# jerky thickness



## payne7744

i get bottom round and have the butcher slice it about 1/8 thick. i would like more chewey jerky, i use hi mountain mesquite and cook on memphis advantage at 200* (lowest it will go) with the a maze n  loaded with hickory and lit at both ends. any ideas will be appreciated, pretty new to pellet smoking only only tried jerky twice. thanks


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## alelover

1/8 seems pretty thin. I did some at 3/16 and it's good. Some of it dried too much though. I did some at 5/16. Too thick and too tough. 1/4 is about perfect I think.


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## sqwib

3/16 - 1/4" is where Iike it.


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## garyinmd

I always slice around 1/4 inch.  I smoke in my MES with the AMNPS and no heat for the first three hours then crank it up for around one hour.  Then I finish in the dehydrator, this way you can test some samples and take it off when it is too your liking.

Gary


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## SmokinAl

I don't do jerky, but my buddy does & his cutter is set up for 1/4".


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## sausageboy

I like mine relatively thin, 3/16".

If a batch happens to come out too dry, I place it in a zip bag with half a piece of bread until it softens up a bit.


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## alelover

3/16 - 1/4 seems to be the common consensus. I will try 7/32 next time.


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## mballi3011

1/4" is where I have always done mine.


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## rbranstner

Does the butcher cut it cross grain or with the grain?


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## payne7744

whats the difference in final product? also is bottom round the best cut and why. thanks for any info.


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## chef jimmyj

Cutting With the grain is what many commercial jerky makers do...Gives a Chewy Jerky...Top and Bottom round are good choices...JJ


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## BandCollector

alelover said:


> 3/16 - 1/4 seems to be the common consensus. I will try 7/32 next time.


LOL!!!!


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## dougmays

Agreed with the rest...1/4" is my ideal!  i try to be on the thin side of 1/4"..my butcher often doesn't get that right hence awhile i'm buying my own slicer from Al :)


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## grabber

I do something that may not be agreeable with the purist but I use ground meat.  90/10 beef or ground venison/ game.  I use something called a Jerky gun.  It's like a caulking gun.  Ever wonder how all the bought jerky is uniformed and nice strips.  You simply put the ground meat in the gun, run the strips and put them in the dehydrator.


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## mcguyver

I've been making jerky for years in a dehydrator and using ground meat is good especially for the older folks that don't have the teeth they used to have.  I go to my local grocery and pick a nice lean round or bottom cut and ask the butcher to trim any fat and grind it for me.  Quite often it is cheaper than buying the "already ground" meat and it is a lot leaner.  Also, most ground meat is ground twice.  You can ask the butcher to only grind it once and to grind it coarse.  It still goes through the jerky gun just fine but it makes for a more chewy jerky since the meat particles are a little longer.


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## mrbuzzsaw

Hey Everyone i am new to thi s forum and this is my first post.. considering this is how i found this place i figure  best to start here.

 i have a couple of questions

   looks like ther first one was answered here 1/4 inch. i figured that but wanted to make sure.

 the second question is how can i get my top  round cut to 1/4 inch consistently? what cutters are you all using?

 and lastly what should i be paying for top round  the only place i have found it is 6.99 a pound???? that seems high to me. i mean i am getting tritip for 2.99 a pound . what should i be paying??


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## mauser

a-f-o


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## dubberz19

Im looking at making a big batch of jerky using 14kg of inside round. Its my first time. Need to know best way and how to cut. Any tips, tricks, advice or good recipes welcomes. Thank you


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## mauser

a-f-o


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## dubberz19

WOW....Thank you for the thorough advice. Great info, thank you again.


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## mauser

a-f-o


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## cueinco

I do mine at 1/8 inch. What I found was that the longer and hotter the smoke, the more "cooked" the jerky. 

Now, I only smoke it at about 170 for 2 hours and then dry it in a dehydrator set at 160. The dehydrator seems to give me the right amount of moisture for it to be chewy but done. It also prevents the crumbly cooked type jerky that too much heat and time seems to produce. Just my $.02....


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## food sleuth

We have made Jerky for more than 30 years using a commercial smoker to our oven, we also have a large dehydrator, but we prefer a smoker our is a masterbuilt that has work for years.

Thickness: I have tried 1/8" to 1/2" in widths up to 4" usually 1/4 for best results.

Marinade:

Our Base recipe is:

Cure # 2

Soy sauce

Beef stock

Garlic powder

Onion powder

Black pepper

White pepper

Red flack pepper

Dark corn syrup 

Salt.

Marinating time 24-48 hours.

Starting temp 175 for 30-45 min

Lower to Temperature 150 +-

Smoke Hickory 

Time 6 hours


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## Home Dehydrator Pro

1/4" is highly recommended, because it's thin enough for most operations. However, I've tried many batches that are cut to almost 1/8" in thickness with a meat slicer. I must say, they are by far my favorite.

This can be difficult, even with the right equipment. Your best option is to partially freeze the meat for about 30 minutes so that it isn't as pliable and frustrating to work with. IF you're using a knife, just do your best to keep it as close to 1/4" as possible.


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## garyinmd

food sleuth said:


> We have made Jerky for more than 30 years using a commercial smoker to our oven, we also have a large dehydrator, but we prefer a smoker our is a masterbuilt that has work for years.
> 
> Thickness: I have tried 1/8" to 1/2" in widths up to 4" usually 1/4 for best results.
> 
> Marinade:
> 
> Our Base recipe is:
> 
> Cure # 2
> 
> Soy sauce
> 
> Beef stock
> 
> Garlic powder
> 
> Onion powder
> 
> Black pepper
> 
> White pepper
> 
> Red flack pepper
> 
> Dark corn syrup
> 
> Salt.
> 
> Marinating time 24-48 hours.
> 
> Starting temp 175 for 30-45 min
> 
> Lower to Temperature 150 +-
> 
> Smoke Hickory
> 
> Time 6 hours


Can you give amounts of each


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## Stick-man

Last time I made it I sliced it at 3/16". I felt it was too thin and will stick with the majority and cut it at 1/4".

I used eye of the round. I have not tried bottom round but I have tried top round and it has much more fat to trim which relates to much more prep time. The eye of the round seem to be the leanest and the easiest to trim the fat. Also the eye will give you more consistent size slices.

As far as price, last week at the restaurant supply I use, the price was $2.93lb for black angus, eye of the round, for 51+lbs.


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## Lonzinomaker

I use eye of of round (whole muscle from restaurant supply store), cut about 1/4 in thick sliced obliquely across the grain). They are usually 5-7# which makes a full batch of 5-6 trays for my Smokin-it #3.
I also do hamburger jerky. Don't use a gun. I mix marinade in, let it sit overnight, form 2 in logs and lay it on a silicone cooky sheet, flatten logs to a rectangle shape and about 1/4 in thick. Smoke for a couple of hours at 170 until meat gets to 140 deg, drop temp back to 120-140 then add jerky drier to smoker until jerky just starts to crack when bending (3-4 more hours usually). After it is done, use pizza cutter to slice into 1 in strips. I also use cure #1 (1tsp/5# meat) in all my jerkey marinades for safety.


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## Scott Eisenbraun

Most authentic is to cut with the grain of the meat. Cut across if want easy chew. If you don't have a slicer - freeze for an hour to firm meat, then slice with very sharp knife at approximately 1/4 inch. It doesn't have to be perfect like gas station jerky. (which mostly sucks)


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