I thought this was kinda neat.....My 11 year old son wants a jerky gun for Christmas so he can make his own whenever he wants. Anyone use one? pros/cons?

Thanks

I have never used an actual jerkey gun, but I do use my wife's Pampered Chef cookie press. It works on the same principal. For making ground meat jerkey it is the best thing I have found.

Use it and love it. Very easy to do as well. It is a little time consuming, but what else is there to do in the west during the winter after the hunts are over. There was a "jerky build a long" a couple years back. It was well done. Have fun. I will say this, make sure your ground up meat is very lean. It helps with the drying. I trim mine well, and add no beef fat for this.

I use a VERY inexpensive jerky gun, and it works like a charm for me.  As mentioned,, make sure you use very lean meat, dried meat is tasty, dried fat not so much.

my advice would be to get the biggest one you can easily afford.  I have an el cheapo from walmart and it works great but I have to fill it 2-3 times for each tray in the dehydrator.  Not a big deal to some but it really seems to slow me down.

Caleb

Bought a Jerky Blaster from Cabales years ago. Its fun and makes great jerky. Its kind of a pain to clean but the jerky it makes more than makes up for it.I see now some have cleaning brushes wich are a good thing to buy.
I use straight lean venison for best results. I have used lean beef and it works but the leaner the meat the better results. I like High Mountain brand cures the best for jerky. They are not overly salty.

Thanks for the replies.

A good friend has one, it's where my son saw it. He also recommends the High Mountain stuff. He hauled some cattle to auction near Riverton a couple weeks ago and bought bulk jerky seasoning (enough for 400lbs) said it way way cheaper that way  

As a side note, I guess. I went to the High Mountain website to look at the different kinds of seasoning.

Enough jerky seasoning for 11 lbs of meat is $7.20. Don't know what it is in the stores.

Bulk prices are a bit cheaper. Seasoning for 350lbs of meat is $41 and the cure for 390lbs was $16 or $57 total for 350 lbs.

Might be a good deal for a group purchase.

It works pretty good. The biggest problem I have is getting enough fat in the burger for it to stay togather.

James

Been using 1 for several year sand love it.Actually used it Friday to make some jerky from a fresh killed doe.

Well, I gotta say, this was a great idea for a gift. 1st batch was 4 lbs deer, 1 lb lean beef. Turned out great. 2nd batch (in the oven now) is 5 lbs elk. Waiting for results.

I'm thinking my ground meat is gonna disappear quick if I don't keep an eye on him. Luckily he can legally hunt next year  

James,
I've used very lean meat with no problem. I use LEM brand seasoning...make sure you mix it up so it's very tacky.
Maybe that will work?

QuoteOriginally posted by jamesh76:
It works pretty good. The biggest problem I have is getting enough fat in the burger for it to stay togather.

James

James, the High Mountain recipe calls for adding ice water to the meat when you first mix it to help it stick together. Seems to work pretty well. I made my first batch a week ago and was very happy with the results.