Used to make jerky all the time - the marinade we used was equal parts of sugar and salt in water, until a regular egg floated, then add tobasco, garlic and anything else you like, soak the meat in the mix overnight, and smoke the next day after allowing the meat time to dry and glaze over, for about 12 hours till it was dead and shriveled. Mmmmmmmm. One key is make sure that all fat has been trimmed from the meat. Our smoker was quite large so we also threw other stuff in there - cheddar cheese rounds, shrimp, and bluefish if we had any were always big hits with the crowd - - but we also stored perch filets from ice fishing season in the freezer till it was time to fire up the smoker - and they were the best. Ahh - good times.
Russ