problem with beef jerky

Unknown

I tried some beef jerky today. It turned out ok except the pieces that lined the edge of the cooking grate were beyond recognition after 3 hours. Temp was 200-220 with some small firebricks on a grate between the firebox and the ring. Below the cooking grate I placed a pizza stone. It was half an inch to an inch below the cooking grate. I found this stone at a store and it has a rack that hangs it below the cooking grate. I wanted to play with my Egg the first few times I used it, that's why I tried the stone and bricks. [p] I did some baked potatoes @ 550 the other night without the pizza stone and they didn't char or anything. They were on for an hour and placed around the edge of the cooking grate. I did that simply to see if I could hold the temp for any length of time. Held it there for 90 minutes before I decided to put the potatoes on.

Was the burning pieces because the stone was to close, so all the heat that came out around the stone simply burned the meat? If that's the case then I know not to place a stone so close to the food. Is there a minimum space that should be between the pizza stone and the cooking grate?[p] Thank you,
Brad[p]

Tim M

Brad,
Hi Brad and welcome to the BGE world of cooking. Don't worry about holding temps really close above 350 deg - it isn't too important. The trick is holding temps below 350 to with-in 50 deg. It's not hard but takes 2-5 hrs practice on the Egg to do. Above 350 your grilling and that doesn't take smoking into much consideration so things are a bit easier above 350. One thing about the Egg, the heat rises from the sides more than the center sometimes. Rotate food all around the cooking grid - or rotate the cooking grid 1/2-3/4 of a turn every now and again. [p]Enjoy - let us know if we can help[p]Tim
[ul][li]Tim's cookbook[/ul]

Gfw

Brad, I have made beef kerky successfully several times on my medium bge - I place the firebricks on the main grid in the standard |__| positions and then use a 2nd grid on the firebricks - this puts the jerky about level with the top of opening on the BGE. For pictures, check the link below. Good luck next time - just remember, there are no mistakes, just learning experiences.[p]

[ul][li]Gfw's BBQ - Fire Bricks[/ul]