Does anyone use their MES to make jerky?

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Smokinnnnn78

Newbie
Original poster
Jul 9, 2017
3
10
I'm really interested in getting started making jerky. There are lots of recommendations on youtube, amazon, etc but I'd rather get the opinion from someone here who I know actually have used the products and know that they are quality. What jerky gun do you have (if you use one)? Where can I find the jerky trays to fit my MES?Any go to recipes? I am looking for a sweet heat type jerky, more heat than sweet. Thanks in advance!
 
I use my MES 40.  Just made 8# of venison jerky last week end.  I only make my jerky from muscle and never use ground meat.  I think it has to be easier to use muscle, no gun to clean, no need for extra trays etc.  I just use toothpicks and hang the strips from the smoker grates.  There are all kinds of jerky seasoning kits out there.  I usually use High Mountain.  You can always adjust the the spice amounts to taste, just make you use the right amount of cure.
 
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I make both jerky and snack sticks in my MES 30. I simply use window screen, cut to size and laid out on my grates. After the jerky or sticks are done they lift off with no sticking. The screens can either be washed in the dishwasher for reuse or simply thrown away.

I also use High Mountain seasoning.

Gary
 
I make 2.5lb of jerky a week in my MES 30. I make burn the hair off your chest jerky out of ground and use a sausage press with a modified nozzle to form my strips. Then I cheat. I toss the strips in the freezer for an hour while my MES comes up to temp and I clean up the mess.
 
I have yet to do jerky in my MES and my plans to do so kind of got ruined last week... with a ton of my meat :(

Anyhow, I use the LEM's Jerky Cannon!  It is awesome and has the largest capacity of any ground jerky gun I was able to research.  Additionally, it is basically all metal (the handle is supposedly coated with a plastic resin or something like that).

I often use the 2 tube nozzle because doing stick jerky allows me to put more meat on a tray where flat jerky takes up too much area being so flat.  

I use the MES vegetable mats and they are the same kind of thing as the q-mats mentioned above.

Finally I bought a jerky rack for being able to stack up 3 tiers of jerky.  It does ok and would effectively double your MES rack space when it comes to jerky making.

I hope this info helps :)
 
 
I use my MES 40.  Just made 8# of venison jerky last week end.  I only make my jerky from muscle and never use ground meat.  I think it has to be easier to use muscle, no gun to clean, no need for extra trays etc.  I just use toothpicks and hang the strips from the smoker grates.  There are all kinds of jerky seasoning kits out there.  I usually use High Mountain.  You can always adjust the the spice amounts to taste, just make you use the right amount of cure.
CD I only make whole muscle myself here is a rack I made for hanging Jerky

Richie

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/174140/sausage-jerky-rack-mes40-w-step-by-step

 
 
i do something similar for doing sausage.  I have a bunch of 1" x 1" x 1/16" aluminum angle cut to fit on the rack holders.  Works great and easy to clean.
 
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