Tag Archives: jerky

Beef, Bradley

Tips and Tricks for Making Jerky

Making Jerky is a lot simpler than one may think! As good as store bought jerky may be, homemade jerky is phenomenal! Here are a few tricks and tips to help you get started.

1. Pick out the leanest cut you can find. 

When smoking other food, we usually seek out fatty and well marbled meats. When making jerky we want to keep the fat content as low as possible, as we will be dehydrating the meat. If there is too much fat, the meat will not dry out properly, and it will turn rancid in a short period of time. Jerky can of course be made with beef as we all know well and good. Excellent jerky can be made with over lean meats such as venison. Eye of round, bottom round, or flank steak are all good lean cuts and excellent choices for making jerky.

2. Prepare your meat. 

Remove meat from the fridge and begin preparation immediately as very cold meat is easiest to slice thinly (consider popping it in the freezer for a bit before cutting). Cut meat along the grain into ¼ inch thick strips and remove any fat as you slice. Marinate your meat overnight. The following day remove meat from the marinade, but do not rinse. Get creative with your marinade. Use Asian inspired ingredients like ginger and mirin or go the Southwest route and try adding Cajun spice and lime. The main method of preservation with jerky is the drying, not necessarily the brining or curing stages as with other projects. So you can go a little wild with flavour here!

3. Dry the meat. 

Hang the jerky on meat Hooks in your Smoker and dry the jerky at 140°F (60°C) without any smoke to dry the surface.

4. Start smoking! 

Add some Bisquettes to the smoker (try Apple, Cherry, Hickory, or Mesquite) and turn the heat up to 165°F (73°C), smoking for 2-3 hours. Raise the temperature another couple of degrees and smoke until finished. You’ll know the jerky is ready if, when you bend it, it starts to fray. Smoking it longer, to the stage where it snaps when bent will give the jerky a longer shelf life, but it will be less tasty.

5. Safe storage. 

Since this meat isn’t entirely dehydrated (couldn’t chew it at that point!) and since cures and cultures aren’t being used, remember to store the jerky in the fridge. It will last for a long time, and keeping it in a cool and regulated environment will ensure it lasts even longer!

Compliments of Bradley Canada

Beef

SMOKED CAJUN BEEF JERKY

SMOKED CAJUN BEEF JERKY

 

Ingredients

1 lb Beef Brisket

½ cup Cold Water

¼ cup White Vinegar

1 tsp Kosher Salt

1 tsp Black Pepper

2 tsp Cayenne Pepper

½ tsp Red Pepper Flakes

1 tsp Paprika

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1 tsp Dried Oregano

1 tsp Dried Thyme

1 tsp Horseradish

Bradley Flavour Bisquettes – Mesquite 

Directions

  1. Place meat in the freezer for 1-2 hours to make slicing easier.
  2. Combine together remaining ingredients for marinade and set aside.
  3. Remove the meat from the freezer and trim the fat from the outside.
  4. Slice in ¼ inch strips with the grain, as you slice remove any fat (marbled fat does not need to be trimmed out).
  5. Slice into somewhat equal sized pieces.
  6. Add sliced beef to the marinade.
  7. Marinate in the fridge for a minimum of 6 hours (overnight or 24 hours is even better).
  8. Drain excess marinade off the strips of meat and pat dry.
  9. Lay the strips across mesh trays or hang in smoker.
  10. Dry in Smoker at 100-130°F (38-54°C) with no smoke to dry the surface of the meat (approximately one hour, turn over half way through the drying process if jerky is on trays, and not hanging).
  11. Start smoking and raise the temperature to 160°F (71°C) and smoke for 2-4 hours using Mesquite Flavour Bisquettes, depending on the size of the strips.
  12. Rotate the jerky strips if necessary throughout the smoking process to ensure they dry evenly.
  13. Jerky is ready when a few muscle fibers fray when bent. If you want your jerky to last longer then smoke until it snaps when bent.

 

Recipe by: Lena Clayton

Beef, Bradley, Game

Bradley Wild West Jerky

Gallery

Seasonings and other ingredients for 5 lbs. (2.25 kg)

  • 3 Tbsp. (45 ml) Bradley Honey Cure (Do not use more than this amount)
  • 4 tsp. (20 ml) pepper, black
  • 2 tsp. (10 ml) garlic powder
  • 1 tsp. (5 ml) MSG (optional)
  • 1 tsp. (5 ml) liquid smoke (optional)
  • 1 tsp. (5 ml) cayenne
  • 1 tsp. (5 ml)) coriander
  • 1 tsp. (5 ml) chili powder
  • 6 Tbsp. (90 ml) soy sauce
  • 4 tsp. (20 ml) Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 1/2 cup (360 ml) apple juice
  • 4 cups (960 ml) cold water

Note: If the meat weighs either more or less than 5 pounds (2.25 kg), the amount of cure mix applied must be proportional to that weight. For example, if the weight of the meat is 2 1/2 pounds (1.15 kg), then each ingredient, including the Bradley Cure, needs to be cut in half.

Preparation and seasoning

  1. Begin with hunks of meat, rather than with meat that has been cut into steaks or chops. (Steaks and chops are cut across the grain of the meat.  This makes them unsuitable for jerky.)
  2. Chill the meat thoroughly. Cold meat is easier to cut, and bacterial growth is retarded.
  3. Trim the fat from the meat. It is impossible to remove the streaks of fat that are marbled into the meat, but you should remove all fat that can be removed easily.
  4. Use a long slicing knife or an electric meat slicer to slice 1/4 inch (7 mm) thick strips. The strips should be 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 cm) wide.  The meat must be cut with the grain, not across the grain. If the meat is cut across the grain, it will be too fragile after it dries. You can determine if the strip has been correctly cut with the grain by pulling on the ends of the strip. If it has been properly cut with the grain, the strip will stretch; if not, the muscle fibres will separate, and the strip will tear.
  5. Chill the meat again while preparing the seasoning mixture.
  6. Combine and stir the seasoning blend well until all ingredients are dissolved. Chill the mixture well.
  7. Add the meat strips and stir them from time to time, especially during the first few hours of curing. Refrigerate overnight.
  8. During the morning of the second day, use a colander to drain the curing liquid from the meat. Do not rinse!

Drying and smoking the jerky

  1. Hang the strips, place the strips on smoker racks, or lay the strips in wire-mesh smoking baskets. (Wire-mesh baskets are preferable; hanging the strips will allow more of the product to be processed, but the use of baskets makes processing easier and faster.) A thermometer is not required for beef, pork, or any other kind of meat if the suggested high temperatures and long processing times are followed. You may use a common smoker with a heat source inside. To facilitate drying, the smoker chimney damper should be fully open.
  2. Dry at 140°F (60°C) with no smoke until the surface is dry. This will require at least one hour. If the strips are on wire mesh, turn them over after 30 to 45 minutes to prevent sticking.
  3. Raise temperature to 160°F (71°C), and smoke for 2 or 3 hours.
  4. Raise temperature to 175°F (80°C) – for poultry, raise the temperature to 185°F (85°C) – and continue to dry with no smoke until done. This final drying and cooking step will require about three hours. When the jerky is done, it will be about half the thickness of the raw jerky, and it will appear to have lost about 50% of its weight. The jerky will not snap when it is bent, but a few of the muscle fibres will fray. If the jerky is dried until it snaps when it is bent, the jerky will have a longer shelf life, but it will not be as tasty.
  5. Let the jerky cool to room temperature, and either freeze or refrigerate it.

Note: If the salt taste is too mild, the next time you make this product, add about 1 teaspoon of salt to the ingredients list. If the salt taste is too strong, reduce the amount of Bradley Cure by about 1 teaspoon.