ground meat jerky, sticks, & questions on the art of jerky ;)

carnie1 · February 24, 2009, 04:53:08 PM

I got an email for one of these the other day didn't look too bad attaches to you grinder. http://www.midwesternresearch.com Look under jerky making and it's called all around jerky maker, Sorry I can't get you a direct link on this site
http://www.midwesternresearch.com/images/Jerky%20Maker.jpg

NePaSmoKer · February 24, 2009, 05:37:54 PM

That's a Dakotah water stuffer. Uses your faucet pressure to move a piston and extrude the meat. I used to use one but the barrel kept cracking.

http://www.dakotahsausagestuffer.com/

nepas

josbocc · February 24, 2009, 05:56:42 PM

emevol,

If you're looking for durability...., I've put more than 600 lbs. of ground meat through my Jerky Cannon, and she's still functional. I've replaced the plastic head on it once (for about $6), otherwise it's been awesome.

Only thing that you need to remember is to keep the shaft of the cannon clean. If it gets grease on it, it will slip.

Jeff

carnie1 · February 24, 2009, 07:14:20 PM

Quote from: NePaSmoKer on February 24, 2009, 05:37:54 PM
That's a Dakotah water stuffer. Uses your faucet pressure to move a piston and extrude the meat. I used to use one but the barrel kept cracking.

http://www.dakotahsausagestuffer.com/

nepas

NePa This one attaches to your grinder ,found it here too http://www.dakotahsausagestuffer.com/jerkymaker.htm

emevol · February 26, 2009, 12:31:47 PM

That one that attaches to the grinder looks awesome. Has anyone used it before?

lophole · February 26, 2009, 01:33:16 PM

http://www.lemproducts.com/images/uploads/517_2.jpg
Check this out for jerky stix and pattys.
lophole

lophole · February 26, 2009, 01:45:13 PM

http://www.alliedkenco.com/catalog/index.php/cPath/40_193?osCsid=60b617d833cecf52e1b4149c220f0d25

Another source. Sorry I didn't get them together.
Lophole

macattak · February 28, 2009, 09:18:10 AM

Quote from: NePaSmoKer on February 24, 2009, 09:45:32 AM

Extruded the GB with my stuffer, Smoked for 1 hour then dehydrated it @155 for 4 hours. The GB was 80/20 so i had to paper bag it after to absorb any surface grease. I normally use 85/15 but the store didnt have any that day.

nepas

Great discussion, guys. I've been wanting to make jerky for a long time and winter is nearly gone! Is there any reason you don't use leaner GB like 90/10 or 93/7? In my head, leaner would be better for storing.

Thanks

Mr Walleye · February 28, 2009, 10:35:37 AM

Macattak

My opinion is the leaner the better for jerky. I've made it with all different blends but I prefer it as lean a possible.

Mike

Brisket Lover · February 28, 2009, 01:20:46 PM

I use 93/7, and have some going right now.

Stargazer · March 02, 2009, 02:13:50 AM

I use to make jerky from whole muscle meats, but lately I been real hooked on making from ground beef. Ground beef just seems to me to mix the spices much nicer and more thoroughly all through the meat, less shrinkage in final product and not as chewy with tougher cuts of meat.

I agree with the others about the cures. As for seasonings I either make my own, use hi mountain which is pretty awesome and from the Sausage Maker such as their Uncle Abe blends. Making your own is all up to your own imagination. This is what makes your jerky "your own special unique blend".

As for a jerky cannon, being me and dad really love jerky as snacks, we tend to make a lot at a time. Jerky goes quick at our place here :D

Instead of using a jerky cannon I got this idea from Sausage Maker dvd and it really works nicely...

You will need a meat slicer and a square cake pan.

Mix your ground beef with your seasonings and cure as normal. Line the square cake pan with plastic wrap. After the mix, dump your meat into the pan and press it out firmly to get rid of any trapped air.

Once all trapped air is out, cover the top with wrap and put the pan into the freezer over night.

Next day pull it out and dump out the meat which should be frozen stiff. It will basically be a big square frozen meat cake. It shouldn't be frosted being a quick over night freeze, but I wouldn't leave in any longer then that.

This makes it real manageable to just place on your meat slicer and quickly slice your strips. Being just a quick over night freeze with the moister and spices, it will be stiff, but shouldn't be like cutting a wooden 2x4 or anything. I was worried about that after watching the sausage maker dvd section, but when I tried it, next day for slicing it sliced up very easily. But again, I wouldn't leave in for longer then 24 hours.

After slicing your strips, immediately place in dehydrator or smoker. I noticed there was hardly any shrinkage at all with the jerky after dehydrating. To be honest, I havent smoked jerky yet but wanting to. So far only dehydrated. I need to order some jerky racks soon from yard & pool so I can do this next.

Like I said, this just an idea I got from the sausage maker dvd, but really has worked out real well for me and dad. No constantly loading tubes for a jerky cannon and no constant trigger motion pumping out strips that sometimes break apart. Just nice controlled frozen strips thats very manageable. I found doing this way we are able to do a much larger load with very little effort. Usually 15 to 20 pound loads in a few short minutes after the freezing.

Hope this helps.

FLBentRider · March 02, 2009, 03:42:55 AM

That sounds like an interesting process.

I may have to try that.

Mr Walleye · March 02, 2009, 10:32:37 AM

That is a very interesting process Stargazer.

I'd be interested if anybody else tries it in the mean time. I will have to give this a shot and see. I'll report back if and when I do.

Mike

Stargazer · March 02, 2009, 11:38:52 AM

I'll be making jerky in about a week or two if you like to wait for some pictures seeing some visuals, but its pretty much just as easy as said.

I got a jerky cannon but never use it anymore for ground jerky and since doing grounds I dont make whole muscle jerky any more. And some of those attachments and machines from lem and some other companies are real expensive, and actually seem to slow you down by the looks of how they operate.

In the Sausage Maker dvd, they didn't even use any expensive cake pan to be honest, just a real cheap disposable aluminum square that cost about $3 maybe? This way once the meat was packed in they could slam it down to help get out as much air as possible.

To be honest, I doubt I'll make jerky any other way now. It's cheaper this way, but also alot faster too. Like the best of all worlds kind of.

Like I said, its literally as easy as I wrote in the earlier post, but I'll still bug everyone and post a pictorial when I make some in the next week or two. 8)

Only time I use my cannon is for snack sticks, but thats only until I get my stuffer fixed. Got inherited a 30# used F. Dick :D :D :D but got to fix it. Plunger is jammed in the bottom of the cylinder and can't get it out for the life of me atm. But once fixed I'm gonna slam out some brats, rope sausages and snack sticks :) so much easier then using a grinder converted to a stuffer.

Mr Walleye · March 02, 2009, 11:45:02 AM

Thanks Stargazer.

I don't have a real high quality slicer but it works well. What I wondered is if cutting the frozen meat was very hard on the slicer or if it requires a slicer with a little more power?

I do have the large jerky cannon from cabelas and about 6 or 7 tubes for it but it does take a fair bit of time to use and clean up as well. I'm very interested in this method, it looks like a time saver for sure.

Mike