Jerky---smoker or dehydrator?

[andersonjk4]

Definitely the smoker.

I had the same dilemma last year with a bunch of deer jerky.  I ended up doing 1/3 in the smoker, 1/3 in the dehydrator, and 1/3 in the oven (mainly because I couldn't get it all in the smoker in a single batch and because I wanted to see what turned out better).  The smoked jerky turned out way better than the others.  I used store bought cure as my base and then added different flavors (teriyaki, mesquite, etc.) to them, so I can't help with a recipe. 

[mossy8352]

All of the above will work but I now use our Traeger for all of my jerky and smoking Canadian bacon and the dehydrator is left with vegetables and fruit. one thing few talk about is slicing the meat, and for me it is 1/4 inch thick CROSS GRAIN which make for easy eating and not the hard as shoe leather you end up with if you slice your meat with the grain. The basic method I use now after years of making jerky is below. The one change is I only run on smoke for one hour then up the temperature to 180 until done to my liking!

[GameHunter1959]

I didn't mention I am not big on smoking or applying smoke to Jerky. I think your brine is your flavor and drying is the process to utilize. Using smoke for fish and certain sausage is another story.  I would love to try jerky that has had smoked applied?  Liquid smoke on anything   Doesn't sound right to me but have heard some people put some when canning certain meats.

I'm not a fan of liquid smoke either. Liquid smoke is an easy way to make a small batch of jerky in your oven. If you are serious about smoked meat products; most won't use liquid smoke. It has it's place, but I won't use it.

Mesquite and Hickory woods work well on jerky. Most make the mistake of over smoking their meat and it becomes too rich. In some cases not good at all. I use a Bradley Smoker. The nice thing about a Bradley is the digital box has 2 separate settings. One is for the smoker time and the other is for the oven time and temperature. Typically I will warm my oven up to 120 degrees for 1 hour before I put any meat in. Once I put the meat in, I will run the smoker for the first 2 hours. The remaining 3-5 hours I leave the oven on at 120 degrees. Some will restart the smoker for the last hour to put a final smoke on it.

Use the seasonings to create the flavor and add a little smoke with it. I also recommend letting the seasonings work into the meat for at least 3-10 days. The longer you let the seasonings work; the deeper penetration you will get. That is why I recommend a short smoke time. Too much smoke and you will never taste the flavor to begin with. 2 cents

[GameHunter1959]

All of the above will work but I now use our Traeger for all of my jerky and smoking Canadian bacon and the dehydrator is left with vegetables and fruit. one thing few talk about is slicing the meat, and for me it is 1/4 inch thick CROSS GRAIN which make for easy eating and not the hard as shoe leather you end up with if you slice your meat with the grain. The basic method I use now after years of making jerky is below. The one change is I only run on smoke for one hour then up the temperature to 180 until done to my liking!

I hear nothing but great things about Traeger. I have cooked steak on a Traeger a few times. The Traeger unit seems to be the most versatile and consistent unit in the market place. I also recommend the Master Built unit. Master Built is very under-rated. I have a few friends that have them and speak highly of their units. For the price and the size of the unit; its worth the money. Definitely Traeger is the way to go. My next purchase...