Doing a little beef jerky

tarheelmatt

The start of some beef jerky. First time trying this so we'll see how it goes. 

tarheelmatt

Egghead_Daron

Curious to hear how it turns out. I have not been overly thrilled with the jerky I have done on the Egg. I can't seem to keep temps low enough for my likings. What temp you going to run?

tarheelmatt

Egghead_Daron said:

Curious to hear how it turns out. I have not been overly thrilled with the jerky I have done on the Egg. I can't seem to keep temps low enough for my likings. What temp you going to run?

Going for 155°. Hopefully using the Party Q helps. 

Egghead_Daron

Cool. Sounds like a plan. Looking forward to finished results. I have been seasoning with Swamp Venom after marinade the last couple batches on the dehydrator. If you like it with a kick that is great.

tarheelmatt

Coming along well... seems quick though. I have sampled and it's pretty dang good. 

SkinnyV

Looks good to me well done What cut of.beef?

tarheelmatt

SkinnyV said:

Looks good to me well done What cut of.beef?

Thanks! It was top round, but labeled London Broil. 

Deviledegger

Has anybody tried using light bulbs for heat and the APNS for smoke?   I've always wondered if this would work but haven't had the opportunity to try. 

Deviledegger

By the way it looks pretty good from here.   I love beef jerky. 

Durangler

I believe London Broil is the best meat for jerky. Thick cut & relatively lean. It's what I use.
Looks good!  

tarheelmatt

Thanks... I pulled the jerky already... It didn't go 12hrs, but the meat had dried nicely and great tasting. 

tarheelmatt

tisoypops

Dude, that's awesome! How well were you able to hold your temp? And how possible without the controller? I want to do some jerky but don't have a controller and seems like most say it's hard to keep it anhwhere below 225, some I've read say 250 even

Egghead_Daron

Damn that looks good! Nice work!

CoalCreek

awesome

tarheelmatt

tisoypops said:

Dude, that's awesome! How well were you able to hold your temp? And how possible without the controller? I want to do some jerky but don't have a controller and seems like most say it's hard to keep it anhwhere below 225, some I've read say 250 even

Have to build a small efficient fire to start. I made a reducer of sort for the fire. Not sure how hard it is to control without a controller with a reducer. 

I have more pictures to share of my setup. I'll post later. 

tarheelmatt

Few more pictures from today... 

The setup... 




Getting ready to go on...



4lb top round went to this... 

tarheelmatt

Brought a sandwich bag full of jerky with me to work and ran out in 15 min.  People loved it!  Will have to do more of this soon.  

Zmokin

Durangler said:

I believe London Broil is the best meat for jerky. Thick cut & relatively lean. It's what I use.
Looks good!  

London Broil has been my go to cut for Jerky for the last 3 decades.

MelSharples

So from the photos can I deduce that you didn't use a damper/metal top? And the partyq held the temp that low? I've been looking at these and that would be a ringing endorsement.

tarheelmatt

MelSharples said:

So from the photos can I deduce that you didn't use a damper/metal top? And the partyq held the temp that low? I've been looking at these and that would be a ringing endorsement.

@MelSharples I used the daisy wheel along with the Party Q.  The daisy wheel was barely open (maybe a 1/16th).  The key is building a small fire.  

I was using Fogo lump here as well as a piece of hickory and apple.  Fogo I have found is excellent with low and slow types of cooking.  At one point, the temp crept to 170°, so I closed the daisy wheel even more (to the 1/16") and it held 155° until done.  

tarheelmatt

Zmokin said:

Durangler said:

I believe London Broil is the best meat for jerky. Thick cut & relatively lean. It's what I use.
Looks good!  

London Broil has been my go to cut for Jerky for the last 3 decades.

@Zmokin do you make yours on the Egg?  This seemed to finish pretty quickly.  I have no clue on time.  I was just going by look, feel, and taste.  I am wanting to say 5-6 hours is what it took.  

fusionhq

I am signed up for this one...I need to do this soem time soon...Maybe I missed it @tarheelmatt, but how long does this cook take?  Do you have a step by step that you followed for marinade, seasoning, cook setup, etc...?

NPHuskerFL

That close-up shot! Nom Nom meat candy! 

tarheelmatt

fusionhq said:

I am signed up for this one...I need to do this soem time soon...Maybe I missed it @tarheelmatt, but how long does this cook take?  Do you have a step by step that you followed for marinade, seasoning, cook setup, etc...?

Well, the timing I am not so sure about.  I really do a piss poor job at that sometimes.  I am thinking around 5-6 hours.  

I used the following recipe: 

INGREDIENTS:

3-5 lb top round/ London broil sliced thin (1/8" or so) with the grain

1 cup Soy Sauce (*I used half soy and half Worcestershire sauce)

3/4 cup Brown Sugar

1/4 cup Dark Molasses

1 tsp Onion Powder (or to taste)

1 tsp Garlic Powder (or to taste - don't use fresh garlic - it will make the jerky bitter)

1 tsp Black Pepper (or to taste)

Dried Chilies Arbol chilies- cayenne are OK - avoid hot sauce because of the vinegar (Note I used some cayenne and red pepper flake as I forgot to get peppers).  

Directions:

1 - Marinade the beef (3-5 lbs sliced thin) at least 1 hour. I typically do it (12 hours) overnight.

2 - Lay beef strips on grate.  You can drape over the grate and get more on a single tier.  I just placed a single layer on. 

3 -  Smoke over low heat (used grid temp of 155° degrees) until desired texture. It may take 6-8 hours.  

 

tarheelmatt

NPHuskerFL said:

That close-up shot! Nom Nom meat candy! 

Thanks Husker!  It was very good and tasty! 

shucker

that looks great.  I made some deer jerky yesterday on my dehydrator.  Balls arent quite big enough to try and regulate bge temps below 250. 

tarheelmatt

shucker said:

that looks great.  I made some deer jerky yesterday on my dehydrator.  Balls arent quite big enough to try and regulate bge temps below 250. 

I am not sure how difficult it would be to regulate with out a controller with the smaller fire.  

fusionhq

Thanks MAtt!!!

Zmokin

tarheelmatt said:

@Zmokin do you make yours on the Egg?  This seemed to finish pretty quickly.  I have no clue on time.  I was just going by look, feel, and taste.  I am wanting to say 5-6 hours is what it took.  

Not yet.  I've been using a dehydrator for years (before that I used the oven at 150).  Anyway, I bought an A-Maze-N smoker and had planned on cold smoking bacon as my first use, but as I didn't get to that yet, now I'm thinking my first use will be making jerky on the BGE with the A-Maze-N smoker.  I figure on a hot summer day, it should be easy to keep a nice <150 smoke temp with the A-maze-N smoker.