Follow up to yesterdays Jerky thread

Banker John

I learned a few things about making jerky in casings yesterday while smoking on my medium. This all relates to making jerky in casings - think of a "Slim Jim"[p]1) Always cook indirect
2) Keep fire under 200
3) Plan on 10-12 hours
4) On my medium, limit batch quantities to 3# per batch.[p]CWM, the consistency in the fished product is very similar to a softer pepperoni sausage link. I firm & tight fiber flesh. THe skin was not too tough as I thought it might be. I do not know what type of skin was used (the butcher never told me).[p]I have a question. How can I set up my medium to cook indirect (fire box, fire ring, inverted plate setter lower grid and raised grid? When I use the plate setter, the raised grid is now too high in the dome and the dome will not close. I have tried adjusting the bolts to lower the raised grid but to get the grid low enough for the dome to close, the distance between the lower and upper grid is not enough (1.5") to place food on the lower grid.[p]Would I do this again? - ABSOLUTELY! Is there room for improvement? - yes. Do I plan on doing this again? ABSOLUTELY! I have a small quantity to take to the butcher for his approval. After he tastes it, he can adjust the flavorings for our next batch.[p]Thanks TNW & CWM for your guidance and support during my eggsperiment. [p]Banker John

The Naked Whiz

banker john,
When I made jerky, I had the inverted plate setter with a drip pan, and then I put a grid on the plate setter. Then I put some 1.5 inch blocks of wood on the grate and another grid. You can probably build up as many layers as you want like this. As you go higher in the dome, you can always use slightly smaller grids.[p]TNW

Car Wash Mike

banker john,
Always fun to eggsperiment. I'm going to try a dry mix this week for my trip.
Did you have any trouble keeping temp down? I rarely do but at the last couple hours it climbs to 210 because I've lifted lid so much flipping the jerky.[p]CWM

Banker John

The Naked Whiz,
AAAaaahhh, smaller grids. I never thought of that! Thanks for the tip.

Banker John

Car Wash Mike,
I had no real trouble keeping the temp down. Part of my experiment was to prep & light the egg well in advance of my cooking start. [p]In the past, I have had the same trouble you describe with temp climbs later on in a cook. I figured that this was related to a couple factors, stabilized ceramic mass temperature and the constantly changing meat temp that I assume effects the dome temp.[p]This time, for a real low & slow cook, I started the grill 3 hours prior to putting any meat on the egg. Immediately after lighting, I set the vents to the barely open settings that relate to just below my normal 210 average. I was real successful with this method. After about 45 minutes, the dome temp reached 175-180. Another few hours later when I put the Links on, the temp did drop, but only by 5-6 degrees and within 25 minutes, the temp stabilized again. I was also very suprised that after 4-5 hour the temp held steady; this is usually when I start to see temp climbs. My only challenge with keeping the temp so low was getting smoke. No complaints though![p]Good luck with your batch. When you say a "dry mix", do you mean something like High Mountain? What do you do, mix this with ground beef or do you have a meat grinder? Do you plan on trying the "Tube Steak Jerky" method? LOL. [p]My father in law stopped by this afternoon and tried some. He put in an order for 2#. As a joke, I thought of buying several cans of vienna sausage, draining them and making jerky from vienna sausage. LOL LOL. In retrospect, I may try the vienna sausage (just 1 can) next time I have egg set up for a low & slow.[p]Happy rest of weekend to you. - Banker John