Jerky Fan/Dryer

I've made a bit of jerky, but never in my AQ smoker. I know that if you search on "jerky" lots of forum posts come up, including some how-to posts. I've always wondered if the struggle with air flow in a smoker is necessary. Why not smoke the jerky until you have enough smoke flavor, then finish as you would any other jerky, oven or dehydrator, etc.?

I make jerky in my smoker and use the dryer because I don't want to have to move the pieces around and dirty up another appliance.  Plus I get really good results using the smoker for the whole process.

BTW- I made my own jerky dryer using a low CFM 120v computer fan and some ABS fittings. Here's the fan I used: AC Infinity 120v 80x80x38 fan.   It fits on a 3" ABS cap, only have to cut a 2" in hole for air flow and then use a couple of bolts to hold the fan on.

Would have been interesting to see your dryer on your smoker

I'm doing a batch of jerky tomorrow. Will take a couple of pictures.

I use my FEC 100 for jerky.  It is a very dry environment and I can do a full load of thin jerky in around 4.5 hours.

Here's a pic of the fan on top of my Smokin-it smoker, had too big of a batch to use the Cookshack. Camera couldn't capture the smoke in the exhaust. I put the paper shop towel there to wisk the condensation out and keep it from going back down the vent.

I'm very satisfied with the performance of the fan. Really like that it is 120v and doesn't require any adapters.

I used to dry in a special room that I did for this, but I had to move to a smaller room. I bought a model Excalibur 2900ECB as long as it works well, I wonder what will happen to it in six months.