Jerky Brine
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Joe Hell Eventually everyone will use the added glycerine or sugar to make sugar jerky, it is the only thing I make anymore. I still havent tried it with venison and I am worried that I wont like it as much with venison as much as I like it with beef, dont know why I feel that way but I do.
Jonathon The one flavor That I’ve tried so far that I don’t feel it complimented was the Bloody Mary. I plan to change that one up a bit next time. I’ve been asking around amongst friends to find some venison or other game to no luck. I’d really like to give goat a try too. My brother has a small heard so hopefully that happens soon!
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Joe Hell A few I wont try with it are Dill Pickle, Garlic & Pepper and the Habanero Lime. I will add Bloody Mary to that list!
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Joe Hell A few I wont try with it are Dill Pickle, Garlic & Pepper and the Habanero Lime. I will add Bloody Mary to that list!
Jonathon Oh man…do yourself a favor and try it with the Habanero Lime and Garlic & Pepper. Those two are WILDY popular among friends. Particularly the Garlic & Pepper. I personally felt that the lime in the Habanero was overpowering and almost ‘metallic’ in my first batch. On my second batch I added 1/4 c. Brown Sugar (splenda substitute in my case) as I did with the Teriyaki. It boosted the sweetness slightly but really balanced out the lime. I would describe the before as an essence of bitter lime peel…the after was like a green lifesaver candy! It was unanimous between friends. Everyone described the change as an upgrade.
As a side note, I tried the Teriyaki, Garlic & Pepper and the Habanero Lime with almonds last weekend and all of them turned out fantastic. The surprise with the Habanero which didn’t have much if any lime character to speak of. Oddly, it reminded me of a typical ‘BBQ’ flavoring. I’m going to try roasting a batch in the smoker to see if I can truly capture a smoky bbq flavor.
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Jonathon Oh man…do yourself a favor and try it with the Habanero Lime and Garlic & Pepper. Those two are WILDY popular among friends. Particularly the Garlic & Pepper. I personally felt that the lime in the Habanero was overpowering and almost ‘metallic’ in my first batch. On my second batch I added 1/4 c. Brown Sugar (splenda substitute in my case) as I did with the Teriyaki. It boosted the sweetness slightly but really balanced out the lime. I would describe the before as an essence of bitter lime peel…the after was like a green lifesaver candy! It was unanimous between friends. Everyone described the change as an upgrade.
As a side note, I tried the Teriyaki, Garlic & Pepper and the Habanero Lime with almonds last weekend and all of them turned out fantastic. The surprise with the Habanero which didn’t have much if any lime character to speak of. Oddly, it reminded me of a typical ‘BBQ’ flavoring. I’m going to try roasting a batch in the smoker to see if I can truly capture a smoky bbq flavor.
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Joe Hell Beware!! Smoked nuts can be addictive!! We usually just add salt and smoke at 325 F for 20 - 30 minutes. You might also try smoking with an “Amazing Smoking Tube” for 30 min BEFORE adding heat for a much stronger smoke flavor.
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Joe Hell You may have sold me on the Garlic & Pepper but I can’t see it with the Hab Lime! I’ve got some venison in the next week or so to work with so I think I will make some jerky with it and try the glycerine!
We are also going to be testing some “sugar free” (less than 1 gram per serving) jerky here! I’ll keep you all updated on the progress.
Get more help with your processing questions and learn more about processing meat by subscribing to our waltonsinc.com youtube page at https://wltns.link/waltonstv I am a Gorilla, love yourself
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Joe Hell You may have sold me on the Garlic & Pepper but I can’t see it with the Hab Lime! I’ve got some venison in the next week or so to work with so I think I will make some jerky with it and try the glycerine!
We are also going to be testing some “sugar free” (less than 1 gram per serving) jerky here! I’ll keep you all updated on the progress.
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mdseaside I go through the same process on the eye of round and have been using the recommended Excalibur seasoning ratio per pound but instead of water I use 8oz of vegetable glycerine per 5 lbs of round. This adds slight sweetness but no added sugar and seems to really help with the soft texture. I will then vacuum tumble for an hour and rest in fridge overnight. I was then hanging in the smoker to finish but the process took all day.
Recently I began to lay the beef out on my Westin dehydrator racks and bake in the oven at 350 for ten minutes to bring the temp up to 160 as quickly as possible then transfer to the dehydrator to finish. It cut my time down by half!
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Joe Hell what temps and how long do you go in the dehydrator after the oven cycle? I’ll be trying this process soon!
fatsnacks I have so far ran the dehydrator at its max temp of 160 although I’m not sure it’s necessary as the meat has already hit that temp. It probably speeds up the process though. As far as duration I don’t have an exact on that either. I kind of go based on the look, bend, feel, etc… Sorry to be so vague. Lol! I haven’t been in the jerky game long but each batch seems to improve by leaps and bounds. I will be making another batch this weekend and will try to take note of time frames!
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fatsnacks I have so far ran the dehydrator at its max temp of 160 although I’m not sure it’s necessary as the meat has already hit that temp. It probably speeds up the process though. As far as duration I don’t have an exact on that either. I kind of go based on the look, bend, feel, etc… Sorry to be so vague. Lol! I haven’t been in the jerky game long but each batch seems to improve by leaps and bounds. I will be making another batch this weekend and will try to take note of time frames!
Joe Hell well, lesson learned. I tumbled my jerky with the added percentage of water and brown sugar as suggested in one of the videos. I then loaded it onto the dehydrator racks and put it in the oven at 400 to get to 160. Of course dumb me didn’t even think about how much drippings there would be and now the bottom of my nice brand new convection oven is coated with a nice layer of burnt sugar
. Moral of the story: foil is your friend! -
fatsnacks I am doing some jerky today in the oven and some in the smoker to show the differences. You have inspired me to not only use a pan underneath my racks but also to foil that pan!
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Joe Hell well, lesson learned. I tumbled my jerky with the added percentage of water and brown sugar as suggested in one of the videos. I then loaded it onto the dehydrator racks and put it in the oven at 400 to get to 160. Of course dumb me didn’t even think about how much drippings there would be and now the bottom of my nice brand new convection oven is coated with a nice layer of burnt sugar
. Moral of the story: foil is your friend! -
Joe Hell I am going 325 on 1/4" thick, figure take no more than 15?
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Jonathon I would think that would would work just fine. The lower temp/longer duration might be the ticket. I figure that any drips are a reduction in flavor so if you can retain as much liquid as possible that it can only be a positive. I reduced my thickness to slightly less than 1/4” on the last batch and it seemed to help with the ‘evenness’ of the drying cycle a bit.
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Jonathon I would think that would would work just fine. The lower temp/longer duration might be the ticket. I figure that any drips are a reduction in flavor so if you can retain as much liquid as possible that it can only be a positive. I reduced my thickness to slightly less than 1/4” on the last batch and it seemed to help with the ‘evenness’ of the drying cycle a bit.
Joe Hell so after this whole process today, I DID NOT like how the jerky turned out using the added brown sugar and water. The brown sugar just overpowered the batch of pepper garlic and sweet chipotle, and it was way too tender (as crazy as that sounds) for my liking. If I just add water next time but no sugar, would I still want to use 20% of the starting weight added water or maybe cut it down some since not adding any sugar? Also, sorry for hijacking this post lol.
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Joe Hell so after this whole process today, I DID NOT like how the jerky turned out using the added brown sugar and water. The brown sugar just overpowered the batch of pepper garlic and sweet chipotle, and it was way too tender (as crazy as that sounds) for my liking. If I just add water next time but no sugar, would I still want to use 20% of the starting weight added water or maybe cut it down some since not adding any sugar? Also, sorry for hijacking this post lol.
fatsnacks Don’t apologize for good questions!!! I personally apologize if it didn’t turn out the way way you had hoped! I can understand fully why a more traditional (dry) batch of jerky would be more desirable! My first batches in the smoker were of that style were quite popular amongst friends though many wanted a sweeter, chewier style. For the drier variety I would absolutely recommend the standard Walton’s method while using a dehydration process with the smoker! For my personal taste I was trying to avoid excess sugars while maintaining a soft chew. The reduction in processing time using the oven method and Westin dehydrator was also a huge factor!
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Joe Hell It’s different for everyone, some people don’t like the texture or even the taste of doing it, everyone has different expectations. fatsnacks As for water content if you are making just a normal batch then I would recommend not going with a specific amount of water, you really just want the water to marinate the jerky in. So use just enough to cover the meat, remember, if you are looking to make a traditional jerky then you will have to cook out / dehydrate the water that you add to the meat.
Get more help with your processing questions and learn more about processing meat by subscribing to our waltonsinc.com youtube page at https://wltns.link/waltonstv I am a Gorilla, love yourself
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Joe Hell It’s different for everyone, some people don’t like the texture or even the taste of doing it, everyone has different expectations. fatsnacks As for water content if you are making just a normal batch then I would recommend not going with a specific amount of water, you really just want the water to marinate the jerky in. So use just enough to cover the meat, remember, if you are looking to make a traditional jerky then you will have to cook out / dehydrate the water that you add to the meat.
Jonathon I have a question on smoking and oven use, I have a gas convection oven with a dehydrate setting. my great grandchildren call it a smart stove. would you smoke first then oven or the other way to bring up to temp ?
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Jonathon I have a question on smoking and oven use, I have a gas convection oven with a dehydrate setting. my great grandchildren call it a smart stove. would you smoke first then oven or the other way to bring up to temp ?
craigrice I’d like to know what model oven that is! That sounds awesome!
I use my Kenmore gas/convection first then it’s off to the dehydrator. I would think the smoker would work for you in the same way. I haven’t made a jerky lately that I thought would benefit from added smoke or I would have tried it. I have a small batch of Bloody Mary Jerky that I considered using the new Pit Boss pellet grill to see if could give it just a touch of smoke before or after dehydrating.
I’d be really interested in the dehydrator method in your oven. That could really be an all in one jerky maker right there!
Better Living Through BBQ!
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craigrice I’d like to know what model oven that is! That sounds awesome!
I use my Kenmore gas/convection first then it’s off to the dehydrator. I would think the smoker would work for you in the same way. I haven’t made a jerky lately that I thought would benefit from added smoke or I would have tried it. I have a small batch of Bloody Mary Jerky that I considered using the new Pit Boss pellet grill to see if could give it just a touch of smoke before or after dehydrating.
I’d be really interested in the dehydrator method in your oven. That could really be an all in one jerky maker right there!
Joe Hell my stove is a Samsung 5 burner converted to propane it has bread proof. keep warm, and dehydrating cycles , I love the griddle plate on the top center burner and the wife and I have done a lot of home canning on it with no problems
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