I just smoked about 8 pounds of jerky last weekend. It was awesome. I used a pre-made maple marinade from M&J Marinades (I think that's the name) for one batch and some dry packaged seasoning (Hi Mountain) for another batch. The jerky lasted for all of about 8 hrs.!!!!!!! It took me ~2 hrs. to smoke. Don't worry about a recipe (although these all sound good) buy one of the above brands and you can't go wrong. Definitely slice when frozen and the 1/4" is a good thickness.