FEC Jerky Chart

I use flank steak (yeah I know not the cheapest) and get 50% yield (1# jerky/2# meat). In my FEC100 I get 2 pounds of meat per shelf x 7 shelves = 14 pounds per run. I can squeeze in 2 more shelves using rib racks but that's another story.

Joe, how thick is your cut meat and how long are your runs?

I use the Cabela's jerky slicer. It makes 1 inch wide by 1/4 inch thick uniform slices. I wet cure (1 cup water/spice/cure per 7 pounds) and smoke @ 160 for 6 hours. I posted pics in the jerky forum. So far I've just given it away but like you have many people coming back wanting to buy more. I'm in Charleston if you're ever in town.

Bill- Nice job on the jerky chart. Very interesting to know the capacities of the other FEC's. I use Eye of Round and slice close to 1/4" thick and can get 13-14 lbs. using 7 racks. I run 2 FEC 100's and with 2 batches can go through a case of rounds in one day. I smoke for 4 hours at 170-180.

Trucky, how do you slice yours? If I was amart enough to put my chart in an excel document, It might be useful to manipulate the thickness, etc. Also, what's your yield with the eye of round? Do you maninade with a wet cure, or use a dry cure like the hi mountain.

Bill,
I've got a Cabela's commerial slicer that works real well, but clean up is a real pain. I buy eye of rounds by the case and they need quite a bit of trimming. I can usually yield about 56 lbs. of sliced meat from a 70 lb. case. I use the Hi Mountain dry cures. A 70 lb. case will usually yield about 26 lbs. of finished product. I can pick up a case of rounds for about $2.75/lb. There's a lot of work that I put into trimming and slicing and because of that I've been looking for pre-sliced bugolgi but I haven't bee able to find any in my area yet.

Man, that Bugolgi is hard to find. The only place I've found it is the Military Commisary here at fort jackson, SC. The man in charge of the meat here says it's a tysons product, so I'll do a little more research and get an item number. A 3:1 ration is about what I get with it. It has some fat, but I just let it burn off, then trim with sissors after it is finished. They are not pretty even slices. Many times I get Whole slices of jerky. see pic.