BSKD Jerky

[nmayeux]

I guess this applies to any smoker, but can or how do y'all make jerky in a BSKD or Bandera? I have looked in the roadmap area, and did not see anything off had, and please keep in mind that I have never made jerky before, but Mr. BigBelly sent me some and I'm hooked!!! I would appreciate any assistance,
Noah

 

[dapittboss]

I would be interested too!!

 

[Hoorenga]

Beef jerky is done by a process known as "cold smoking". Most of what we do here is "hot smoking". With jerky, you don't want to cook the meat. I once tried it with my oven set at 200 degrees and it came out tasting like roast beef instead of jerky. I think you want the temp down around 100 to 120 degrees. The smoke and the brine cure the meat rather than cook it. You can do it in any enclosed vertical chamber that has drying racks. Old refrigerators are great as are garbage cans that have had racks added to them. The BSKD should be ideal. The only problem is creating a cool smoke. I would think that any fire you built in the BSKD would be too warm for making jerky. I may be wrong as I have never tried it and don't own a BSKD. What is typically done when a wood fire is used is to build the fire seperatly from the smoking chamber and duct the smoke over. Another way is to use an electric element of some sort and place a pan of wood chips on top of it. You don't need the water pan. Just an open chamber with racks of meat. I picked up an electric hotplate from Good Will that worked for a few sessions but it would be nice to have something a bit sturdier. I have seen heating emements designed just for this sort of thing that could easily be placed in the bottom of your BSKD. An electric meat slicer is handy as well. I cut mine into 1/4 inch thick strips. Then you need to brine the meat. Brining is key because it helps preserve the meat and give it flavor. I like a bit of soysauce and pepper in my brine. Not too salty though.

 

[scottm4300]

I made jerky last winter in the Itty Bitty Cook 'n Carry. I made a teriyaki sauce, with soy, garlic, etc, cut one of those real, lean, thin steaks into 1 inch wide strips, removed as much fat as I possible could. Soaked the strips in the sauce overnight in the frig and then just used 4-5 briquets and added a handful of wood chips every once in a while. One thing to remember - you are trying to dry out the meat with this process, so don;t use water in the water pan!! I used the empty water pan as a way of deflecting the heat...not that there was a lot. I seem to recall it took 4-5 hours in the smoker, but I could be wrong.

Hoo is right - you don't want to be much over 100 degrees or so. I did it in the dead of winter so keeping the temp down wasn't a big deal. Might be a little toughter in your neck of the woods, Noah - but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

In the SKD, I'd just make a real small fire and keep in real low. I'd stick with a few briquets and chips instead of chunks. If you give this a try, let me know how it turns out!!

 

[Hoorenga]

Just remember, if you get it too warm it will cook the meat and you will have dried roast beef and not beef jerky. The special jerky flavor comes from curing and drying it at a low temp (not cooking it). I would try what Scott said about using only a few briquets. Try that first and see how the temperature is in the smoke box. Someone should be able to kick in with a brine recipie. I have used my rub in some water for a brine before. That and a little soy sauce.

 

[Neil]

hang the strips vertically using skewers and "S" hooks from the grates.

 

[Bill-Chicago]

I found a few threads Noah. Some good ones in there.

Go to the hyperlink at the top of the forum that says "Search" (its near Profile, and all that)

Click and enter the words "Jerky Smoker".

Click the ALL Terms option.

You'll get 16 matchs. Read through the ones that say jerky in the title. All gave info. The others also have nuggets of wisdom buried in there.

Good luck

 

[nmayeux]

Thanks!!

 

[Hoorenga]

"Recent research at the University of Wisconsin demonstrated that even though lower dehydrator temperatures/longer times are effective at killing bacteria, a dehydrator temperature of
at least 145 oF is recommended. " I wouldn't go too much higher than that.