INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

flavor. During this next day the meat will soak up the brine juices and
when the meat is removed before smoking, it will have a 'candied' texture -
sticky and pliable. There should be very little, if any, brine solution
left in the pan. The meat will have soaked up the brine and be somewhat
swelled up, as compared to the first turning.
Smokehousing the meat: The smoking process will require a smokehouse or
smoking unit that is capable of maintaining 80-90F. If there is a small
volume, piping the smoke from an external source will provide a cooler
smoke, and a hot plate or a few briquettes/lump charcoal could provide the
heat source. In a medium size unit (refrigerator size), a cast iron frying
pan with chips set on a hot plate will work - although it may be difficult
to maintain a constant temperature. The more volume, the easier it is to
control the temperature. I would recommend that a fire be built and
maintained throughout the smoking process, which will take from 48 to 70
hours - depending upon the thickness of the meat. The smokehouse that I use
is medium - large (350) cu.ft., it will maintain a good smoky 80-100F with
2-3 half gallon milk jug sized pieces of wood burning. Use seasoned,
barkless wood - your choice, I use red alder, apple, plum, cherry, oak,
pear and some of the best I've ever done was with some 75 year old grape
stumps. Citrus works good too.
Get the smokehouse going and rack or hang the meat while the temp becomes
stabilized. If you rack the meat, place it *without* the pieces touching
each other - just enough room to run a finger between the strips. Stainless
3/16" rod sharpened on both ends works good for hanging - again, leave some
space between the strips. As you place the strips, run them through your
thumb and index finger to squeegee off any excess brine. Before placing the
racks or skewers into the smokehouse, coarse black pepper or additional red
pepper flakes may be added - for those who like lotsa zip. Load the
smokehouse and leave the door cracked open for the first couple hours, or
until the surface of the meat has dried to the touch. Close the doors, poke
the fire and keep an eye on the temps for a couple of days. Don't worry
about the meat spoiling if the fire goes out. The meat is cured. It's said
that the old timers used to make their jerky while they traveled. When they
made camp at night they would hang the jerky over the campfire until dawn,
when they broke camp they simply packed up the jerky and continued smoking
the next night.
This process takes about 4-5 days and is worth every minute. Probably the
two most important items would be too much salt and too much heat. If you
decide to try this method, I garr-own-tee you'll never find another piece
of store bought jerky that even comes close.
Posted to bbq-digest V5 #511 by "Bob Noble" <bnoble@sonic.net> on Sep 5,
1997

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