Old fashioned (western) smoked Beef jerky

Anybody have some tried and true recipes? I seem to never be happy with any recipes that involve soy sauce/worcestershire sauce. As the topic implies, "Old fashioned" I am pretty sure back in the old west they used salt and probably didn't have readily available soy sauce and worcestershire sauce.

I wanted to start with a wet brine and wanted some opinions on the ratio's.

4lbs sliced beef
1 gallon water
10.44g pink salt ( 4lb + 8lb water=12 x 0.87 =10.44g)
1/2 cup + 1/4 cup pickling salt
1/2 cup white sugar

This is just the basic ingredients. I plan to add some spices after the brine is complete.

One question i have is that ive seen recipes that call for almost twice the amount of salt i listed.
Is my ratio not salty enough or just right?
Should i rinse the meat off or soak it in fresh water for an hour before i pat it dry and smoke?
Or should i just remove it from the brine after 24 hours and pat dry and smoke?

IamMadMan said:

Don't have time to calculate now as I am on the road, but from experience a wet brine is calculated in PPM (parts per million) with a 4% absorption pick-up rate for the meat.

Just a suggestion;
You can calculate the items by weight, mix them, then evenly sprinkle over the meat, and massage well in ziplock bag before refrigerating overnight.

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I didn't want to get too scientific with this. It just seems there is two popular salt water brines floating around the internet but one seems drasticly saltier then the other. Oddly enough, the less saltier recipe calls for a 1 hour fresh water soak before pat dry and smoke. The more salt version mentions no fresh water soak.

I am just wondering if i should just pat it dry and smoke or if i should soak? I like salty beef jerky but i don't want to end up with a salt stick.

I would say something like Wild bills jerky is a good amount of salt. I have no clue how to calculate how much sodium they use.

I decided to just pat dry with no soak.

I went with a light sprinkle of brown sugar, Sichuan peppercorns, and Korean red pepper flakes.

half and half mix of Alder and Apple wood. Shooting for 3-4 hours of smoke and i might finish off in the Dehydrator to get a consistent bend test.

Apparently this forum is not the place to seek advice when it comes to smoking jerky.:sad:

Anyway, I am glad i decided not to soak with the ratio's i went with. Turned out very good but there is still room for improvement.

Smoke on Badger Mountain said:

Looks like it turned out well. Too bad you didn't get more help. But maybe you can become the forums resident jerky expert as time goes on

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I wish. I can smoke the $hit out of a Brisket, Butt, and Salmon but for whatever reason i can't seem to get jerky and ribs just right.