Beef Jerky: Ten Pounds, Two Types (with Pics)

[couger78]

If I only wanted to do 5 pounds would it be as simple as cutting your recipe in half.

Thanks

Ed

Certainly, with the exception of the cure. I always do CURE amounts by weight (grams), not volume.

Kevin

 

[beef77]

Great looking jerky!

 

[thatcho]

WOW!! Looking great.

 

[hoity toit]

 
There's a personal preference involved here.

Some like they're jerky to be more tender and have little given when eaten while others like a chewier, tougher mouth-feel. Much has to do with how the meat is treated AND how it is sliced. If you cut with your knife parallel to the grain, you end up with long muscle fibers that are tough for your teeth to break through (i.e. chewier). Slicing thinly against  the grain, however, delivers very short pieces of muscle fiber that are barely held together (i.e. tender).

Here's my dilemma— in our house, some like the tougher jerky, others like it more tender. So I wind up doing it both ways (with and across the grain). Me? I like it on the more tender side.

Found this image using steak slices, which really helps explain it better— WITH the grain & Cross the grain:

20100305-slicing-beef-hanger-slices.jpg

• couger78
• Mar 23, 2013

Kevin

that's how I do mine,,,,kind of on a 45 degree,,,better of both worlds. I have some in the smoker right now....

 

[bjustice22]

Looks good!!! I hope my duck turns out looking half as good as your jerky!

How long did you have it in the smoker total? Did you keep the temp at 150* the whole time?

Thanks.

 

[jeffam]

How long should the meat marinate? Have it marinating since last night and am anxious to throw it in the smoker.

 

[golson]

Okay, onward....
 
After almost two days of marinade, time to hang the meats pieces for the smoker. Using the tried & true wooden toothpick method, I managed to get all 10 pound onto a single rack. This was my preference (vs multi-rack) in order to get a consistent temp for the duration.
 
Hanging for the first hour or so with no smoke @ 150°F to dry off the excess moisture before applying smoke.

Jerky_hanging_sml_zps79ef25e4.jpg

• couger78
• Mar 25, 2013

Using a maple/hickory blend of dust, I applied light smoke for the next 3-4 hours.
 
Here's a shot about 2 hours into the smoke application...

jerky_2hrs_sml_zps1eb17a1b.jpg

• couger78
• Mar 25, 2013

 
After nearly 5 hours @ 150°F I did a test-pull and the jerky looks & feels just about right...

jerky_5hrs_sml_zpsf8fb197d.jpg

• couger78
• Mar 25, 2013

 
Good color & texture. Tens pounds of beef yielded just a bit over 5 pounds of jerky. Here's samples side by side...

Jerky_plate_sml_zps548e328c.jpg

• couger78
• Mar 25, 2013

 
The teriyaki jerky has a touch of garlicky sweetness (almost a tang) & just the right amount of saltiness...

Jerky_teriyaki_sml_zps1c8a94f2.jpg

• couger78
• Mar 25, 2013

 
The black pepper jerky has a great 'basic' jerky flavor, with a bit of heat provided by the coarse-ground peppercorns...

Jerky_BlkPepper_sml_zpsbe1d6e09.jpg

• couger78
• Mar 25, 2013

Most importantly, all the boys seem to like both types, so I'm a happy jerky-maker! 
 
Kevin

Kevin,
I tried your recipe this wekend and my jerky did not even look like this. I had to smoke for about 12 hours at 150 to get them dried out. Maybe I am doing somethin wrong. After 5 hours my jerky was still moist. This was my first try at a wet marinade so maybe too much moisture in the meat?

 

[humdinger]

Golson,

Did you have a water pan going in the smoker while you were drying the jerky? Also how thick were your meat slices? 12 hours is quite a while to be smoking, so there is definitely something up there.

 

[shoneyboy]

:Looks-Great:

 

[blacktuskjerky]

Good Looking product! What is that smoker?

 

[buda q]

What is the "tried and true wooden toothpick method" mentioned for hanging the jerky on the rack? Have yet to make jerky, but I sure wanna!!

Keith

 

[antler]

 
Wille, this is actually my first batch made in this masterbuilt gas smoker. In the past, I've relied on my wife's multi-rack dehydrator and/or my old weber smokey mountain.

I wanted to apply smoke this go-round (hence, no dehydrator), but I didnt want the hassle of the high-maintenance temperature management inherent with using the weber—so the master built was chosen for the job. Worked pretty well too. Kept a fairly consistent temp range (150-160°F) for the 6 hour process.

With the Extra wide, I realized I could probably do 30+ pounds at one time—should the need arise. 

Kevin

Looks great! what smoker do you use?

 

[couger78]

 
Looks great! what smoker do you use?

Masterbuilt ExtraWide

 

[mickey jay]

I also use the MasterBuilt extra wide and can get 7.5lbs of jerky strips laid on the 4 included racks. Would like to buy a couple more racks specifically for jerky to get to an even ten lbs.

 

[timsnewatsmokin]

 
I picked up ten pounds of lean top round recently. After chilling them well to near frozen, I sliced the lot into approximately 1/8-1/4" wide strips—depending on how distracted I was during the slicing.

I decided to make two flavors—a basic black pepper jerky (my son's favorite), and teriyaki.

Here are the recipes I followed. You can use regular soy sauce. We're a gluten-free household so the GF soy sauce ($$) is what I used.

Basic Black Pepper Jerky Marinade

for 5lbs meat

8 oz Gluten-free Soy Sauce

2 oz Worcestershire sauce

2 Tbl Fresh coarse-ground black pepper (Tellicherry preferred)

1 Tbl Garlic powder (or 3 fresh garlic cloves, finely chopped)

1 tsp Cayenne (optional)

1 tsp (levell) Cure#1

1 tsp Liquid Smoke (I didn't use this as I plan on smoking the beef)

Teriyaki Jerky Marinade

for 5lbs meat

10 oz Gluten-free Soy sauce

4 oz Worcestershire sauce

2 Tbl chopped garlic

2 tsp fresh black pepper

8 oz Dark Brown sugar

2 tsp fresh chopped Ginger

3 finely-chopped Scallions (white & green parts)

2 tsp -1 Tbl Sesame oil (potent, so use to taste)

1 tsp (level) Cure#1

I mixed in the meat in two bowls with the ingredients, and bagged them in zip-loc freezer bags. Squeezed out the excess air and these will both reside in my fridge for the next two days. Then it's off to the smoker with them on Monday.

More to come...

Kevin

jrky_prep_zps5baa5955.jpg

• couger78
• Mar 23, 2013

I did both recipes just like you said for the first jerky I've ever smoked and the flavors are great!! Thank you so much for sharing.

 

[hextejas]

I did your peppered jerky recipe and I am a new hero to my wife who looovvvvvveeeeesssss jerky.

A few lessons learned were:

1) Try and keep a consistent length and thickness.

2) Try and fix my smoker so that I can keep a 150+/- temp. I think that is the reason mine came out so dark and crispy. The pictures are actually darker that in person. I had a hard time keeping it below 180.

The taste is great though a bit salty. I think that has to do with me not having a decent kitchen scale so I guessed at the weight of the meat. Someone stole it if you can imagine such a thing.

Question: Where do you keep the cooked jerky for later road trips ? In the fridge ? Will it spoil or get moldy if left outside the fridge ?

Jerky4.jpg

• hextejas
• Jan 17, 2014

Jerky2.jpg

• hextejas
• Jan 17, 2014

Jerky3.jpg

• hextejas
• Jan 17, 2014

 

[dtash]

First time smoking jerky. Used the teriyaki brine with Instacure (no.1) which I bought on Amazon. Came out GREAT, delicious flavor. Only "mistake" was the pieces that I cut too thick, causing a slightly odd texture and red insides. Overall perfect instructions which I look forward to using again!!!!

 

[thesneakyzebra]

Looks good. Just out of curiosity, why use so much sodium/ soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce if you are using nitrites? Do you not get a upfront soy sauce flavor?

 

[oldcanalsmoke]

How can I get a charcoal ECB to maintain the low temp consistantly? I just picked up a 1,100 watt hot plate. Should I run temp tests on the different settings then go from there? I plan to pick up the Amazn smoker too.

 

[maxgunner]

Just marinated and bagged 6 lbs of your terriyaki recipe.  Can't wait to see how it turns out.  My first jerky!