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View Full Version : Lil' Chief Jerky.....


BobBrisket
01-31-2011, 11:27 AM
Got started on some early Spring cleaning (garage) and decided to make some jerky for the kids, and my wife,.................and for me too!:becky: I made a hot and BBQ sauce version. Also, got Brisket Jr. involved as well. Needless to say, him and lil sis went through half of it last night and he asked that I put some in his lunchbox so he could have some at school today! That's my boy!:thumb:
Njoy. I made a mod using the heating element from my chicken rotiss. It puts out more heat and got the Chief up to 220 easily. One chunk of hickory and one thing I recommend is that when you drape them over the rods on the grate, drape them over two rods, not just one. The ends touch when just over one rod and and the center won't dry out all the way.

TexasAggie97
01-31-2011, 11:38 AM
Wow that looks good!

Arlin_MacRae
01-31-2011, 11:41 AM
That looks great, Bob. I recently inherited a Big Chief and I'm thinking about making a mess o' jerky meself. Thanks for the note about hanging on two rods...

BBQ Bandit
01-31-2011, 11:48 AM
Somebody once told me "twice on Sunday"


Yup... do that real good!

BobBrisket
01-31-2011, 12:07 PM
That looks great, Bob. I recently inherited a Big Chief and I'm thinking about making a mess o' jerky meself. Thanks for the note about hanging on two rods...

The original heating element in the Lil Chief just doesn't get hot enough. Good for cold smoking, but just didn't get enough heat generated to dry the jerky out in a reasonable amount of time. THis batch took about 4 hours, and the bottom racks gone done faster from the top up. So I rotated the top rack to the bottom at the end. The other mod that I have yet to try out is using the box as an insulator. Had some mild winds yesterday, and that was enough to make the original element struggle, so I went with the other one. Just a word of caution, if you use a different element, take all necessary precautions like putting something under the smoker. I decided to put a large piece of flagstone under it. Good thing I did, it got much hotter than when you use the original gear. Plus, when modding it this way, keep a closer eye on it since the temps are higher.

Thanks again! The kids hit the jerky more than once on Sunday!:laugh:

Also, out local Wal Mart sells the meat already sliced like that and they have it labeled as Stir Fry. Reading the label closer, will show that it's bottom round if I remember correctly.

Big George's BBQ
01-31-2011, 12:40 PM
Bob That looks really good

Phesant
01-31-2011, 01:53 PM
Nice Bob.....

So the that Lil Chief is a good low/cold smoker.... or is it just something you use cuz you have one.
I'm thinking of getting one and just would like your opion.... don't want to hi jack the thread .... send me a pm. if you think its neccessary.
:thumb:

BobBrisket
01-31-2011, 02:05 PM
I should repharse, the original element will probably get too hot to cold smoke. From what I've read, etc the Chief are primarily fish smokers, salmon, etc cause the elements in them only get so hot and they lend themselves for doing stuff like salmon. I could have used the original element to do the jerky, but it would have taken twice as long if not longer. I've done chicken thighs in it, but again, I used the bigger heating element so I could generate temps over 200. I've never really checked the max temp that the stock element will generated, but it is a good bit under 200. Probably in the 160-180 range. That's one of the reasons many use the box to insulate it, so they can get higher temps. It's pretty much my jerky maker because of the grates it has and they allow me to drape a good bit of meat on em at once. Plus, it cooks slow, and since I was doing other things, I just wanted to set it up and leave it for awhile.
I guess for me, it's a meat specific smoker. I really only use it for jerky and salmon. THe thighs I did on it one time were great, BUT this little cooker has a shallow pan and cannot catch all the fat drippings, so it can also be a messy cooker for larger, fattier cuts.
If you want something for jerky, salmon, etc, I highly recommend one. I'm sure there are others that use em for many other types of meat, but for me it's pretty much limited to makin jerky and salmon.
Hope I could help out. Lemme know if you have more ?'s.
Bob

deguerre
01-31-2011, 02:12 PM
Beautiful work there Bob! Love's me some jerky.

BMantlow
01-31-2011, 02:57 PM
Bob, did you use any kind of marinate?

BobBrisket
01-31-2011, 03:07 PM
Bob, did you use any kind of marinate?

I've got written down at home. I'll post em later on tonight.

Thanks again.

Bob

mbshop
06-27-2011, 08:31 PM
soooo, where's the recipe ?:wink: does the larger burner work that well ? thanks,

bigabyte
06-27-2011, 09:44 PM
Looks mighty good!:cool:

NorthwestBBQ
06-27-2011, 10:49 PM
I should repharse

You kill me, Bob! :-P Good looking Jerky and great family times. :thumb:

Midnight Smoke
06-27-2011, 11:35 PM
I was wondering why Jr asked about his lunch box. Posted in January. It looks more like Jerky steaks, Yum!

Phubar
06-28-2011, 04:41 AM
Guess people missed this thread.
Nice work Bobby B's!

Pitmaster T
06-28-2011, 08:42 AM
OOOOOH Stellar BOB!