sandilands

OK, so as schultzy asked for here it goes. My step by step on deer jerky. Sorry mods but I think alot of guys and gals will see it here and if it was posted in the camp cooking section it would have few views.
Its pretty easy. The actual; smoking part is the hard part to get just right. You don't want to over heat it.
All right for this batch I took 2 hips out With the muscle goups seperated.I take out the eye of round and the sirlouin tip. Thatleaves me2 inside round and 2 outside round.I take them out of the freezer and place them in a bowl in the fridge overnight. The next afternoon I get the old cutting board out and start slicing. I like to do it this way because the meat is still crystalized and is easier to make uniform cuts with. USE a very sharp knife. A deli slicer is ideal but I don't have one. I like 1/8" for my thickness but you may prefer something different. Try different thicknesses out and see what turns out for you.Make sure you trim the roasts up nice befor starting, you wanna remove as much silver skin and fat as you can if not already done.

sandilands

Now once you have a full roast cut up grab a large paltic or stainless steel bowl. I use a dry rub to start so I mix my seasonings and spread out a layer on the bottom of the bowl. Then I start to lay out the strips. I like the old log house style and alternate directions of the meat. With each layer I sprinkle more of the dry rub. Then another layer of meat. And so on.

sandilands

Now with the all the cutting done.... and the bowl filled to the top. You can start the curing process.

sandilands

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge. I let mine sit for 3-4 days in the dry rub. Then I hit it wet. I use worstersauce, franks hot sauce and apple cider vinager to wet it up a bit. Mix up all the jerky so it gets to the moisture. Then let it sit for a few more daysin the fridge. Then its ready to smoke. Rack it up. Place on smoking racks so the meat fits tight on the rack. Smoke as heavy as you want. I'm lucky.... extremely lucky. A good budddy of mine owns a butcher shop and smokes alot of meat. I take it to the shop and rack itup.He smokes it and I go back in the am and pull it from the racks. Sorry no pics of this as I do it o my own. The shop owner is waaaay too busy to be takingpics. The meat shrinks, don't call the butcher out on the loss as I knowyou get about a 50-60%yield on jerky. The more it dries the more you lose in yield.
Out of themeat I smoked I got 5lbs of jerky back. I know that is on the high side for most. I smoke mine a little less than most people do. I then let it cool and place in paper bags in the fridge for a day or2 , to dry.When it reaches the consistancy i want I put in ziplocs and store. Now with that being said..... I'm going fishing this weekend with a bunch of my hunting buddies and my son. 5lbs might last 2 days. My son calls it MAN-Candy.... and it is. It goes so fast you hardly realize how much time goes into it until its gone. Then you realize.... I just spent 5-7 days of cutting and curing time to get 2 days of eating. Don't worry. You will do it again and be happy.

sandilands

Here's my dry cure rub in a second. You want exact measurements then pm me. Its all done by taste. Try whatever you want and see how it turns out.
sodium nitrate
pickling salt
white sugar
cayenne pepper (powder)
Garlic (granulated)
Ground pepper (fresh cracked)
paprika

sandilands

Good luck to all who try it out. Its easy. I get rave reviews when ever I pull it out for people to try. Most like it over everything they have ever had b4. One thing I have noticed is that alot of people like a moist jerky like the store bought stuff. it makes it that much more important to cure the meat properly so it doesn't turn on you b4 it dries to the stringy consistancy. Good luck to all. I can offera little help just pm me.

sandilands

Just got back from my fishing trip. 5lbs went with me. I had nothing by the next morning. Nuf said