Another first time Jerky Maker

[voyager 663rd]

I was gifted a 2 1/2lb jerky gun (that only holds about 1 1/4lb) and have always wanted to make jerky in some form. This was easiest.

I must say that using this gun was not the easiest. I used the two-tip nozzle and my hand got sore 1/2 lb into the process.

I had what I thought packed the meat in pretty tight (having loaded it in biggish balls of meat then packed down) but upon extrusion, well you can see it wasn't quite right.

Down right ugly I have to admit.

BUT the flavour?? FANTASTIC !

This is one pound of mixed meat. I did add 1/4t of #1 (it was optional in the recipe) as well as some liquid smoke (dehydrated in oven) and it came out nice and dark and quite "stiff" after 20 hours refrigeration.

Like I said: real ugly

But after 3 1/2hr at 170o we have

Some were fatter than I wanted and some were...skinnier.

But ALL tasted fantastic. I'll get better. Promise

Jerkyholic's Original Ground Beef Jerky

This original ground beef jerky recipe is rich and flavorful as well as easy and quick to make! No marinating required. Everyone will love these!

www.jerkyholic.com

 

[indaswamp]

I like that jerkyaholic site and have used some of his recipes....

 

[Gonna Smoke]

But ALL tasted fantastic.

That's all that matters...

 

[Steve H]

Looks great! In the future. If the meat is hard to press out. Add some water. And mix. It'll take a bit longer to finish. But easier to use the jerky gun.

 

[Fueling Around]

I've made worse, trust me.

...
This is one pound of mixed meat. I did add 1/4t of #1 (it was optional in the recipe) as well as some liquid smoke (dehydrated in oven) and it came out nice and dark and quite "stiff" after 20 hours refrigeration.
...

You need to prevent any fridge drying of the meat. Plus the longer you let ground meat marinate before gunning into strips the stickier it becomes. Then you are at the point as @Steve H recommends to add a little moisture to get it gun ready.

 

[hondabbq]

As noted above, adding some water to the mix will make it much much easier to extrude.

 

[voyager 663rd]

Two comments I'll address:

Dried out before extrusion: bowl was covered (as I do with overnight dough proofing) and meat was quite wet (droplets on the cover and damp surface of meat).

Add water: is this before I let it sit overnight or mix it in after overnight and just before stuffing it into the cannon?

A little bit more info from me:

The meat was pretty stiff (it could form a ball but it was not 'squishy'--quite solid in fact.

I've read that mixing it A LOT so it gets like a paste is the way to go.

A paste? Seems wrong but I'd like thoughts on that. Mine was not at all like a paste.

 

[hondabbq]

For ground jerky, why let it sit overnight in a ball? If you want or need to, extrude it out and then let it sit int he fridge if its for flavor extraction.
Add water at initial mixing stage so its very supple, ( I use 1/4 cup cold cold water per lb of meat). It should be sticky but still hold its form loosely.
This will make it extrude much easier and more uniform. The stiffer the meat is the harder it is to push out. Similar concept with making sausages/ and or meat sticks. I learned the hard way trying to stuff collagen casings with firm meat. I once did it and the handle from the meat stuffer slipped and reversed from the pressure and slapped me in the forearm. I had a goose egg and sore arm for a week. Since then I added water to the mixes to make them wetter for east of stuffing etc.

 

[zwiller]

Edible is a win in my book. If you want another idea check out kabanosy. Learned of it here. I was banging out skinless kabanosy on my Smokefire. Cheap(pork), easy, tasty.

I have not made ground jerky with it only whole muscle but Owens jerky mixes are INSANELY good. Used to be sponsors here. Blew my mind how good it was. Not easy to do that.

 

[voyager 663rd]

For ground jerky, why let it sit overnight in a ball? If you want or need to, extrude it out and then let it sit int he fridge if its for flavor extraction.
Add water at initial mixing stage so its very supple, ( I use 1/4 cup cold cold water per lb of meat). It should be sticky but still hold its form loosely.
This will make it extrude much easier and more uniform. The stiffer the meat is the harder it is to push out. Similar concept with making sausages/ and or meat sticks. I learned the hard way trying to stuff collagen casings with firm meat. I once did it and the handle from the meat stuffer slipped and reversed from the pressure and slapped me in the forearm. I had a goose egg and sore arm for a week. Since then I added water to the mixes to make them wetter for east of stuffing etc.

Because I added cure to it and in the bowl uses a heck of a lot less space than the rack. Mixed by hand, I want full efffects when added.

As far as adding water, I've already got 4T of liquid (1/4C total) of soy/wooster in the 1 pound mix. Nothing I've seen says to add more than 1/4C of liquid so...?

 

[voyager 663rd]

Edible is a win in my book. If you want another idea check out kabanosy. Learned of it here. I was banging out skinless kabanosy on my Smokefire. Cheap(pork), easy, tasty.

I have not made ground jerky with it only whole muscle but Owens jerky mixes are INSANELY good. Used to be sponsors here. Blew my mind how good it was. Not easy to do that.

View attachment 736261

I can like this one. Tks. Found a recipe for it using butt:

Kabanosy – 2 Guys & A Cooler

twoguysandacooler.com

 

[hondabbq]

Because I added cure to it and in the bowl uses a heck of a lot less space than the rack. Mixed by hand, I want full efffects when added.

As far as adding water, I've already got 4T of liquid (1/4C total) of soy/wooster in the 1 pound mix. Nothing I've seen says to add more than 1/4C of liquid so...?

Obviously it isnt enough liquid to make it easy to extrude.
Just offering advice from past experiences. You do you dude.