Beef Jerky Anyone?

One thing that I just cannot get enough of is good beef jerky.  Slim Jim's don't count.  The only problem is that my butcher always sells out.  So, I decided to try to make some on my own.  It is easy and tasty.  The good part is, you can vary your flavors to your own taste.

So, where do I start?  Well, I used Alton Brown's Jerky Marinade as a starting point.  I followed the recipe exactly, except I left out the liquid smoke.  I added that on my own.

After mixing up a batch of marinade, I used 2 lb of chip steaks that I purchased from my local butcher.  Into the marinade they went for an over night swim.

After the overnight marinade, I poured into a colander to drain, then laid the steaks flat on cookie racks to dry for about three hours.

Then, I fired up the smoker and heated to about 150 F and placed some hickory wood in the pan.  I waited until the hickory was burning and giving a nice thin, blue smoke out of the stack.  Then, I layered the jerky on the smoker racks...

On a smaller smoker like the Stumps Baby, you need to keep your eye on the jerky.  After about an hour, the meat on the bottom was starting to dry out perfectly.  So, I just kept rotating the racks every 20 minutes until the meat had that dried jerky consistency.  Here is a picture of the final product...

Perfect dried jerky with a nice flavor.  You can store it in a paper bag for weeks at a time, if it lasts that long ;)  If your jerky is slightly wet, keep your paper bag in the refrigerator so that it does not mold due to the moisture.

You can use the marinade recipe above as a base.  One variation that I tried and liked for the marinade was:

2/3 cup Worcestershire Sauce
2/3 cup of soy sauce
1 small can pineapple juice
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 tablespoon of Ken's Buffalo Wing Sauce or equivalent

If any of you have some homemade jerky marinade recipes, please share them here for all to try.

Thanks for stopping by...

Bill

Outside the Box: Smoked Italian Beef

This past weekend was our last tailgate of the season and I wanted to do something special.  Also, since it was the weekend after Thanksgiving, I knew I didn't want a poultry product as well.  So, I thought a bit and did some searching.  What I came up with was an Italian Beef Sandwich where I just lightly smoked the beef.

I used this recipe from Amazing Ribs.  Yeah, I know, a rib website for a beef recipe?  You should stop over there.  They have some great recipes for ribs and lots of other good things.  What did I change?  Nothing, other than I lightly smoked the beef with some oak while roasting.  How did it turn out?  Well, on to the details...

First, I found a 6 lb eye of beef round on sale at our local grocery.  As you can see, not much fat on this piece of beef...

The fat was only on one side, so I trimmed it off and cleaned the silver skin off of the back side.  Here is the finished product...

I made a double batch of the rub since the meat was twice the size called for in the recipe and rubbed all over...

I fired up the smoker and brought to a temperature of 350 F and added 2 small chunks of oak into the ash pan.  Then, I put the eye of round on the third rack down...

I flipped after one hour to get an even brown all over, then pulled at an internal temp of 135 F, wrapped in foil and let sit on the counter for two hours to cool...

The smell drifting out of the foil was intoxicating.  Even more so after opening the foil to slice...

Then, we cut in half to slice...

Finished product...

Perfect medium rare on the small side, perfect rare on the thick side.  A nice light smoky flavor, just a hit of oak.  I was tempted to make a sandwich then, but I settled for generous quality sampling.

I sauteed some green peppers...

And caramelized some sweet onion...

And made some beef broth for dipping sauce.  The caramelized onions go into the broth for serving...

Sorry, I didn't get any pictures of the end product at the tailgate.  But, you heat up the broth/onion mixture and add the beef slices to re-heat.  The beef gets piled high on crusty Italian rolls.  Traditional toppings are the sauteed green peppers or hot gardenia.  The masses loved it!

The next day, I topped with caramelized onion and provolone cheese and baked until the cheese was bubbly, then topped with horsey sauce.  If I had a kimmelweck roll, it would have been perfect for sure.

One more tidbit that I noticed.  The leftover broth that was used for heating the beef slices and as an Au  Jus for dipping the sandwiches had a wonderful flavor.  Lots of caramelized onions with a beefy, slightly smoky flavor.  It would have made an outstanding French Onion Soup with the addition of some spice, some croutons, and baked with a piece of provolone on top.  I will give that a try the next time I make this and I will definitely be making this again!

Thanks for stopping by...

Bill

Season is Over, Time to Experiment...

Well, now that the BBQ competition season is over for 2012, it is time to make some things in the smoker that have been neglected during the summer:

• Cold smoked bacon for the coming year
• Steelhead and salmon
• Nuts (my new favorite)
• Cold smoked cheese
• A jerky fix for the holiday

I also use this time to experiment with "Outside the Box" recipes.  Some things I am going to try are:

• Curried Smoked Beef
• Chicken Tikka Masala
• Duck and/or goose
• Cured Dried Beef a'la BBQ Guam
• Cured and smoked fresh ham
• Smoked Pork Chops

If there is anything you would like to add to the list, feel free to drop a line to add a suggestion to my R&D efforts...

Thanks for stopping by...

Bill

Operation BBQ Relief. Have you Donated?

If you look over to the right on this blog, we have proudly added a link to Operation BBQ Relief.  Operation BBQ Relief is a charity created to help victims of disaster in a time of need.  Their website says it best:

"Operation BBQ Relief is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporation founded in May, 2011 in response to a need for relief efforts in tornado-stricken Joplin, Missouri. On Sunday evening, May 22, a massive multi-vortex EF5 tornado plowed through the southwest Missouri community of about 50,000 residents, killing over 140 people and injuring more than 1,000. It left a path of almost total destruction six miles long and over a half mile wide. It is now classified as the second deadliest tornado in U.S. history.

In the wake of this nearly unprecedented destruction, competition barbecue teams from eight states answered the call to help feed displaced families and police, fire, National Guard and emergency personnel. The group, headed by Stan Hays (County Line Smokers), Jeff Stith (Big Creek BBQ) and Will Cleaver (Sticks N Chicks BBQ), was able to serve over 120,000 barbecue meals in less than two weeks during the operation in Joplin. Food was served from our location in the community and delivered to shelters, hospitals, senior living communities and the Humane Society. Volunteers also loaded food into vehicles and delivered directly to families in the impacted areas within the tornado’s footprint. The operation was made possible by many businesses who contributed food and supplies and people from across the country who donated cash.

As a result of efforts in Joplin, Operation BBQ Relief was born. The Joplin operation will be used as a model for future disasters such as hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes, floods and other tornados. We are a not-for-profit corporation registered in all fifty states and ready to respond to natural disaster emergencies across the United States."

Operation BBQ Relief is currently serving those in need of help due to Hurricane Sandy and need your help.

Three Dogs BBQ just joined Operation BBQ Relief this past weekend in order to help those who need it most in the future.  If you are a BBQ team or are looking for a good charity to consider donating to, please consider clicking on the icon to the right and either joining if you are a team or donating if you can afford to do so.

Thanks for stopping by...

Bill