Jerky Time!

WOW! Now that's a lot of jerky!

Boy, I remember the taste of this stuff!!! And to all, yes it tastes as great as it looks.

OK, so now, after your (well earned) bragging rights, you have to give us the recipe! Cure? Drying? Smoking time/temp/wood? Just sayin'.

http://www.himtnjerky.com/

Ok, now my "secret" is out! (Search my previous post on this topic).

They recommend dry curing but I mix with water (2 cups for 15 pounds). It takes longer to dry but I get better result that way IMHO. Blend different spices (a little inferno blend spikes it up) for a custom result.

I love the Hi Mountain stuff. I've always done the dry cured, may try a wet cure next time. Love the pepper one with some Oakridge Habanero Death Dust added in. Still need to try making some in the FEC.

Joe, did you happen to get a finished weight? Just curious...

quote:

Originally posted by Wilber:
Joe, did you happen to get a finished weight? Just curious...

7lbs 9oz = ~50% yield

@ $7.50/lb for the meat that translates into ~$15/lb finished + pellets, seasoning, & sealer bags. All in I figure $16/lb cost = $1/ounce.

That sounds steep but Cabela's is charging $45/lb + S&H + tax!

The SAMS Club case price on Flank Steak was $5.50/lb but a case holds 60 lbs! Even I'm not that crazy!

Final yield = twenty three 5oz bags.

Looking mighty tasty. Great job! That is a heck of a good yield on jerky. Seems like I normally come in the turdy tree and a turd ratio..lol. Condolences on the 7.50 a lb raw meat obstacle. Havent made any in a few months hope I aint too shocked when it comes time to buy meat again. Somebody posted a link on a good place to buy the recloseable vacuum bags but I done lost the link. Anybody got a memory refesher? Thanks.

bigwheel, try below. Resealable and reusable.

http://www.foodsaver.com/vacuu...q=freshsaver&start=3

Cabela's has the "ziploc" vacuum bags but they are more than double the regular bags. That's why I only put 5 oz in each bag. It doesn't last long enough to reseal!

Thanks for the link. We used to buy some bags sorta like that which come with a little hand pump. Worked pretty good. Think they were either Ziplock or maybe Glad brand.

Joe, I have done 30 pounds on a weekend, but mine was harder than yours because it was knuckle roast and bugolgi sliced 1/8 inch thin full slices of the knuckle. I could only get about one pound raw on the rack, so about 3 pounds or so on a finished load. How much do you put in your FEC at one time with your thicker slices? My guess is at least 15 pounds or so.

You can always get the case, cure it all and then freeze the cured but unsmoked meat you don't use. Freezing will stop the curing process and it should be ready to smoke when you thaw it. I think thawing will cause a little moisture loss too which will aid the drying process.

Also, Hi Mtn has what they call 'bulk prices' for their seasonings and cures on their website. if you call them, they also have 'wholesale' prices if you have a business license number or whatever - quite a bit cheaper.

When I was bored one day, I did a chart of how much jerky I could fit on which cookshack FEC smoker. The Prices need updated, but the weights should be the same.



I've got a bizzilion of the zip lock vac seal bags that I'll probably never use. I'll have to go thru them and see what exactly I have and see if someone wants to buy them. My Food saver is about to give up the ghost and I'm looking about going to a commercial model, but reluctant to take the plunge.

Chaplain,
I use 7 racks and can fit 15 lbs. I smoke @ 180 for 5 hours. I don't do it too often (as you know how labor intensive it is) but it is fun to change things up. @ $16/lb I lose a little money but gain a lot of friends!
Thank you for your kind remembrance. That means a lot to me.
Joe M

Fantastic results. I wonder if anyone has done this on a CS electric and if the more sealed, most environment is a problem?

Joe
which hi mountain jerky mix do you use?

Original, Hunter's , & Inferno.

quote:

Originally posted by Jay1924:
Fantastic results. I wonder if anyone has done this on a CS electric and if the more sealed, most environment is a problem?

I believe several people have done jerky in the electrics with good results. You do have to open the door several times to dump out the moisture. I tried a few times in my SM020 but never had good results so I've been sticking with my dehydrator.

quote:

Originally posted by AndyJ:

quote:

Originally posted by Jay1924:
Fantastic results. I wonder if anyone has done this on a CS electric and if the more sealed, most environment is a problem?

I believe several people have done jerky in the electrics with good results. You do have to open the door several times to dump out the moisture. I tried a few times in my SM020 but never had good results so I've been sticking with my dehydrator.

But now you have a FEC! Get some Q-Matz and you're all set!

quote:

Originally posted by Joe M:
But now you have a FEC! Get some Q-Matz and you're all set!

That's on the agenda, probably the next batch.

But it'll be a while as I'm starting to rip apart the kitchen. Lousy appliances, crappy floor, cheap builder grade cabinets from the late 80's. Been putting off updating it for a couple years, but finally biting the bullet.

Now I get to be creative with my grill & FEC as I'll have no stove/oven for a while.

quote:

Originally posted by AndyJ:

quote:

Originally posted by Joe M:
But now you have a FEC! Get some Q-Matz and you're all set!

That's on the agenda, probably the next batch.

But it'll be a while as I'm starting to rip apart the kitchen. Lousy appliances, crappy floor, cheap builder grade cabinets from the late 80's. Been putting off updating it for a couple years, but finally biting the bullet.

Now I get to be creative with my grill & FEC as I'll have no stove/oven for a while.

Kindly holler when you get done. Think we could put you to work at our house. lol. Not sure why yall want to buy the store bought jerky stuff. I got the ultimate ho made recipe right here.

quote:

Originally posted by bigwheel:

Kindly holler when you get done. Think we could put you to work at our house. lol. Not sure why yall want to buy the store bought jerky stuff. I got the ultimate ho made recipe right here.

WHERE?

I try to do 10-12 lb batches using some variant of beef round or sometimes sirloin if its cheap. I soak it in the marinade below for at least a few hours preferably overnight in my vacuum marinator or two days lacking that piece of equipment. Giving it an occasional shuffle by hand. In the ice box of course.

10-12 lbs jerky cut lean beef (finger size)
1 cup wooster sauce
1 cup soy sauce
2 T. granulated onion
2 T. granulated garlic
1/2 cup Terriyaki sauce
3 T. Black pepper
2 T. Cayenne pepper
2 T. Crushed red pepper
2 T. Mortons Tender Quick
1 T. Dry minced onion
1 small squirt Frenchies yellow mustard
1 small squirt Honey.

I smoke and dehydrate at the same time using peecan and apple in the upright of a big offset pit with the bottom part of a Brinkmann Electric smoker in the horizontal for the heat and smoke and small house fan in the firebox. Takes usually 10-12 hours depending on ambient temps to get it sorta crispy but still pliable enough not to break. I finish in the house oven at 275 with the strips piled up in aluminum half pans covered with foil. I try to make the goods break at least 160 when poked as a collective mass with the instant gauge. Usually takes an hour or two. Cool it down where it can get some air and store in brown paper sacks till you get ready to bag it up. If you want it hot baste it with some cheap red hab sauce on each side a time or two. Whew..sorry this is so long and windy. Hope I dont get nagged at..lol.

I have only ever used a Smokette. I have very good results, and also use Hi Mountain. I normally do venison, but have done a lot of beef in the past. I've also done turkey sometimes after the holidays when whole turkey breasts are on sale. The GLH method, above, is mine.

Made some mighty fine jerky this week already. Used a package of Eastman's from wallyworld on 2 lbs deer muscle meat on Sunday morning. Also sprinkled on some garlic powder, fresh ground black pepper, and ground chipotle. Put in the Smokette at 1 pm yesterday hung on jerky rods with no smoke and set on ~180ish. After 3 hours, opened the door for 30 seconds and turned down to ~170ish. 3 more hours, opened door for 30 seconds and turned down to ~160ish. 1 more hour, turned off and took the jerky in the house. 7 hours total and completely dry. Smokette is on the open carport and was a humid 60* day yesterday. Some of the best jerky yet except a tad too spicy. 2 kids halved it and took it home. Wish I had 20 more pounds.

My brother in Benton has only seen 2 deer so far, both not legal to shoot.

My Son and his Wife have both almost got their limit already this year. He keeps me in meat.

Guys, I just ordered some bulk Hi Mountain. I got 5 pounds of the Low sodium hunter's blend and 5 pounds of the Mandarin teriyaki. Also got the cure with it. Best I can figure, it will turn out to be about 32 cents a raw pound for jerky x 1.3 for snack sticks. It's about 30 percent savings to go bulk.

I ordered my 21 mm snack stick casings (45 strands: 2600 feet total) from Syracuse casing company, as well ass some 32-35 natural hog casings. By the way, they are the only company in the US that still makes their own casings.

Oh, My food saver just gave up the ghost so I just ordered a Ary Vacmaster 215 canister vac unit. I have a lot of food saver bags left over. I'll have to sort them out and see what I have, but I might let them go cheap. I know I have many boxes of the Ziploc foodsaver bags.

Chaplain,
Let me know about the bags & I want to hear about your new toy!
Joe M
PS HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Ok folks, I went out and inventoried all my food saver bags, then went online and put them on the Foodsaver website shopping cart for a total. it came out to 557.52.

Here is a shot of the cart so you can see what I have. It's a lot of items. Anyway, I'll sell it all for 260.00 and I'll pay for the shipping, which I'm afraid is going to be over 60.00. Anyway, PM me if interested, all or nothing. 200.00 if you want to come pick them up.

Bill,
I moved from FoodSaver to VacMaster 215 several years ago.
Like you, I had some FS bags left over.

Decided to see if they would work in the VM and they did--great!!!

You might want to try a couple yourself.

Congrats on the VM215.
I love mine.

Happy Holidays!

TIM

Thanks. I've already ordered a bunch of the other ones. So, I'd like to sell these.

Ok, received it the 215 today via fedex-No issues with shipping, even with an 103-pound package.






webestaurantstore had them on sale 749.00 plus free shipping. Ary vacmaster has 25% off of bags and free shipping, so our family won't be needing bags for the next six generations.

I

I had 25 pounds stew meat that I pickuped on sale for 2.79/lb and quickly ground it into hamburger just to have something to vacuum seal. Absolutely awesome piece of equipment. All I can say is WOW. Worth every penny. No more worry about moist items. it will take just over 1000 bags to pay for itself with the less expensive bags it uses vs the expensive food saver bags. Far more suction, very good double seal and much less stress.

Wow! Obviously a high-level operation to afford that monster! I'm envious. Guess I'll have to do with my old Foodsaver for a bit longer. Thanks for the pics! Sometimes I wonder; is there anybody here who doesn't run a restaurant?

Joe, is 16.00 what you charge or your cost. I used to sell 4 ounce bags for 5 dollars in quart Ziploc bags and I could not keep them on my desk at work.

quote:

Originally posted by Chaplain Bill:
Joe, is 16.00 what you charge or your cost. I used to sell 4 ounce bags for 5 dollars in quart Ziploc bags and I could not keep them on my desk at work.

$16.00/# is both my cost and my charge. I'm not in it for the money. All in, I'm sure I'm losing money, (but gaining friends)!

Joe, you've got a great heart.

quote:

Originally posted by Chaplain Bill:
Joe, you've got a great heart.

Thank you! You're too kind. Perhaps someday, I'll get to buy some meat out of the back of your minivan.