Preparation:
I attended the school of hard knocks when it came to jerky on the smoker. I found that the key is to not try to completely dry the meat in the smoker. If you do, the meat will be so smoky that no one will be able to go near it.
I like to spread out the meat, and smoke at less than 150F, rotating the meat strips as they smoke. I smoke it for around 3 hours, and then finish it in a dehydrator.
Once, I had some too smoky jerky. My wife and I were volunteering at a local Ladies PGA golf tourney. My wife wanted to take some snacks, and put the jerky in one Ziploc and some cashews in another. After several hours in close proximity in the back pack, even though they were separated by plastic, the cashews were inedible. I won't even tell you about the guy who left some in his desk drawer over the weekend.
Go light on the smoke |
