Keeping temps very low for jerky


 
P

Paul K

TVWBB Guru
I'm going to cook another batch of jerky this weekend. While my last batch was good, I think the temps were on the high side; 220 +/- resulting in a combination of cooking and drying. I came across the smoked tomato guidelines and thought this would be perfect for jerky. <A HREF="http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/tomatoes1.html" TARGET=_blank>
http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/tomatoes1.html</A>
I have reviewed Stogie's jerky page also. My outside temps are warm; mid to upper 80's right now. Any other suggestions for keeping the temps down?
 
Start with just 3-4 lit briquettes. If you are using a clay pot, stash it someplace cold like a freezer or frig for an hour before you assemble. If using water, use cold water.

If you have used a little Tenderquick or pink salt, you don't have to worry about running it cold at the start, but if you don't have that in your recipe, then you do need to get your temps up to 140.

If you happen to have a food dryer that runs at 140 degrees, it works well to apply smoke for one hour in the smoker, then transfer to the food dryer. In any case, an hour's worth of smoke is about all you want or it gets to be too much, so that is why I like to transfer to the food dryer. For me, that solves the problem of how to keep temps down.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by David Lohrentz:


If you happen to have a food dryer that runs at 140 degrees, it works well to apply smoke for one hour in the smoker, then transfer to the food dryer. In any case, an hour's worth of smoke is about all you want or it gets to be too much, so that is why I like to transfer to the food dryer. For me, that solves the problem of how to keep temps down. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

BTW, I did this on the 4th, and it is a great idea. Smoked the jerky with cherry, and I have never seen jerky with a color like that before.

I'm gonna do more soon.

Thanks for the idea.
 
David,

I do have a dehydrator, so maybe I'll go the route you suggested. I thought about water in the pan, but didn't want to add any more moisture to the environment. Then, I remembered I could use sand...duh. Thanks
 
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