And if you can, get filters that have a little metal mesh on the back side of the filter... lay the meat on the metal side, and you won't have the occasional piece of jerky with fuzz on it.

Cool! Thanks for all your suggestions. We are big jerky eaters, I'd like to be a big jerky maker. Plus, I want to make my own deer jerky this year if I have a good hunt in January.

REP brutha! Thanks!

:thumb:

OK, so I finally got around to trying it this season. A few things:

1) I made it today...hot and humid out...not the best conditions.
2) my wife bought the filters, so they were the fiberglass kind. Since it was my first try, I figured what the hell. The result? A bunch of cardboard and paper stuck to the meat, and a few fibers...not that bad, but I did have to trim a bunch of it up which meant wasted meat...I HATE that...
3) I patted them dry, but I didn't let them sit on a rack and dry with the fan like you suggested...that probably had a lot to do with the cardboard issue.
So, where do you get your filters? Wife was a WalMart, and I told her to get the ones with the metal on them, but she said she didn't see any...

Also, what do you use for your brine? If it's a super secret, I'll understand, but Alton Brown's has too much Worcestershire sauce for my taste, it's a bit sweet. id' rather have more spice.

Anyway, that was my first try, i'll get some better filters and try it again. I think the key is to make it in the garage in the winter with the cooler air rather than waiting until the meat is about ready for me to toss before getting off my lazy arse to make it...

I got mine at either Lowe's or Home Depot, can't really remember. Also can check ACE. I use AB's recipe, but I leave out the honey and use a low-sodium soy sauce (his is too salty for my taste). You could always use more black pepper, add in some crushed red pepper, or if you really want some spicy add a few drops of Tobasco to the marinade.

OK, so this year I went to Cabela's and got some High Mountain Jerky Cure and Seasoning, just to try it out. I also got a slicer and a grinder. I sliced the meat 1/4 inch thick, like the directions on the spice box said. It took almost 24 hours to dry out, with the fan setting on Medium. I had two filters used. I don't know if that was too thick or what, but the final result was less than spectacular. First of all the seasoning did penetrate the meat, but it was really bland, no balls whatsoever, so I'm thinking next time I'll add some cayanne pepper to it, just a little for some heat.

Also, I bought the cheap ass filters again, but this time I bought some cheap vinyl screen, like what you use on windows. Took care of the sticking issue, and I can hand wash those and use them over. Just a good tip there.

I'm going to go for it again today (I've got about 3 pounds of venison to work with, 2 lbs left now since I made the first batch yesterday.) For some reason, this seems harder than it needs to, I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but I'll keep at it. The biggest problem seems to be that it is drying un-evenly, so the edges are really crisp and the middle is still raw after 8-10 hours. Even this morning when I got up, some of the slices were still raw in the middle. It's a little frustrating...everyone else seems to have no problems with this method.

Oh well...try try again...

Circle-jerky.

http://www.brixpicks.com/uploads/med...-9/slimjim.jpg OOOOHHHHHHHH YEAAAHH!!!!!!!