Favorite Sammies!!   <<Miracle Whip on fresh Italian Bread, with Dried Beef & American Cheese.>>

This stuff is Awesome, and as always could not tell it from Beef Dried Beef.


Enjoy the Pics,

Bear

Two Pieces of Backstrap in each curing bag, with TQ & Brown Sugar:







Fresh out of Cure:






Two pieces cut for "Salt-Fry'Test":






Frying test pieces:






Seasoning before Pellicle forming:






Through the Looking Glass:






Not Much from one Doe:






Smoke Amount just right:






All Done---Ready to pull:






Bringing in, cooled to 100°, and into fridge:






Freezer for 4 hours & ready to slice:






All Sliced up:






Bagged for freezing & eating:






Gotta make my favorite "Cold Sammy"  Miracle Whip on fresh Italian Bread, with Dried Beef & American Cheese.






MMMMMmmmmmm......................






LOL---Still had room for another "Half" Sammy:


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## TNJAKE (Aug 6, 2020)

Oh man that looks delicious bear. I have a couple back straps left. Might give this a try


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## MJB05615 (Aug 6, 2020)

Looks delicious Bear.  Well worth the work to get it where you want it.
Nice work.  Thanks for sharing.

Mike


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## Bearcarver (Aug 6, 2020)

TNJAKE said:


> Oh man that looks delicious bear. I have a couple back straps left. Might give this a try




Thanks Jake!
Appreciate that.

Bear


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## tx smoker (Aug 6, 2020)

Looks great Bear!! I've been following your dried beef recipe for several years and love the stuff!! No venison but using eye of round. Mine looks exactly as you depicted so I guess I'm following the directions correctly   Just finished up a big batch a couple weeks ago but have managed to burn through quite a bit of it.  Love it on a sandwich but one of my all time favorites is creamed chipped beef on toast. OMG!! Love that stuff!!

Robert


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## smokerjim (Aug 6, 2020)

Looks great bear, going to have to try this when I get my deer this year.


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## HalfSmoked (Aug 6, 2020)

Nice
Haven't tried anything dried but do like dried beef sammies no cheese but with onions which you don't like.

Warren


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## tx smoker (Aug 6, 2020)

HalfSmoked said:


> Haven't tried anything dried but do like dried beef sammies



Hey Warren...as already stated, I love Bear's recipe. It is SOOO easy to do and requires very little in the way of ingredients. The overall time is considerable but very little hands-on time. This stuff has become a staple around here and I'll always keep some on hand. You might wanna give it a run. It'll be the best you've ever had, I can promise you that sir.

Robert


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## chopsaw (Aug 6, 2020)

Nice work John . That's not gonna last long . Last I did was the " Reaper beef " . Made the sammy like yours . Man it's good .


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## gary s (Aug 6, 2020)

Looks Fantastic, I could stand a sandwich or two.
Great Pics and Tutorial

Gary


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## Bearcarver (Aug 6, 2020)

MJB05615 said:


> Looks delicious Bear.  Well worth the work to get it where you want it.
> Nice work.  Thanks for sharing.
> 
> Mike




Thank You Mike!
And Thanks for the Like.

Bear




tx smoker said:


> Looks great Bear!! I've been following your dried beef recipe for several years and love the stuff!! No venison but using eye of round. Mine looks exactly as you depicted so I guess I'm following the directions correctly   Just finished up a big batch a couple weeks ago but have managed to burn through quite a bit of it.  Love it on a sandwich but one of my all time favorites is creamed chipped beef on toast. OMG!! Love that stuff!!
> 
> Robert



Thank You Robert!!
LOL----WE used to have open-house at my Brother's house every Christmas Morning---All the Chipped Beef on toast you can eat.  Of course one of the guests was the owner of "Knauss' Dried Beef"---The biggest Dried Beef Processor of Dried Beef on the East Coast.
And Thanks for the Like.

Bear


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## Bearcarver (Aug 7, 2020)

smokerjim said:


> Looks great bear, going to have to try this when I get my deer this year.




Thank You Jim!!
Don't know how long we'll be eating Deer, with this CWD spreading.
So far we're a county away from the closest one found, but that's not far to go.
If I gotta go back to Beef, I'll be adding 25% to 50% Pork to it.
And Thanks for the Like.

Bear


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## Bearcarver (Aug 7, 2020)

HalfSmoked said:


> Nice
> Haven't tried anything dried but do like dried beef sammies no cheese but with onions which you don't like.
> 
> Warren




Thank You Warren!!
This stuff is easy to make.
Check some of my other Dried Beef Step by Steps (Beef or Venison).
They're all in my Step by Step Index.
And Thanks for the Like.

Bear


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## Bearcarver (Aug 7, 2020)

tx smoker said:


> Hey Warren...as already stated, I love Bear's recipe. It is SOOO easy to do and requires very little in the way of ingredients. The overall time is considerable but very little hands-on time. This stuff has become a staple around here and I'll always keep some on hand. You might wanna give it a run. It'll be the best you've ever had, I can promise you that sir.
> 
> Robert



Thank You for the compliments, Robert!!

Bear




chopsaw said:


> Nice work John . That's not gonna last long . Last I did was the " Reaper beef " . Made the sammy like yours . Man it's good .




Thank You Rich!!
Bet you liked that Sammy.
I used to eat 2 Sammies a day like that for about 3 months, beginning right after Deer season.
And Thanks for the Like.

Bear


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## Smokin' in AZ (Aug 7, 2020)

Looks really good Bear!

Love beef sammies too, and gotta have cheese.

LIKE!

John


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## Bearcarver (Aug 7, 2020)

gary s said:


> Looks Fantastic, I could stand a sandwich or two.
> Great Pics and Tutorial
> 
> Gary




Thank You Gary!!
And Thanks for the Like.

Bear


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## Bearcarver (Aug 8, 2020)

Smokin' in AZ said:


> Looks really good Bear!
> 
> Love beef sammies too, and gotta have cheese.
> 
> ...




Thank You John!!
I love all Beef, but this Dried Beef is special !!
And Thanks for the Like.

Bear


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## Bearcarver (Aug 8, 2020)

kruizer
 ---Thank You for the Like.

Bear


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## Bearcarver (Aug 8, 2020)

JLeonard
 ---Thanks for the Like.

Bear


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