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The best beef jerky I've ever had

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    The best beef jerky I've ever had

    I don't know if any of you are familiar with the historic West Side Market in Cleveland, Ohio, but there is a place in there called Czuchraj meats that sells beef jerky that is out of this world. It's not like normal beef jerky that is dried out and very tough and chewy, but this is more moist and tender. In fact, I hardly even consider it beef jerky. The bits of fat on the jerky are not tough and hard to eat, and instead moist, succulent, and packed with smokey flavor. I refer to it as "wet jerky".

    Anyways, I would love to recreate this at home. I have no experience in making beef jerky so I am unfamiliar with the drying process and what all goes into making something like this "wet jerky". I've been able to find out that they marinate pieces of brisket flat in teriyaki and soy, with garlic and spices, and smoke with hickory.

    Has anyone had this jerky? Or something like it? Any tips and tricks to get this type of jerky is extremely appreciated.

    #2
    I've had their Jerky and it is awesome. But saying that I think I like their Smokies even better.

    And I never leave there without their double smoked dry Kielbasa.

    Comment


    • Argoboy
      Argoboy commented
      Editing a comment
      I miss the west side market we visited it often when we lived there.

    • ILikePigButts
      ILikePigButts commented
      Editing a comment
      The smokies are great. I've been playing around with different beef and meat sticks lately. Recently tried kabanosy from Marianski's book home production of quality meats and sausages. He claims it may be the finest meat stick in the world. It's definitely up there.

    #3
    I've never had that (sounds great...) but coincidentally I made jerky for the first time yesterday. It' dry but not brittle with some chew...but isn't tough.

    I grabbed some prime grade eye of round from Costco and sliced it 1/8" thick (partially frozen made it easier). Marinade was Meathead's from the free site, slightly modified. I put it on a wire rack over a sheet and, stuffed it in a 300 degree oven for 10 minutes to quickly get it up to 160 and make it safe. Dropped the oven to 170, propped the door open with a wooden spoon so moisture could get out and about 5-6 hours later...

    So, I think what might work is to explore marinades to get the flavor you want and do the above, smoking it of course if you want the smoky flavor (I didn't have the time to pay attention to it on the SNS). Start checking at 3 hours and pull when you think the texture is right.

    One word - fat will cause it to spoil faster. Not an issue if you're eating it fast but if not, store it safely,

    Here's a Food Network video on the Czuchraj jerky https://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/m...-jerky-0191181
    Last edited by rickgregory; January 3, 2020, 02:04 PM.

    Comment


    • ILikePigButts
      ILikePigButts commented
      Editing a comment
      Would it be more tender if I cooked it at 300 first then dropped the temp as you say, or if I smoked it at a lower temp and dehydrated slower with some cure?

    • rickgregory
      rickgregory commented
      Editing a comment
      The 300 for 10 minutes is to quickly get the temp to 160 and kill any bacteria. I think it's =more how long you smoke/dehydrate. But I'm new to this too, so...

    #4
    Oh great another sausage place on my bucket list. That Hurka sausage looks good as well as the Hungarian.

    Comment


    • ILikePigButts
      ILikePigButts commented
      Editing a comment
      Might as well make the whole west side market a bucket list item, there are some really great vendors in there. Plus, there's a penzeys outlet across the street.

    #5
    I make my own venison jerky on a dehydrator. I tend to pull it off well before it gets dried out and stringy.

    Comment


      #6
      I make my own on a dehydrator too. I usually use a version of this rig hand jerky:

      This is the Beef Jerky recipe that I started passing around while out on the drilling rig in South Texas. This was a bad decision as now many of the guys

      Comment


      • HawkerXP
        HawkerXP commented
        Editing a comment
        hey, hey now. watch that hand jerkn rig thing

      • klflowers
        klflowers commented
        Editing a comment
        HawkerXP, it's all in how you rig your hand...

      #7
      I've been cutting my jerky thicker than most branded stuff, smoke it for 4-5 hours at 180ish to great effect. Depending on the cut of meat the fat has to come off, but "london broil" has been my most successful cut with repetitive results. Dried, but still tender and any stray pieces of fat are quite edible. Haven't had any luck with bottom round fat, and haven't tried brisket yet though tonos of people swear by it for jerky and it's obviously fatty so I suspect the fat comes out great as well.

      Comment


      • ItsAllGoneToTheDogs
        ItsAllGoneToTheDogs commented
        Editing a comment
        @kflowers all the rounds are from the same area, the eye of round is the less fatty piece at the intersection of the top and bottom rounds. In my area bottom rounds are more common, and the "london broils" come from the top round at most of my locations.

      • ILikePigButts
        ILikePigButts commented
        Editing a comment
        Yeah there's is pretty thick. Think chicken tenders size. And the fat in them is the best part so I know I want to try it with brisket. But I am pretty sure they just use the flat.

      • klflowers
        klflowers commented
        Editing a comment
        Thanks for the info. I need to improve my cow cut knowledge.

      #8
      I don't know, it sounds like what I get from my butcher. I think you'd probably still want to refrigerate it? Why jerky is dry and tough is that it doesn't spoil as fast. Leave some moisture in it and it will be more tender, but you can't expect it to keep.

      Comment


      • ILikePigButts
        ILikePigButts commented
        Editing a comment
        It does need to be refrigerated, but it doesn't need to keep. It never lasts long enough.

      #9
      I'm making beef jerky tomorrow. I have a dehydrator and one of the markets near me sells fresh beef jerky meat. It's very similar to flap steak or skirt steak (used for carne asada, around here anyway). It's very thin, 1/8" or so with some fat that needs trimmed. I haven't experimented with many seasonings yet, last time I just used kosher salt and ground black pepper and let it sit overnight in the fridge, I;m doing the same tomorrow. Next time I will try some more flavor, but it turned out really good with just salt and pepper. We ate the whole batch in two or three days, and I did keep it in the fridge.

      Comment


        #10
        The jerky is fantastic! My youngest lived in Cleveland 5 years back. Now after ssandy_561 comment, I am trying to come up with an excuse to drive over to see what I missed!

        Maybe a romantic trip to Cleveland for the up coming Valentines Day. LOL

        Comment


        • ILikePigButts
          ILikePigButts commented
          Editing a comment
          You won't be disappointed in the jerky. Admittedly, I've never had the smokies but I'm going to get them when I'm there next.

          Seriously, get the jerky.

        #11
        I also tasted their Jerky, in my opinion one of the best. As an appetizer to beer is gorgeous. I've tried cooking dried meat myself but it doesn't always taste as good as I'd like. But I found some pretty good recipes. And I found out that beef jerky can be cooked even without a dehydrator and dryer, which is very convenient since I cook it sometimes. If you have any recipes, you can share them.
        Last edited by Kassadi; December 12, 2020, 09:06 AM.

        Comment


          #12
          The best store bought jerky I've had is Golden Island Korean BBQ Pork Jerky. I get it at Costco. Unlike most jerkies, it is soft and chewy. Home | Golden Island (goldenislandjerky.com)

          Comment


            #13
            Howdy all,

            Just wanting to make some beef jerky for my grandson (OK, and me, too!). Looking for a simple recipe and one that can be made on a smoker; I think I can get it down to about 175F.

            Any suggestions on recipe, how-to, etc?

            TIA

            Comment


              #14
              Just put a nice order in! They are running a sale now with all Jerky $3.00 off a pound and all kielbasa is $2.00 a pound off.

              Comment


              • smokyYank
                smokyYank commented
                Editing a comment
                Who is running a sale?

              • Northern lights smoke
                Northern lights smoke commented
                Editing a comment
                It's called Czuchraj Meats at the top of this thread

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