The Florida Man Jerky Difference
At Florida Man Jerky, our delicious smoked jerkies are hand-crafted and made in small batches by our founder, Thomas Geer.
Tom is passionate about the quality and taste of Florida Man Jerky – insisting that each batch is the best every time. Tom accomplishes this through a combination of highly-refined techniques, bold spices and marinade blends, and state-of-the-art equipment.
Thomas says if it’s not the best jerky you’ve ever had, he’ll give you your money back. And if you don’t like jerky, it’s because you’ve never tried Florida Man Jerky. It chews like a piece of meat, not like a piece of shoe.
About Our Process
The Florida Man Jerky process starts with high-quality cut of eye of round that has been sliced in a high-tech Swedish slicer – ensuring each piece of jerky is perfect. The meat is then marinated in a vacuum chamber. Why does that matter? A vacuum chamber has 0 atmospheric pressure. Without atmospheric pressure, the connective tissue in the meat starts to break down and the meat becomes tenderized. The marinade seeps into the meat where the air was, so when the atmospheric pressure returns the pores in the meat close and trap the marinade - creating flavor-infused, delicious Florida Man Jerky.
After the meat completes its marinade process, it is racked and rolled into the smoker. Florida Man Jerky uses a blend of hickory and cherry wood to smoke the meat until it attains the moisture level required by the FDA to legally call it jerky. This process takes about 3½ hours in a very high-tech smoker.
After the smoking is complete the jerky is hand-chopped, portioned into 8oz bags, vacuum-sealed, and packaged in zipper bags for ease of consumption.
The Equipment
At Florida Man Jerky, we use a top-of-the-line smoker by Pro Smoker. The model used by Florida Man Jerky is a vertical standing smoker that smoke the meat horizontally. Horizontal smoking ensures that every piece of meat, regardless of size, comes out perfect every time. This is a very high-tech smoker that uses a series of baffles that open and close to consistently control airflow. Additionally, relative humidity in the smoke chamber is monitored and automatically adjusted to ensure the jerky has the perfect texture and chew. Pro Smoker has set the standard for designing, building, and supporting the best smokehouses in the industry since 1977.
About Our Maker
Thomas Geer is a talented artisan, woodworker, blacksmith, and pit master. When it comes to smoking jerky, Thomas has been perfecting his craft for more than 12 years. But he didn’t learn the craft on his own – Thomas studied under champion pit master and international barbecue legend Mike Mills. The late Mills’ accolades include four-time World Champion and three-time Grand World Champion at Memphis in May - otherwise known as the Super Bowl of Swine. So, yeah – you can say Thomas learned from the best.