Hell's Creek Hot Smoked Beef Jerky

Ingredients

Makes one 25 lb batch (raw weight). Time: overnight cure, plus 7 hours or more to heat and smoke.

• 25 lb lean beef (top round, bottom round, or eye of round), trimmed of all visible fat
• 1 package Frisco Hell's Creek Jerky Seasoning, with its cure pack
• Plastic wrap
• Equipment: sharp knife or slicer, a shaker, smoker racks, and a thin-probe thermometer

Use the whole seasoning package and the whole cure pack with the full 25 lb of meat. Never add extra cure, and never leave it out.

Steps

1. Partially freeze the beef for 1-2 hours so it slices clean. Slice it 1/4 inch thick. Cut with the grain for chewy jerky, or across the grain for tender jerky.
2. Mix the seasoning and the cure pack together. Pour half into a shaker. Lay the 25 lb of sliced meat flat on plastic wrap and shake the seasoning evenly over it. Flip the slices and shake the other half on. Cover, roll up, and refrigerate overnight.
3. Prefer a brine? Whisk the seasoning and the cure pack into 1/2 gallon of distilled water and soak the sliced meat for 12 hours in the fridge instead.
4. Heat the meat to 160F. The USDA recommends heating jerky to 160F before drying, because a smoker running at 145-160F may never get the meat itself that hot. Lay the strips on racks and heat them in a 275F oven just until the thickest strip reads 160F on a thin-probe thermometer.
5. Smoke: preheat the smoker to 145F with the dampers open and dry the strips 2 hours. Close the dampers to half open, raise to 160F, and smoke 4 hours. Keep going until the jerky bends and cracks but doesn't snap. The drier it gets, the longer it keeps.
6. Cool on the racks and blot any surface fat with paper towels.
7. Pack in zip bags or airtight containers. Home-dried jerky keeps 1-2 months. Refrigerate or freeze it for longer.