smoking game meat

[bpeters]

I have done some jerky and smoked sausage in my Bradley smoker, generally I will put it in for 3 hours of heat and the last 1 hour I will do smoke as well as heat at 180-200F. it turned out good but I found that no matter what you put in a marinade (it is recommended that you marinade it for 24 hours prior to smoking) it always seems to taste the same. I have put 9 cloves of garlic to 2.5 pounds of meat and I couldn't taste it at all. I have the jerky cure package, any suggestions on how to make it taste better ?

[Beerhunter93]

have you tried garlic powder?? the super fine stuff like flower? that stuff is pretty potent

[russm]

Marinade it longer in a lot more flavour maybe? Try not to over dry it, my stuff always turns out tasting however it should, try a different flavoured smoke perhaps.

[M.Dean]

I looked for years to find a Jerky Mix that tasted like I wanted it too, and I finally found one, it's Wild West Seasoning's. They make a number of different flavors, when people come over a steal my jerky out of my deep freezer, they seems to take the "Cracked Pepper and Garlic" jerky over the other flavors! And like Beerhunter said, use Garlic Powder instead of fresh garlic. I add a ton of different spices to every patch I make, and write it down so I can get the same results every time. Another trick I use is too have a bowl with Soya Sauce in it, and to that I add lots of garlic powder, pepper, onion powder, a touch of cayenne pepper, etc. I vacuum pack the jerky as soon as it comes out of the smoker, but before it go's into the bags, I put it on a saucer, brush it with my Soya Sauce mixture and microwave 8 ounces at a time for about 65 seconds, or until it's steaming hot, then it go's into the vacuum bag and it's sealed.I use a meat thermometer and check every saucer full to make sure it's at least 165 to 180 degrees. This way when you open a package of my Jerky, it's very moist, and very very flavorful! I guess that's why the life expectancy of a bag of Jerky around here is about 3 days, even hidden in the bottom of the freezer!

[bpeters]

lot of new things to try! thanks guys

[Mikey Rafiki]

I like to use fresh garlic, but I cut it up really fine. Also, I put the brine ingredients in a bowl and whisk it for a few minutes and even leave the brine in the fridge for a day before you put the jerky in. This allows all of the ingredients to mix together and have the flavours well permeated throughout the brine.

Ingredients I use often in different jerky and sausage recipes include red wine, brown sugar, honey, soya sauce, onion powder, coarse salt, ground white or black pepper, hot sauce, teriyaki sauce and chilli sauce.

If I'm in a rush I sometimes use the simple Hi-Mountain seasonings and cure, pump it out the jerky gun if using ground meat, and toss it in the oven on low for a few hours. This makes some decent jerky if you only have half a day, and the bonus with the ground meat is you don't need it to sit in the cure for 24 hours.

[300win]

Most commercial units marinade for minimum 72hrs in a reefer unit. You need to give the marinade time to soak in. Marinades are personal obviously, so I always use the KISS principal//keep it simple.....)//the less ingredients for me the better. I just use demerara (brown sugar) slow and steady in the cooker...........heaven!!!

[goatdancer]

I have done some jerky and smoked sausage in my Bradley smoker, generally I will put it in for 3 hours of heat and the last 1 hour I will do smoke as well as heat at 180-200F. it turned out good but I found that no matter what you put in a marinade (it is recommended that you marinade it for 24 hours prior to smoking) it always seems to taste the same. I have put 9 cloves of garlic to 2.5 pounds of meat and I couldn't taste it at all. I have the jerky cure package, any suggestions on how to make it taste better ?

Are you relying on the marinade for all the flavour? I always sprinkle spices on mine before it goes into the smoker.

[leadpillproductions]

How long does it take to smoke a small roast ?

[kurtl]

A small roast usually is done within 1-1/2 to a couple of hours (same if you do a whole chicken). If you brine your meat, it usually cooks quicker than without brining and you can stop cooking at about 10 degrees less than normally recommended if you're using a thermometer. I cooked a turkey in about 2 hours after it was brined for a day and a half, and according to size it was supposed to take about 5-6 hours and that is at about 230 degrees. Another rule of thumb is to smoke only during the first half of 'cooking' time, this is to get the smoke flavor into the meat as opposed to 'coating' the meat with a smoky film.

[dd3boss]

As Kurtl above said, you must cold smoke (the first few hours before the meat gets cooked) sausage or the meats cannot absorb the smoke flavors. I usually cold smoke (depending on what type of sausage I am making) for at least 1 hour at 100 to 120, then I bring the smoker temp up to finish the sausage at final internal meat temp of 165 or so. Total time from start to finish around 5 hours. Jerky about 3 hrs total time.

[rbest]

I have done some jerky and smoked sausage in my Bradley smoker, generally I will put it in for 3 hours of heat and the last 1 hour I will do smoke as well as heat at 180-200F. it turned out good but I found that no matter what you put in a marinade (it is recommended that you marinade it for 24 hours prior to smoking) it always seems to taste the same. I have put 9 cloves of garlic to 2.5 pounds of meat and I couldn't taste it at all. I have the jerky cure package, any suggestions on how to make it taste better ?

Smoking is one of my most favorite things to do in any culinary or home setting. There are many tricks to get the flavor you want. Some people like to puncture the meat a bit to get the flavor throughout. I personally just marinate for as long as it needs depending on the size of the meat which is key for how long you marinate. Making sure your marinate is strong and seasoned properly is one that gets missed a lot. Your marinate should be a little salty and intense in flavor. There is a perfect balance, but remember that even though the marinate is strong, it will not penetrate through the whole meat on bigger things like roasts. So the outside will be seasoned properly and will be a perfect balance. Smaller pieces or jerky will not have to be as strong or salty. With ingredients like fresh garlic, the finer you chop it, the more of the flavor will be released. You can even grind and mash in a mortar and pestle. With spices, I usually always toast them in a pan or in the oven, this gets the natural oils out, and you get some depth in the flavor.(this doesn't include dried herbs). Also marinate in vacuum packed bags, this ensures all surface area is covered. You can also get somewhat similar result in ziplocs, with all of the air pushed or rolled out.

Smoking and the temp is the single most important thing in the whole process. Too much smoke, and that's all you taste, and it masks your marinate, not enough, and it just tastes like it was bbq'd. A steady heat on roasts etc, of 200F with medium smoke works great. controlled temperature( low and slow will end up with your most tender masterpiece) Bradley's are great for fish smoking and generally can't complain. The one thing I do with my Bradley, is keep the top vent wide open, or else it ends up being too much concentration of smoke. I use mine all the time and smoke all of my fish in it. I'm not a salesman, but if you want to do next level smoking, The Horizon Oklahoma Smoker is the way to smoke venison or any game roasts, ribs, prime Rib...... I'll leave it at that, Once I smoked on that I was hooked. They run about $1000 for the base small model up to a lot more for the bigger more extreme models. Anyways! Happy Smoking