Beef Jerky, Have you tired making this?

[BigO]

Hiya- So I recently made up a batch of Beef Jerky and made a video while I cooked. This has been a crowd pleaser I pull out fairly regularly because it always goes so fast! Once I made some for my daughters graduation party, I left a big jar of Beef jerky on the tables. I went off to do hosting duties, and later took a break and thought, oh yes, I have to get some jerky, it was GONE. So that is the ONLY downside, it always disappears too fast.

 

I like making this because it always fascinates people that you can do this yourself, and the secret is its dead easy, and the Komodo Kamado makes it DEAD EASY because of the great temp control.

 

 

[Murph27]

Great video--thanks for sharing!

Is it safe to assume that you'll be making a video on homemade bacon next???  I've been thinking about trying to cure and smoke pork belly with the KK.

I have a few questions about the jerky:  First, what did you use to make it before the KK arrived?  Do you plan to use the KK going forward, do you prefer your previous method, or will you mix it up from time to time?  Also, how much temperature fluctuation did you see over the course of this "cook"?  The lowest temp I've tried to maintain is 225º F, which the KK does with no problem, but I assume there is a lower limit to what these cookers can reliably do.

On that last point, has anyone used Dennis's hot/cold smoker without a charcoal fire below it?  If so, what dome temps do you usually see, and does it vary depending on what size/type of wood you've got in the smoker tube?

[tony b]

2 hours ago, Murph27 said:

On that last point, has anyone used Dennis's hot/cold smoker without a charcoal fire below it?  If so, what dome temps do you usually see, and does it vary depending on what size/type of wood you've got in the smoker tube?

Yes, the main reason that I bought it was to do true cold smoking. I've done cheese, nuts and salmon. I recently cold smoked the beef tallow and pork lard to try on cooks after watching the YouTube vids about it. I don't recall the dome temps, but it's not very hot at all. I wouldn't think the size/type of wood would make much difference? I use fruit wood pellets mostly, but have some alderwood pellets for the salmon. 

[BigO]

On 8/12/2021 at 12:05 PM, Murph27 said:

Great video--thanks for sharing!

Is it safe to assume that you'll be making a video on homemade bacon next???  I've been thinking about trying to cure and smoke pork belly with the KK.

I have a few questions about the jerky:  First, what did you use to make it before the KK arrived?  Do you plan to use the KK going forward, do you prefer your previous method, or will you mix it up from time to time?  Also, how much temperature fluctuation did you see over the course of this "cook"?  The lowest temp I've tried to maintain is 225º F, which the KK does with no problem, but I assume there is a lower limit to what these cookers can reliably do.

On that last point, has anyone used Dennis's hot/cold smoker without a charcoal fire below it?  If so, what dome temps do you usually see, and does it vary depending on what size/type of wood you've got in the smoker tube?

Murph27: Yes Bacon is on my short list. Its a little like making beef jerky in that your friends and family will be a little amazed at your results. I've made bacon many times, in fact its one of the reasons I bought the slicer.

So I came to KK from Big Green Egg (XL and MiniMax, which I still have) and the Smokey Mountain Cooker before that. I've made jerky many times on the XL egg, but with the KK, it will be my new go to. Why drive a Cadillac when you have a Rolls in the garage!

Temp is a little tricky for me on the KK going low like this. I'm new to KK, but very familiar with Kamado cooking. The greater mass to heat soak means patience to allow the grill to reach temp in a manner that will make maintaining the 175 temp easy.

I do have the cold smoking attachment, but jerky needs more temp to render the meat. I actually have not used the cold smoker yet, but plan to smoke some fish when my dad gets back into Indianapolis.

Thanks for the Question. 

Lastly a favor.

I'm trying to grow this You Tube Channel as a source for good information on You Tube for KKs specifically, and Kamados in general. There's lots of misinformation on you tube and with all the new KK grillers out there, this can be a problem. I have chatted with Dennis many times to make sure I have the right information and there are certainly many details to get right.

Please help me with a like and subscribe. It helps grow the channel with the right info so that comes up to searchers.

You are all the best.

Thanks

Oscar

Edited August 13, 2021 by BigO

[johnnymnemonic]

1 hour ago, BigO said:

Please help me with a like and subscribe.

@BigOI do like and I did subscribe.  In future videos, describe your equipment. I figured out that I think you're using the 3 tier jerky rack from Cabelas, but what type of slicer do you have there in your video?  BTW great video.  I also watched your burn-in one - loved it.  Very informative.  Thank you for doing what you are doing.  Keep it up.

[BigO]

On 8/13/2021 at 5:39 PM, johnnymnemonic said:

@BigOI do like and I did subscribe.  In future videos, describe your equipment. I figured out that I think you're using the 3 tier jerky rack from Cabelas, but what type of slicer do you have there in your video?  BTW great video.  I also watched your burn-in one - loved it.  Very informative.  Thank you for doing what you are doing.  Keep it up.

Both the Slicer and the meat rack were from Cabelas, but both can be found easily on Amazon. The slicer is the cheapest consumer grade slicer you can buy. But i use it only to slice meat for beef jerky and to slice bacon once its cured and smoked. With such a narrow and infrequent use, consumer grade is just fine for me so far.

Thanks for the tip for future videos, I will be better about describing equipment used, especially since I have received several questions.

Thanks for the support!

[KiwiIndo]

Very nice job liked and scribe