I loves me that home made beef jerky!

[Pox Eclipse]

Just finished a new batch of beef jerky that I made with my jerky gun from Cabelas. 

I started with 10lbs. of lean bottom round roast, trimmed of all fat.  I ground it fine with the meat grinder attachment for my KitchenAid mixer, and seasoned it with Weston's mesquite flavored curing mix .

The jerky gun has an attachment that lets you extrude two strips at once on to wire racks like the ones used for cooling cookies.  Once the racks are full, I put them in the oven on the lowest setting (~150 degrees) and leave the door cracked.  They are fully dry in about 4 hours, and yields about 3-4 pounds of jerky.

The purist will probably prefer jerky cut in strips from the roast rather than extruded from ground meat, but the savings in processing time makes up for it in my opinion.  And the result is outstanding jerky; I gave a third of it to my nephew who helped me make it, and sent a third to my brother for his birthday.  The remaining third won't last long at the rate I am going through it!

Any other jerky stories out there?

[OlJarhead]

Just finished a new batch of beef jerky that I made with my jerky gun from Cabelas. 

I started with 10lbs. of lean bottom round roast, trimmed of all fat.  I ground it fine with the meat grinder attachment for my KitchenAid mixer, and seasoned it with Weston's mesquite flavored curing mix .

The jerky gun has an attachment that lets you extrude two strips at once on to wire racks like the ones used for cooling cookies.  Once the racks are full, I put them in the oven on the lowest setting (~150 degrees) and leave the door cracked.  They are fully dry in about 4 hours, and yields about 3-4 pounds of jerky.

The purist will probably prefer jerky cut in strips from the roast rather than extruded from ground meat, but the savings in processing time makes up for it in my opinion.  And the result is outstanding jerky; I gave a third of it to my nephew who helped me make it, and sent a third to my brother for his birthday.  The remaining third won't last long at the rate I am going through it!

Any other jerky stories out there?

Oh damn!  Now I have to make some more jerkey!  I love the Jerkey Shooter!  My kids got me one for Christmas a couple years ago and it's the bomb!

We first made sirloin jerkey by cutting it in the meat slicer.  It was fun and tasted great but nothing like what was to come next!  We then got a nice Muley during hunting season and made our first batch of Deer Jerkey!  WOW!  It was fantastic.  We ground it up in our new meat grinder and then cured it with a commercial cure and finally shot it onto trays for the Dehydrator and dehydrated for 6-7 hours at 155.  It was so good it was gone in a flash!

We then made Venison and Sirloin Jerkey -- again ground the meat ourselves and it didn't last.

I love to make Jerkey and the shooter makes perfect strips!  It's also easier to eat.

So there you go Pox!  You and me have a common bond! hahahaha  Who would have imagined that?  *snicker*

[fishing_guy]

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So there you go Pox!  You and me have a common bond! hahahaha  Who would have imagined that?  *snicker*

Who woulda' imagined...that you two would have Jerk(y) in common ...ROTFLMAO

[wendigo]

Never used the shooter type method, but regularly slice some shoulder steak (moose or caribou), marinate, throw it is the smokehouse for a bit, then top it off in the dehydrator if needed/desired. Excellent for snaking on, but even better for making robust camping meals!

Also started making smoked salami last year - great stuff!

[Virginia Gent]

I prefer to use Flank Steak when making my jerky. I freeze it until it's almost solid then pull it outta the freezer and cut it along the grain into long, bacon-sized strips. This helps maximize the surface-to-mass area, making preserving easier. Also, I've had people say I shouldn't freeze the steak because of the whole freezer-burn aspect which causes it to weep moister, thus drying it out ... but if I'm drying the steak anyways, why cry over a few perforated cell walls  From there I marinate it (soy Sauce, Worcestershire Sauce, Honey, Liquid Smoke) for about 6 hours (I love my jerky really salty) before air-drying it with a really large box fan for about 12 hours. I find dehydrators don't really dry out the soon-to-be jerky as they cook it. Most dehydrators can't move enough air, so they apply and excessive amount of heat.

[OlJarhead]

I prefer to use Flank Steak when making my jerky. I freeze it until it's almost solid then pull it outta the freezer and cut it along the grain into long, bacon-sized strips. This helps maximize the surface-to-mass area, making preserving easier. Also, I've had people say I shouldn't freeze the steak because of the whole freezer-burn aspect which causes it to weep moister, thus drying it out ... but if I'm drying the steak anyways, why cry over a few perforated cell walls  From there I marinate it (soy Sauce, Worcestershire Sauce, Honey, Liquid Smoke) for about 6 hours (I love my jerky really salty) before air-drying it with a really large box fan for about 12 hours. I find dehydrators don't really dry out the soon-to-be jerky as they cook it. Most dehydrators can't move enough air, so they apply and excessive amount of heat.

The Excalibur will run at 155 tops which food experts claim is a must for dehydrating any meat.  it does an excellent job in 6-8 hours depending on thickness of meat etc.  I love it!

[Virginia Gent]

Heat above 140 changes the texture and flavor of the meat however. I, personally, have never had issues with the way I make jerky and I apply no heat whatsoever. Well, except any heat in the surrounding air. I'm not saying it's bad, mind you, just that I prefer the texture & flavor of this method