Hunting Forum

Hey guys. Just tried making ground jerky and waisted five pounds of meat. Used the Jerky Juice from cabelas and and used my bradly smoker. I belive the jerky juice was just not made for ground jerky. It was so wet that I am not sure that it would ever dry out. I have found some back woods seasoning that I want to try instead and I am thinking of using my dehydrator this time instead of the smoker. How long do I need to leave the meat in the dehydrator at 145 degrees?

Does anyone have good experience using a smoker for the ground jerky? I had mine set at 150 degrees and let the top left open to let the air move.

OK the smoke meister here. First off 145F or 150F is WAY TOO HOT for smoking jerky Ideal temp is 115-120F. I have been using products from www.sausagemaker.com for over 20yrs. Their Uncle Abes jerky seasonings do 32lbs per box. I have the luxury of a five lb sausage stuffer (I do salamis summer sausage you name it I've done it) I have a jerky attachment for this unit but a caulk gun type shooter works ok just more work than cranking a handle. Here is the recipe for ground as if you get this product it may not contain the ground recipe so print this out if you try their product. 1/2 cup water 2 1/2oz seasonings(approx 5 tablespoons but I weigh it on a postal scale) 1 level teaspoon of instacure#1. Put water seasonings and cure in blender and let her rip. In a plastic tub place meat(34F) pour mix over and thouroughly mix by hand. Then using jerky shooter or sausage stuffer make strips 1/4" thick and place on grates. Put grates in a COLD smokehouse then place pan of moistened NOT wet sawdust or chips your choice of flavor in smokehouse close dorr open damper wide open and bring internal temp to 115-120F and forget about it for a minimum of eight hours. Opening the smokehouse door every hour will just extend smoking/drying time. I usually start jerky at 8PM go to bed and check in AM. You want it dry but not so drt it crumbles. Store in jars with holes punched in lids. I like hickory smoke and buy hickory sawdust in 40lb bags. I have never messed up anything in the smoker following the directions above or those for other products. Jerky averages between 12 and 18 hours a whole pork loin injected and brined for 7 days takes between 50-57hrs or there abouts but this is a cooked ready to eat product. If you really want to get into smoking Sausage maker has a book Great Sausage Making Recipes and Meat Curing. This is my Bible to great food from the smokehouse.

Here is a picture of my Sausage Maker's 50lb smoker

Dude, your smoker is too clean, whats up with that bro?   Glad you are doing better.  You will get used to the shorter hair man, I did.

Smokehouse is stainless stell and wipes clean with mild soap and water. The picture was taken not long after I got the unit.

OK I tried to go past this post, but just have to say that stuff out of the ground meat just aint jerky (to me anyways) I aint sure what ya'll would call it..but to me it aint...not that it has a bad taste or anything like that it's the texture...always seems to be grainy...to me real jerky is slabs or strips of whole meat dried/smoked to a stiff (not brittle) consistancy that makes it chewy...the ground kind make me think of dip tobacker..just a pinch tween the cheek and gum....

Two Tales, I must disagree with your take on jerky styles. (No offence intended torward you at that.) I believe ejust the opposite of what you posted. But I'd still eat a slab if you put it in front of me. I choose to use ground meat cause it seems more tenderand easier on the oldtimers chompers. Bottom line is jerky is jerky is jerky. No matter how you slice it. Enjoy it either way. And for huntdean I add this. I hope it wasn't 5lbs of venison that you lost in your attempt. If your going to try it again in a dehydrator, experiment with ground beef first, then adjust for the venison later. As far as seasoning mix goes, I use the original mix from NESCO/American Harvest (www.nesco.com) and add my own secret stuff. And I have my dehydrator set at 135-140. Dehydrate 8-12 hours depending on what you add and how chewy or dry you want it. People always tell me I could sell my stuff, but that would be foolish, cause there wouldn't be any for ME!

I do thin strips of beef (round steak) in the dehydrator like Shooting'J. Marinate in Teriyaki overnight first. Better than store bought according to those I give it to. Hmm. Wish I had some now!

not tryin to start any chit but I'm an old fart and I'm in TT's camp. My jerky is strips, marinated 24 hours in my solution and them into my smoker at around 100dF for about 12 hours. Most all of my smoking is done in my WSM, exCEPT for jerky and flavoring a steak before grilling.  Those tasks are relegated to my Lil' Chief "cold" smoker as I've not been able to get the WSM throttled down to 90-100dF.  150dF is about as low as I can keep it steady. Always debated about getting a Pit Minder but that would make it too easy.  I prefer to manage the fire myself. I know - I'm strange....

And what's this about CLEANING a smoker?!? Isn't that against the rules?

However you like it? Fine by me.

I've got nothing against the ground meat kind (or those that make it ), but I have to agree with TT and SCalvin. The best jerky is made from strips of whole meat. I've hads good luck with the Hi Mountain jerky cures. They have lots of different flavors to choose from. I'm kind of partial to their Jalopeno blend. And I have tried making it in a dehydrator, but it is so much better smoked.

Now ya'll are getting me interested in getting a smoker. I'll have to look at the sportsmans guide for a small one, cause if the club offered one it would come from there anyway.

There nice to have. Gas, electric, or wood/charcoal? Word of caution, jerky isn't really smoked, it's dried with LOW heat and light smoke supplied for flavor. I can't run my 'real' smoker low enough for jerky so I have an electronic Lil Chief unit for 'cold' smoking. It's not a true cold smoker but it runs around 90-100dF which is workable.

Thanks for all the advice guys!! It is always fun to hear everyone's opinoins.
Gutpile I will save your recipe and try it later. I did make 20 pounds of jerky this week end using cabelas smoke house jerky seasoning (original, peppered, hot&spicy and mesquite) and so far everything has turned out great. The kids can not get enough of it. I used my dehidrator instead of my smoker. I have the last batch in now and mixed in some cheese to see how that turns out.
I have used my smoker for turkey breasts, deer sticks, and northern and all turned out great and plan to do more when I have time.

I'm working on a cold smoke addaptor for my Smoky Mt wood/charcoal smoker..it wii hook up to one of the side vents by a conduit 6-8 feet long attached to the firebox (a small self standing table top BBQ grill with a smoke stack...) hope it works out...just got to find the adaptors to connect the conduit to the units...

Sounds like it outta work just dandy Two Tales.

I may have to fire mine up one of these days before too long. I'm jonesin' for some ribs...

JUst wondering/toying around with the idea. Has anyone here ever (successfully) made jerky with fish? If so, is there any extra prep needed just because it's fish. Tanx in advance.

Posted By Shootin'J on 08 Jan 2012 06:13 AM
JUst wondering/toying around with the idea. Has anyone here ever (successfully) made jerky with fish? If so, is there any extra prep needed just because it's fish. Tanx in advance.

ya'll is kiddin' right..Sweds, Fins and Nors have been doing it for a millenium.. ever hear of dried fish ie salt fish (cod) etc..same process of drying meat...some times not salted and just hung on racks in the sun or down wind of a smokey fire...

I have a cheap Ronco dehydrator that I use. The last time I made jerky the same thing happened that happened the time before. I got some Lem's jerky seasoning and made it from ground meat. After it was done I put it in a glass jar on the attic stairs. After a couple of weeks I went to get some and it was all gone. The first time I got a couple of strips and the last time I didn't get any. My two boys tell me it was really good. I couldn't believe that ground meat would come out without falling apart but it did. I don't need to tear off a chunk to enjoy the flavor. I thought it was pretty good what little I had.

OK, the juce stuff is ok on solid meat, but sick to dried powder for the ground stuff. Even a simple salt and pepper makes a decent jerky on ground meat. Enjoy. Da Rev.

Hey Smoke Meister, I think you got too much money, but I ain't envious or nuttin, no siree I aint. Da Rev.

I'm on the same page as some of others, i like my jerky in strips or slabs. I usually keep the meat a little frozen (easier to cut strips) and cut them to your thickness of choice ( i do close to 1/8 or just a hair more. Depends on how thick they are on how long to cook. I use a cheap $50 dollar dehydrator, does just fine. My personal favorite is to marinate the meat in sweet baby rays bbq sauce hot and spicy, or other, depends on your liking. marinate for 24 hours and put it in and dehydrate for roughly 8 hours (or untill the sauce is dried on the meat) rotating trays every hour. let them sit out to cool off once dried. mine is a 5 tray, so adjust for how many trays you have and how full you pack them for how long to cook. as far as a jerky gun or ground, i have never made any but have had it before from a friend. i'm not a fan of the processed jerky. but it depends on your flavor of choice. and if you want to make a good steak, marinate them in teryaki sauce for 5 hours plus, and cook over a grill for 10 minutes, 5 per side, and it is the most tender steak with a little pink in the middle. best you'll ever have with good flavor (not over powering flavor). best of luck to you all and happy grubbing.