It had been years since I fished the southern part of the river. Water temp 72.0°F flowing at 90cfs.
Afternoon River Trip
Afternoon Trip
Wading the river at lunchtime.
A Little Bluegill Action
It was all fun and games catching some small Bluegill:
Until this guy decided to come steal my spot and start hunting:
So I moved around the lake and started casting. In a few minutes I caught this monster:
Bill, Brian, and I headed back out later that evening to a different pond and I pulled in a few more:
Brian’s Bluegill
Jerky Project
For Christmas I received a Nesco food dehydrator. I spent several months playing with it, getting used to how it functioned compared to how the internet and owners manual stated it should, I dried a lot of cheaper things, fruits, vegetables, spices… Eventually the day came that I was going to try Jerky. I experimented with making my own marinades for the first 7 – 8 batches but I was at Cabela’s and picked up this pack.
At this point I feel obligated to put up a disclaimer: THE FOLLOWING METHOD IS HOW I CHOOSE TO MAKE JERKY, I AM NOT TRAINED IN ANY CULINARY DISCIPLINE, MEDINCE, BIOLOGY, MICROBIOLOGY, VIROLOGY… I READ THE INSTRUCTIONS THAT CAME WITH THE DEHYDRATOR, AND THE SEASONING PACK, AND KNOWINGLY DO NOT FOLLOW THE MANUFACTURORS INSTRUCTIONS. IF YOU CHOOSE TO FOLOW MY INSTRUCTIONS AND HAPPEN TO GET SICK THAT IS ON YOU!
There now that I did the giant shouty caps disclaimer, back to Jerky. I used many cuts of meat at first. My butcher has a deal on eye of round so I generally buy around 6 lbs at a time, that is enough to make 2 runs of the dehydrator.
I put the meat in the freezer for a few hours until it is almost frozen and then use a razor (yes shave ready) knife or knives (we are seriously talking about 15 degree edges) and cut slices. I prefer thicker jerky however it seems best to keep it less than 1/4″ it is more difficult to dry consistently. Then I mix up the marinade, there are 2 types of packs in the Cabela’s seasoning kit, there is the flavor pack, and the cure pack. I cut open the cure pack and pour the contents into the toilet, I am fairly certain it is salt, then I open the flavor pack and mix it with 1 cup of water. If I am making the “pepper” pay attention to later steps. I put the meat slices and the marinade into a ziplock bag and remove all of the air possible, then massage the bag for a minute or two to ensure that all surfaces of the meat get exposed to the marinade. I put the bag in the refrigerator and let it sit for 8 hours.
Now its time to put the jerky in the racks.
At this point if I am doing “peppered” flavor, I get the black pepper out and grind some on every single piece. Then I put the lid on the dehydrator and let the process start. Pending on how thick I cut it, this takes between 4 and 7 hours. After it is done…
So, reading about the many “jerky makers” and “food dehydrators” almost all of them only hit 160 degrees, and it is recommended that jerky go until 165 degrees. So, I put it on a cookie sheet in the oven at 250 degrees for about 10 minutes (generally it is sizzling when I take it out)
I will then allow it to cool, and then down pack it into food saver bags, vacuum seal them, and put them in the freezer.