How difficult is it to smoke salmon and make beef jerky?

Question

I really love smoke salmon and beef jerky but it is so expensive so I was thinking about making my own. I really don't cook at all so my knowledge about doing this stuff is weak.

I was looking into a Smokey Mountain Grill by Weber because I read great reviews. How difficult is it to make my own smoked salmon or jerky? Can this thing make jerky as well? Ignoring the cost of the grill, am I saving money by smoking my own salmon as opposed to buying it already smoked?

Answer 1

Dom,

Neither are terribly tricky, but each have their own methods and can be a lot of fun.  Start basic, find some recipes you like and modify them to suit your tastes, time and equipment!

Neither of them will require you to have a Smokey Mountain Grill (which is a great grill, by the way, but unnecessary, unless you know this is something you want to pursue).  Both can be done, at home, in the kitchen, with equipement that you're very likely to have.  As you get into it and learn, you may find yourself wanting to do bigger batches, or having greater control over the equipement.  If/when this time comes, then you can put a little money into the "next step".

For now, stick with what you've already got and run some experiments!

Here's a quick little video to show how smoked salmon can be made in the home.  It's a little on the preachy side and I don't really know about the exact brands she's mentioning, but the methods are all sound.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVID09Sv1...

In essence, you want to have your salmon, some kind of homemade smoking device (basically a tray, with a rack and a cover of some kind), and soaked (in water for about 20 to 30 minutes) wood chips.  Apple wood chips sounds good!

Then, basically, season your salmon with whatever you'd like.  Salt, pepper, maybe a little lemon zest, etc.  Put your soaked chips in the bottom of the pan, then put your rack in the pan, then place the salmon onto the rack, and then cover the whole thing.  You want to cover it pretty tightly, but not airtight.  A little smoke can and should escape.  Then, put it onto a burner inside the house and smoke it over a medium-low heat.  If you see that it stops smoking, open it and add a few more of the smoked chips.  It will be done when it flakes.  With practice, you'll get the hang of it.

You may find yourself doing dry rubs, pulling out all the moisture, creating your own recipes, rubs, etc.  You could find that, in time, a Smokey Mountain Grill won't be enough and you'll need something even bigger, WITH WHEELS!

Let's not get ahead of ourselves...

With beef jerky, you essentially take a lean piece of beef, slice it about 1/4 to 1/8 inch thick, with the grain, marinate it in something really salty, potentially sweet and maybe with some spice.  You can add some liquid smoke, or smoke it for real.  To start, the best is probably to simply put the meat in an oiled rack, then into the oven on the VERY lowest setting, and basically let it dry out!  My oven goes down to about 170 degrees, so I would load it up and night and check it in the morning.  Chances are, it'll go for a few more hours, then when it's ready, you'll know.  Let it cool on the counter and eat it!

Here's a decent video, also showing a thing or two.  They use a dehydrator (which can be purchased very inexpensively), but an oven will work just fine, for experimentation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YM31jOMKf...

These are just to give you idea of the complexity.  Do a little search for recipes for both and pick the ones that sound good!

Depending on how much you eat, the size of your family and your propensity towards sharing with friends, neighbors and coworkers, you can definately save some money by doing this at home.  Both of these are "somewhat" specialty items and the markups can be pretty high.  

I hope that I've helped in some small way.  It's a lot of fun and the results can be delicious!  Expect a misfire or two, but just learn the lesson and move on.

Good luck!

Answer 2

I have no experience with that grill, but i regularly make jerky in my dehydrator ($30). Last batch of beef jerky was about 2 lbs and cost me a total of 10 dollars. I don't use the choicest cuts of beef obviously. But, anyway it tastes great and is super easy.

Answer 3

the smoked salmon, were as you don't cook you would safer to buy it. beef jerky take a large chunk of beef, and slice it with the grain of the meat 1/8 in. thick. place it in a zip lock bag add 1 cup of soy sauce, 1 coke, marinate for 4hr in refrigerator. drain away all marinate, place on lightly oiled Cookie sheets, back on the lowest setting your oven has for 5 hrs. let cool and store in zip luck bags. try this first, to this as you feel more compatible you can try adding chili powder, or just about any spice you like. enjoy

Answer 4

I too use a dehydrator (12 tray), and it is so clean and easy!  I've made it in the oven as well by putting the oven rack at the very top, skewering strips of meat, hanging the meat from the rack, and baking for a very long time at the lowest temperature (believe it was about 225-250 degrees and overnight).

Anyway, I always have the butcher cut a beef roast into 1/8 inch or less slices (the easy method if you do it yourself is to partially freeze the meat before cutting, and using a mandoline is super quick), marinate the meat overnight, and then load the dehydrator the next morning.  The marinade recipe I have come up with over the years is:

4 POUNDS SLICED BEEF (the vinegar will tenderize a cheaper-cut)

1/2 CUP LIQUID SMOKE

3 CUPS SOY SAUCE

1 CUP BROWN SUGAR

1-1/4 TEASPOONS CRACKED BLACK PEPPER

1-1/4 TABLESPOONS WORCESTER SAUCE

1-1/2 TEASPOONS GARLIC POWDER

2 TABLESPOONS VINEGAR

1 TEASPOON ONION POWDER

1 TEASPOON RED PEPPER FLAKES

This is not super spicy, but if you wish you could leave out the black pepper and red pepper flakes, and any other spice for that matter.  Also, not everyone likes liquid smoke (strong stuff), so in this recipe you could also leave that out as well ~ we love it.  The Answer above using Coke I have heard of, but have not personally tried as yet.  One I want to try in the future.

As for smoking anything else, I would also never attempt to smoke fish or poultry with what I have.  However, I have no experience with a "true" smoker either, although I have wanted one for quite some time.  I actually have a 1950's refrigerator in my downstairs kitchen that I hope to make into a smoker one of these days ~ they work great!

Good luck ~ we love the stuff too!