I’ve got a question for you. This weekend I plan to make two batches of jerky. One batch of beef muscle meat and one batch of deer burger. I’ve done both in the past but I would not call myself a super experienced jerky maker. To make things easy, I bought some Hi Mountain jerky cure and seasoning. While reading the instructions it struck me as odd that they say to set my smoker to 200F for both the muscle meat and the burger. That strikes me as kinda high although I like the drying times of 2.5-3 hours for muscle meat and 1.5-2 hours for burger. To me it seems like I’ll be cooking it as opposed to drying it. Have any of you used Hi Mountain and followed their instructions? If so, how did it turn out? Thanks -D
I have used Hi Mountain cure and jerky seasoning. I only use 1/2 to 3/4 of the cure it states to use due to being too salty if you follow exactly. Also - I dry at 155 degrees. It takes longer but better results. Just my opinion.
I've used almost every flavor they make, for the most part, because it says 200 degrees, doesnt mean the meat is actually 200 degrees, it's just like a smoker, or dehydrator, you can back down the temp a little bit, but i think safe internal temp was suppose to be 160(ground meat) but cant remember, better to go a little warmer than below minimum..... but you should be fine to back down heat a bit as well, as for the cure, it's there for a reason, for the most part their recipe will be a little saltier, to prevent spoilage and inhibit bacteria growth. one other thing, no fat in the burger, if it has fat in it, you might as well make it into chili, fat is bad news when it comes to spoilage and bacteria growth!
another thing, you want the jerky to bend and snap, not break like a twig, it needs a little moisture, so dont dry it out like a popcorn fart!
I always use the seasoning but dont follow the instructions. If possible check it often and make it the way you like it
You can back down the heat setting because the directions will tell you to preheat the jerkey in your oven bringing it to the 160 internal temp PRIOR to dehydrating. And because you do this you can back off on the amount of cure used so it is not too salty. I have a 10 tray unit and dry at the 155 for 5 hours - about 15 dozen jerkey sticks/rounds - not flat.
