Unity
Executive Chef
I blame it all on Puff. He gave me a sample of his venison jerky, and Jody and I doled it out slowly, in miserly portions, so it'd last. Really great stuff. But it ran out.
Hi Mountain gave me quick service on a Jerky Maker's Variety Pack ("5 Delicious Flavors") and a 13 1/2" square jerky screen. (If you're a whiz at plane geometry, you can calculate the circumference of a WSM, which the screen just fits.) Safeway had a special on 1/4"-thin-sliced round, so I bought 2 packages totaling 2.25 lbs, which I trimmed of fat -- and discovered that I'd inattentively bought both round and chuck, but no matter. (The round is the regular strips, the chuck is the funky-shaped stuff, which I divided into pieces following the connective tissue.) Then I sprinkled both sides of the meat with the combined seasoning and cure (2 1/3 Tbsp total), after which I tumbled it all together in a bowl to help even the distribution. Then it went into a ZipLoc bag for 27 hours or so in the refrigerator.
The screen full of jerky is just coming off the smoker, after ~2 hrs at ~200° with a couple of fistsful of chipped hickory (thanks BchrisL). The last pic is after and before, the same finished jerky on the left and the second batch ready to go on the smoker.
It's really good. I cut two small strips into 8 pieces and Jody took them to our neighbors who were outside grilling something. I think the neighbor lady would follow me anywhere now.
--John
(I started with the Original blend seasoning. There's enough left for another 2 lb., but I'll save it for later. The other flavors in the Variety Pack are Mesquite, Hickory, Cracked Pepper 'n Garlic, and Cajun.)
Hi Mountain gave me quick service on a Jerky Maker's Variety Pack ("5 Delicious Flavors") and a 13 1/2" square jerky screen. (If you're a whiz at plane geometry, you can calculate the circumference of a WSM, which the screen just fits.) Safeway had a special on 1/4"-thin-sliced round, so I bought 2 packages totaling 2.25 lbs, which I trimmed of fat -- and discovered that I'd inattentively bought both round and chuck, but no matter. (The round is the regular strips, the chuck is the funky-shaped stuff, which I divided into pieces following the connective tissue.) Then I sprinkled both sides of the meat with the combined seasoning and cure (2 1/3 Tbsp total), after which I tumbled it all together in a bowl to help even the distribution. Then it went into a ZipLoc bag for 27 hours or so in the refrigerator.
The screen full of jerky is just coming off the smoker, after ~2 hrs at ~200° with a couple of fistsful of chipped hickory (thanks BchrisL). The last pic is after and before, the same finished jerky on the left and the second batch ready to go on the smoker.
It's really good. I cut two small strips into 8 pieces and Jody took them to our neighbors who were outside grilling something. I think the neighbor lady would follow me anywhere now.
--John
(I started with the Original blend seasoning. There's enough left for another 2 lb., but I'll save it for later. The other flavors in the Variety Pack are Mesquite, Hickory, Cracked Pepper 'n Garlic, and Cajun.)