First Jerky Cook

[Sid P]

There’s been some jerky talk in the past few months, and it reminded me that I’d intended to make some back when I got my Silverbac. I decided to use "Hey Grill Hey"’s teriyaki recipe.


I got 4.3# of top round at Jewel.


After 40 minutes in the freezer I started slicing it. About this time the LW got involved because she hates when I’m in HER KITCHEN, so I don’t have a pic of the sliced meat, but it was about as much as you can stack on a regular sized dinner plate - a mound about 3" high.

Two bags of marinating beef.


To be continued…

[Jerod Broussard]

My dad makes jerky. I never thought he'd make that much. He got a dehydrater a few years ago. Deer jerky.

[klflowers]

This is my go to recipe for jerky

https://www.jerkyholic.com/rig-hand-jerky/

[Sid P]

Thanks Kevin, I like the addition of crushed red pepper. I’m going add it to some of mine after it’s on the smoker.

[Michael_in_TX]

What temp do you run your Silverback on? I run 190 F on my Chimp....although I can't immediately remember if I do PID or PRO mode. (Probably PID as I am always scared of flame outs.)

[Sid P]

What temp do you run your Silverback on? I run 190 F on my Chimp....although I can't immediately remember if I do PID or PRO mode. (Probably PID as I am always scared of flame outs.)

I’ve always used PRO mode to maximize smoke, but I’ve never gone below 200°. I found a Grilla video that suggests using PID for jerky, so I’ll try that at 180°.

[Michael_in_TX]

Looking back at my notes, I do use PID. I also remembered that part of my reasoning is that at such low temperatures the pellets tend to smolder a bit more, so you get a bit of the benefits of PRO mode without the temp swings.

[WI Bubba]

Jerky and sausage are two things I always think I should do, but never actually make. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

[Sid P]

Same here, along with meat loaf.

[Sid P]

My generic jerky rack fits the Silverbac perfectly, but I’ve have bought Grilla’s if I’d known it would be 30% off this weekend. It will be fine.

[Sid P]

Wiped down and ready for the smoker.


And we’re off.

[Jerod Broussard]

What temp you run at?

[Sid P]

Jerod Broussard For now the Silverbac seems happy at 180°, but the constant off/on cycling is a irritating.

[Sid P]

The finished product.


I guess I’d call it a qualified success because it tastes good, but I doubt I’ll do it again. There was so little marbling in the meat I thought the yield might be 75-80%, but it ended up being just 36%, which means I didn’t even break even compared to Jack Links @$1.37/oz.

Taste: B. Good but not great.
Effort: Low.
Verdict: I doubt I’d do it again even if I found some meat on sale for $2/lb.

[rmeugene]

And the problem with jerky is people eat like candy!

[Michael_in_TX]

Dark jerky is dark!

One thing I love about jerky racks is that you can assemble the jerky on the racks, then take them out to the grill. I was on my third jerky cook before I realized you could do this lol.

[Sid P]

Michael_in_TX The jerky rack is very convenient.

[58limited]

I've been making venison jerky for several years using Hi-Country jerky seasonings. I decided that there are a lot of really good jerky seasonings available so I gave up trying to make my own (Same with summer sausage - I found a really good seasoning blend and I just buy that). It is normal to have such a large volume loss: I usually start with 5 lbs of meat and wind up with about 1 1/2 lbs of jerky.

Hi-Country includes an "optional" cure pack which I use. I also buy their powdered applewood smoke to use and I dry my jerky in my oven: I set the gas at the lowest "warm" setting and keep the door cracked about an inch. My oven is an antique: 1950 O'Keefe & Merritt and works very well for this. Temperature is low enough that the jerky is actually jerky and not dried cooked meat which has a different texture. My favorite flavor is their Sweet and Spicy - I add sugar because to me it isn't sweet at all as packaged.

https://hicountry.com/collections/sp...seasonings-kit

I like tough chewy jerky so I cut the meat with the grain, not against. I shoot for about 1/4" thick and as wide and deep as the piece of meat I'm cutting so some pieces will be a few inches long and wide and about 1/8" thick when dried.


Wire racks that I can stack in the oven, I swap them up and down every couple of hours.