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Beef Jerky in the BGE?

Unknown
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Hi Folks,[p]I just got my BGE and was wondering if it is possible to make jerky in it. From all the reading I've done, the big advantage of this style of cooker is that it maintains moisture in the meats cooked. I'm wondering if this would make jerky difficult since it needs to be dry.[p]

Comments

  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,674
    2005_0110Image0006.jpg
    <p />David Roberts,
    it makes real good tasting jerkey. texture is a little different, and some finish it in a dehydrater, but i like it the way it comes off the egg. havent tried low temp management in the heat of the summer yet, but can hold temps at 145 in the winter. gfw has a recipe for river city jerkey in the recipe section that i start with as a base

    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • AZRP
    AZRP Posts: 10,116
    jerky.jpg
    <p />David Roberts,
    I've done jerky in mine, it came out great. I used the Guru in the ramp mode to maintain 160 degrees. -RP

  • SirKeats
    SirKeats Posts: 159
    AZRP,[p]how in the world did you stick a thin slice of meat with your meat probe in a way that it worked to measure the meat temp so that you could take advantage of the ramp mode?
  • AZRP
    AZRP Posts: 10,116
    SirKeats,
    I didn't, the pit sensor and the meat sensor are just clipped together and laying on top of the meat. In the ramp mode, this fools the Guru into thinking that the meat has reached the 160 temp, so it holds it there. -RP

  • SirKeats
    SirKeats Posts: 159
    AZRP,[p]Ahhhh. Kewl deal. Haven't done that yet so didn't know what you meant exactly.[p]So your cook temp was 160 then for the jerky? How long did it take?
  • AZRP
    AZRP Posts: 10,116
    SirKeats,
    I don't remember exactly, think it was 6-8 hours. I did have to flip them end for end halfway through the cook. I probably wouldn't have had to do that if I had the grid a little farther up off the plate setter. -RP

  • Borders
    Borders Posts: 665
    DSCN0586.JPG?dc=4675507901485118163
    <p />David Roberts, You're right. It takes a long, long time to dry out meat in an egg. I'm in the school of starting on the egg and finishing in the dehydrator. As for cuts of beef, eye of round is my winner.

  • Thanks for all of the responses. For myself, I think I'll start out in the BGE for an hour or so, in order to get some smoke flavoring and move it into my oven. I have succesfully done jerky in my convection oven, which has a low temp setting of 175F. It generally has taken me about 2 hours in the past to get mine dry enough.[p]I liked the idea in one of the pictures, where the jerky was skewered and hung vertically. Anyone know where you can get those type of skewers? I have not seen them locally. Theyt appear to be U shaped and made of metal.

  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,674
    David Roberts,
    its tig wire (welding wire) made of stainless.bent and sharpened

    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • Are you using a regularly built fire? I want to do some jerky, and wondered if I should build a smaller than normal fire to keep the temp low for a long time with more open top and bottom vents, which I thought would accellerate the dehydration of the meat.

    Of course, I'm in Denver, so meat will dry on an unheated grill. :laugh:

    Do you think this method would work? Dickson