The other day I was in a hurry to start smoking some beef into jerky and so the bottom round was trimmed and sliced without pre-freezing. Pre-freezing prevents the meat from buckling under the weight of the slicing knife. With the beef at room temperature, slices measured 1/4 inch in thickness and weight 6.14 pounds overall.
Once placed onto both grills, the slices covered them in their entirety. There was no open spaces separating the slices; they butted up against one another and the smoke lasted 5 hours at 145F give or take.
Once finished, I noticed that some of the meat was undercooked as it were and much of the fat remained in between the grains of meat. Way too moist to be considered jerky, the meat seemed 'cooked' halfway between steak and jerky itself.
After allowing the quasi jerky to cool and emit moisture for 12 hours, it was placed onto the grills of a freshly prepared smoker and were given an additional smoke of 150F for around three hours and now things look just fine!
The conclusion here:
<UL TYPE=SQUARE> <LI>The thicker the raw sliced meat, the longer the smoke session. Plan on smoking for seven or eight hours for meat that's been sliced around 1/4 inch thick.
<LI>On the grill allow some empty space in between the slices to improve circulation of both heat and smoke.
<LI>Use no more than let's say 5 1/2 pounds of fresh trimmed beef slices to prevent crowding of the grill. [/list]
Best,
-T
Once placed onto both grills, the slices covered them in their entirety. There was no open spaces separating the slices; they butted up against one another and the smoke lasted 5 hours at 145F give or take.
Once finished, I noticed that some of the meat was undercooked as it were and much of the fat remained in between the grains of meat. Way too moist to be considered jerky, the meat seemed 'cooked' halfway between steak and jerky itself.
After allowing the quasi jerky to cool and emit moisture for 12 hours, it was placed onto the grills of a freshly prepared smoker and were given an additional smoke of 150F for around three hours and now things look just fine!
The conclusion here:
<UL TYPE=SQUARE> <LI>The thicker the raw sliced meat, the longer the smoke session. Plan on smoking for seven or eight hours for meat that's been sliced around 1/4 inch thick.
<LI>On the grill allow some empty space in between the slices to improve circulation of both heat and smoke.
<LI>Use no more than let's say 5 1/2 pounds of fresh trimmed beef slices to prevent crowding of the grill. [/list]
Best,
-T
