Hey guys, well, I've made my first batch of jerky. I had 10lbs of very lean sirloin roast sliced at just a tad under 1/4" by the local meat shop, its how he slices his, and I was fine with that. Marinaded for 2 days using Kevi's marinade, substitutions were adding fresh crushed garlic instead of powder, and added more cayenne. I had it all marinating in 3 ziploc bags. I was going to smoke it all at once tonight, but then I thought I should maybe do a test run one 1 bag, hate to waste all 3 if something went wrong. So i skewered them and hung from the top rack of my model 50, that was easy....no meat touching eachother, etc.
Used 1 chunk of hickory that came from Cookshack. Set it at 180*, opened the door at 3 hours exactly, and the texture felt pretty much bang on, and I heard it would continue cooking a bit after removing from the smoker, so I took it out and let it cool on the counter overnight.
Now, my questions. I used tenderquick in the marinade, am I assuming right that I dont need to store the jerky in the frige then? How long would the "shelf life" be sitting out on the counter in a ziploc? It likely wont last long, as both boys had 2 pieces for breakfast, and 1 put some in his lunchkit for school, and the other one had to take a hunk along to the babysitters!
I thought the hickory is a bit of a stronger smoke, I think I'll try maple or something a bit milder for the rest, but overall, nice flavor, nice texture, not too crispy, a little chewier than crispy, pretty decent really we all thought, only comments from family was maybe a little strong on the smoke, I'd agree.
Now, when I checked the woodbox in the smoker, only about maybe 1/3 of that hunk of hickory was gone, the rest was just a black chunk. I'm assuming this is common since the heat wasnt cranked up, and it wasnt a long smoke, thus the wood all didnt turn to ash.....is that everyone elses experience? When I did my pork butt, all the wood turned to white ash.
Lastly, with my 2 bags that are left, I'm going to smoke them up tonight at the same time, going to use some milder wood. I buy jerky from one place that we all just love, sweet and hot, and quite red. What makes the red color?
Also, I'm thinking with 1/2 of what I'm doing tonight, I'm going to lay out on racks, going to brush with maple syrup, and then sprinkle with some red pepper flakes for more sweet/hot kick.....anyone ever try this? Any suggestions for something to sweeten other than maple syrup? I thought of honey/water mix or cornsyrup/water mix too. I dunno......
The other 1/2 I'm going to do same as last night and hang with skewers. Some of my pieces of meat were large, and when they dry up, they are kind of curled up a bit cuz of the larger size, no big deal, but I might make smaller strips of the meat that hangs this time, so that when its done, it will be in nicer strips.....but thats just cosmetic issues!
Overall pretty happy, just looking for your thoughts on some of the above.
Thanks for your time, and sorry for the rambling post!
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