Thread: Sausage and Smoke Cooking

Made a few pounds of breakfast sausage over the weekend. The seasonings are still a work in progress. I'll eat my way through this batch and then make further adjustments for the next batch.

My son asked if 'we' could make some jerky this weekend and since everyday to spend with him is worthwhile I said sure. He came over with just under 10#'s of bottom round that he'd had the meat department slice 1/4" thick.

10#'s is just a bit too much for my setup so I made the marinade, mixed it with the beef for 1/2 of the meat and just kept the other tightly wrapped and in the fridge.

I marinated the strips overnight and got them in the smoker. Then after he got up and around (he worked until 2am that morning) he came over and mixed the marinade and prepped the other half.

I just put his batch in the smoker and that batch will be done later today.

Here's some pics from yesterday's batch:



Three screens ready to get some smoke:



Keeping things 'Low and Slow'--



One batch done One to Go

Looks nice and chewy!
Mmmmmm

That is some awesome-looking jerky, Roy-I used to make my own for fishing/camping trips with my buddies, but haven't done it in awhile. As good as homemade is, it actually comes out cheaper just to buy it from the store (blasphemy, I know).

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

That is some awesome-looking jerky, Roy-I used to make my own for fishing/camping trips with my buddies, but haven't done it in awhile. As good as homemade is, it actually comes out cheaper just to buy it from the store (blasphemy, I know).

Store Bought!?!?!?!?!? PM me your home address and I'll send you a chunk of homemade lye soap that my granny made to wash your mouth out with!

I was at the store today and the cheapest that they had was a 2.85 OUNCE package for $3.99

The one thing that the store bought doesn't have and never will have is the love that was mixed in. Kind of like Dolly's song about her coat of many colors.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zLsAf6SCwY

That comes out to $22.40 a pound for the jerky.

I suppose you could make that argument about many things.

One time along with some friends we rented a ice shack to go fishing for the weekend. We caught only 1 fish. An rough estimate put the price of that fish to over $600.00 a pound! And that was back when a dollar bought much more than today!

I am going to be cutting down an apple tree this fall.

Some free wood if anyone wants to come pick it up.

First and Foremost; I stand corrected on the weight of the original bottom round roasts. My son tells me that both were just over 4.5Lbs but due to trimming of fat we lost a bit of that initial weight. While I didn't think to weigh what the meat weighed after trimming we didn't lose very much. The next time we make jerky I'll be sure to take some accurate weights and also try to figure how much the seasonings cost so I can get a more accurate idea of what the end product cost.

My son told me that the roasts cost him right at $15 each.

I just weighed the second batch of jerky now that it's all nice and dry. We ended up with 1 Lb 14 ounces.