Jerky Makers

[Five Seasons]

until this morning i never thought about a jerky gun. Instead I have tried making jerky by slicing steaks/roasts. My slicer is this ancient commercial thing that requires 2 people to lift. Thinking about a new one but now wondering if the jerky gun is a better rout? I already have a grinder.

pros and cons to each method? 

[turkeyfeathers]

Honestly , bought a jerky gun years back. Followed the directions , made jerky AND girls and decided it was gosh awful. We put the rest of that batch in a jar and used as dog treats.  One and done with that thing. Nothing can touch whole meat jerky. Cabela's brand Hot n sweet doctored up a bit with cayenne pepper , brown sugar, teriyaki, red pepper flakes and a dash of worchestshire   Use about 25% of the cure they suggest  I'm not making it to last for months on end so need to cure the crud out of it >It's gone in 2 days Cut whole meats when only partially defrosted  Makes it a whole bunch easier to get desired thickness.

[Steuben Jerry]

I like the traditional sliced version better as well.

However I bought a jerky gun 2-3 years ago and the jerky gets rave reviews from my wife and grandkids. If I'm not fast, there's usually none left for me.

I almost never get pork mixed in my ground, so I don't get the greasy spots.

 

[Doewhacker]

I did some snack sticks last year without the casing and liked it, do a little of each and see.

[BizCT]

Ask the Jerkman!


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[Just Lucky]

I use jerkey gun and food dehydrator.  Awesome and easy. I get the cracked pepper mix from bass pro shop.

[DirtTime]

Always just made/make it in the oven, sliced meats. Never used a store bought spice mix, never will. My jerky doesn't last long here either, a few days at most, so I haven't even bothered with curing it.

I gave it a go in my charcoal smoker, that didn't work out so well. The ash pan fills up fast and I lost temps after 4 hours. I know how to mod that smoker now, and also got an early X-Mas gift of a second smoker, propane. Going to try in that after deer season and a hopefully sunny and somewhat warm day. I hear smoking the jerky add better flavor then and oven or dehydrator. 

[TreeGuy]

The ONLY way i do jerky is with ground LEAN ( not pork fat added ) and the gun. Nobody complains and it sure is great. Like it tough, leave it in dehydrator longer. Done are the days of slicing and marinating and making a mess of the oven, or filling the house with jerky stank. If you use any added fat your jerky will taste awful. I just mix in some spices, shoot out a pile of strips on the dehydrator and let er rip.

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[goosifer]

6 minutes ago, TreeGuy said:

The ONLY way i do jerky is with ground LEAN ( not pork fat added ) and the gun. Nobody complains and it sure is great. Like it tough, leave it in dehydrator longer. Done are the days of slicing and marinating and making a mess of the oven, or filling the house with jerky stank. If you use any added fat your jerky will taste awful. I just mix in some spices, shoot out a pile of strips on the dehydrator and let er rip.

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(a bit of a tangent) I like store brand Slim Jims. Slim Jims have a fair amount of fat in them. I have come across some copycat slim jim/snack stick recipes, and they don't have as much or any fat. I don't understand why the copycat recipes don't have a comparable amount of fat in them, or how they can be comparable in taste. Any slim jim/snack stick experts on the board?

[TreeGuy]

(a bit of a tangent) I like store brand Slim Jims. Slim Jims have a fair amount of fat in them. I have come across some copycat slim jim/snack stick recipes, and they don't have as much or any fat. I don't understand why the copycat recipes don't have a comparable amount of fat in them, or how they can be comparable in taste. Any slim jim/snack stick experts on the board?

Well..... It's prob not fat. What it is, don't ask

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[wolc123]

My brother in law makes the best jerky that I have had by a very wide margin.  The stuff he makes is in great demand wherever he has brought it.  He raises grass fed cattle and gets the best results from a 50/50 mix of lean ground beef and venison.  100% venison is too dry, and 100% beef (even "lean") is too oily.   I don't like wasting good cuts of venison on jerky, which is what you have to do to get half-way decent stuff using sliced meat.   Grinding the lesser cuts and mixing it with lean ground beef gives you the most bang for the buck (or doe).  Right now I am about 25 pounds shy of having enough boneless venison for my own immediate family, to last until next season (our kids love tacos).  Hopefully the deer start cooperating a little better for the rest of gun season and ML.   That way I can send some his way.  He has never killed a deer on his own, but usually ends up with plenty from friends and family because we all like his jerky so much.          

[vizslas]

We use the jerky attachment for our LEM grinder, The foot pedal makes it so much easier. We even make chicken jerky for our dogs. Instead of buying treats for them at the store. grind it chill it then just pump it through the  attachment it doesnt get any easier.

[DDT]

I have made both sliced and extruded. Personal preference is for sliced.Google Alton Browns jerky recipe.  We really like it. I've made a batch of it and a teriyaki batch so far. My son says his jaw hurts he eating so much of it! Next will be some bourbon jerky.

[moog5050]

Big hit today.  Sliced.  

[Cabin Fever]

Don't know what it is about it, but I find jerky made with ground meat disgusting! Can't be just a texture thing, because I love sticks and bologna made with ground meat. I've always made jerky with sliced meat. 

[Five Seasons]

On 12/1/2017 at 6:15 PM, TreeGuy said:

The ONLY way i do jerky is with ground LEAN ( not pork fat added ) and the gun. Nobody complains and it sure is great. Like it tough, leave it in dehydrator longer. Done are the days of slicing and marinating and making a mess of the oven, or filling the house with jerky stank. If you use any added fat your jerky will taste awful. I just mix in some spices, shoot out a pile of strips on the dehydrator and let er rip.

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interesting thought. $40 for a gun isn't a deal breaker. I am more or less concerned with spending $150 for a good slicer if ground is just as good or better. I do have a dehydrater from the 90's that seems to still work well. 

[Nomad]

I've used ground and a gun for years. I've found ground is easier , but I like sliced a bit better . Ground and my dehydrator is just easier for a lazy guy like me .

That said I'll be making some sliced over the next couple days , just to,see if it's that much better and worth  the slicing , soaking over night and so,on .

[Culvercreek hunt club]

I can tolerate the ground jerky but MUCH prefer the sliced jerky. The slicer I have is about $150 and works very well on partially frozen venison. To me the biggest part of getting good jerky (besides the spices) is having very very good thickness control so it is all dehydrated the same. Nothing worse that having one end of a slice rock hard while the other end is still a bit too mushy. 

[Culvercreek hunt club]

This is our tried and true recipe for sliced jerky. I am sure it could be modified for a shooter in some form or fashion.

Venison Jerky

 

For one pound of meat slices 1/8” strips. The more uniform the better results. (I like using a meat slicer if you have one. If not partially frozen meats slices the best.

 

½ cup of soy sauce

½ cup of Worchester sauce

1 teaspoon of seasoning salt

2 teaspoons of onion powder

2/3 teaspoon of black pepper

2/3 teaspoon of garlic powder

¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper

½ teaspoon of liquid smoke (adjust to taste and not required is using a smoker)

 

Mix ingredients well in bowl. Add meat strips and stir well, making sure all meat it coated. Cover bowl and store in refrigerator for 3 days, stirring and mixing once a day.  Remove from mixture, drain and pat dry before loading into dehydrator.

For hotter mixes we dust with Cayenne  pepper after we pat it dry and load it in the dehydrator

[Fletch]

On ‎12‎/‎1‎/‎2017 at 6:15 PM, TreeGuy said:

The ONLY way i do jerky is with ground LEAN ( not pork fat added ) and the gun. Nobody complains and it sure is great. Like it tough, leave it in dehydrator longer. Done are the days of slicing and marinating and making a mess of the oven, or filling the house with jerky stank. If you use any added fat your jerky will taste awful. I just mix in some spices, shoot out a pile of strips on the dehydrator and let er rip.

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I do the same here. Hate to use good cuts on jerky when the ground works great. I also do not have any fat or other items added. Pure lean venison. Upgraded the jerky shooter last batch and what an improvement. Into the dehydrator and viola!!

I do not disagree that the one time I used sliced whole cuts and soaked forever and then smokered forever were not better but man 10 pounds of steak meat made 2.5 pounds of jerky lol and after 5 days work was gone in an hour!! Ground is so easy and good from the stew and trim meat.

[turkeyfeathers]

Culver , that recipe looks great.   Experiment with a touch of brown sugar added some time and amp up the cayenne just a smidge   You get a nice hot start and a little sweet finish