# Cabela's Jerky Gun



## jjlrrw (May 1, 2006)

Anyone use one on these, I really only want to use it for stuffing snack sticks.



https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/cabelas-jerky-gun


----------



## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

I have one. I used it for stuffing cases until I got a grinder. The gun works, but I will never again fill casings with it. Takes way too long.

It works awesome for making strips of ground meat. Turns out very good and is much less tough than whole muscle. Cooks way faster too.


----------



## Gamekeeper (Oct 9, 2015)

I use one.
I prefer the consistency of ground meat jerky and snack sticks.

I shoot meat mix right out onto the smoker grate, and when they are done I cut them to length.

I get very enjoyable consistent jerky and sticks with it.
Chewiness is a function of cook time.

loading the tube is a learning curve.
Jerky mix is sticky.


----------



## jjlrrw (May 1, 2006)

I used my grinder today, cleanup is a pain,may just stick to that will need a smaller tube my 1/2” worked but could only load enough casing for 1/2# at a time. Was thinking about a hand crank stuffer but a little pricier than I like and reviews not good. Need to use up a gift certificate to cabelas


----------



## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

Patience may vary by person but grinders and sausage stuffers are much more efficient than a jerky gun for casing the meat.


----------



## Gamekeeper (Oct 9, 2015)

Why case it?
Do a batch w/o the collagen sleeve.
it will be great.


----------



## Sharkbait11 (Apr 7, 2017)

Cant go wrong with a stuffer, I have a 20lb. We made 100lb of keilbasa and snack sticks the other week, I couldn't imagine using a jerky gun the ground jerky thing is just odd to me but would like to try someone's to know if I would actually like it. Once you move away from the grinder stuffer attachment youll realize why investing in a real stuffer is so much better, consistency is great and cuts way down on time.


----------



## jjlrrw (May 1, 2006)

Sharkbait11 said:


> Cant go wrong with a stuffer, I have a 20lb. We made 100lb of keilbasa and snack sticks the other week, I couldn't imagine using a jerky gun the ground jerky thing is just odd to me but would like to try someone's to know if I would actually like it. Once you move away from the grinder stuffer attachment youll realize why investing in a real stuffer is so much better, consistency is great and cuts way down on time.


I was just looking for a better way to make the snack sticks, I have only done jerky using sliced muscle meat so wasn't interested in using it for ground jerky. I only plan to make batches of 1 - 5 pounds at a time so was wondering if the jerky gun with a 3/8" tube would be a good way to control the stuffing of the thin collagen casings.


----------



## jjlrrw (May 1, 2006)

Gamekeeper said:


> Why case it?
> Do a batch w/o the collagen sleeve.
> it will be great.


With out the casings wouldn't the meat just break into small pieces?


----------



## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

The meat stays together pretty damn good. It does not crumble apart at all.


----------



## Sharkbait11 (Apr 7, 2017)

jjlrrw said:


> I was just looking for a better way to make the snack sticks, I have only done jerky using sliced muscle meat so wasn't interested in using it for ground jerky. I only plan to make batches of 1 - 5 pounds at a time so was wondering if the jerky gun with a 3/8" tube would be a good way to control the stuffing of the thin collagen casings.


itll work but its laboursome ive been down that road but if you only make small batches itll be ok. I got a cheap 20lbs stuffer on sale I believe brand is Valley Sportsman from a store here called Princess Auto for 200bucks which is a steal, they normally have cheaper items that are close to the name brands that sell for 2-3x.


----------



## jjlrrw (May 1, 2006)

sureshot006 said:


> The meat stays together pretty damn good. It does not crumble apart at all.


Good to know, I would not have though that. I know my instructions said to stuff the casings ASAP because of cure acts like a binder. Hope that is gone when it comes time to eat. I will try some that way on the next batch.


----------



## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

jjlrrw said:


> Good to know, I would not have though that. I know my instructions said to stuff the casings ASAP because of cure acts like a binder. Hope that is gone when it comes time to eat. I will try some that way on the next batch.


Yes it gets tacky, making it harder to stuff, especially without rupturing casing.

You could take some grind and roll it into a "log" by hand and cook it as an example of how it is coming out of the jerky gun with no casing.

I've done them casing and no casing... overall I think the casing makes a nicer looking final product but not really any other quality difference.

The fastest way to make them with the gun is the flat strips. It's like a strip of jack links but more tender. And they cook a LOT faster because they're thin.


----------



## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

Before making cylindrical sticks out of a jerky gun like a snack stick... be warned. They look kind of ugly lol. I will see if I have a photo of the strips. I just finished eating the 12 lbs I made not long ago so I can't show you those.


----------



## Piranha man (Apr 11, 2017)

jjlrrw said:


> I used my grinder today, cleanup is a pain,may just stick to that will need a smaller tube my 1/2” worked but could only load enough casing for 1/2# at a time. Was thinking about a hand crank stuffer but a little pricier than I like and reviews not good. Need to use up a gift certificate to cabelas


Cleaning does suck so I started putting dirty parts into the freezer till end of season. Only have to wash end of the year now.


----------



## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

Here's what ground meat strips look like from the gun. My 4 yr old made them. It is possible to make them more uniform but they taste the same. These were not quite done to my liking and went back in for a few minutes. Sorry for poor picture quality. 










If you want to add things like cheese or peppers, I'd use the casings. Haven't tried adding ingredients to the naked sticks or strips but it would make sense that casings would help keep those extra ingredients bound in the sticks.


----------



## jjlrrw (May 1, 2006)

Do you start with one of those kits with the cure and seasonings, I thing the one I am trying now is a Cajun blend from Hi Mountain

I did cut about 4" off one of the casings I stuffed and rolled the meat into a log will cook it tomorrow night at the same time to get an idea of the difference between stuffed and un-stuffed


----------



## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

jjlrrw said:


> Do you start with one of those kits with the cure and seasonings, I thing the one I am trying now is a Cajun blend from Hi Mountain
> 
> I did cut about 4" off one of the casings I stuffed and rolled the meat into a log will cook it tomorrow night at the same time to get an idea of the difference between stuffed and un-stuffed


Yes, a kit. High mountain like yours.

I made Cajun and Jalapeño last time. My favorites are "cracked pepper/garlic" and "Jalapeño". Cajun is pretty decent though.


----------



## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

Oops sorry that's Hi Mountain. Got it confused with what jr28schalm uses.


----------



## mbirdsley (Jan 12, 2012)

Get the bigger gun. I don’t have the cabelas jerky gun but, have the hi-mountain one. I bought the littler gun and it’s kinda a PIA to have to keep re loading with burger to fill the casings or to jerky . If I were to do it over again that’s what I’d do any how. 

I’ve made 1 batch jerky and sticks with my gun. The jerky from burger was out of this world. So tender almost like the stuff you get at the store. Sticks were good too. 

I started with just doing jerky from steak and started with hi-mountain variety pack. Than I bought the snack stick kit and bought the gun directly from hi-mountain 


Original flavor is good. My favorite is the cracked pepper and garlic. They have an insane hot flavor I’d like to try but, I’m afraid it would be too hot. Only flavor we didn’t care for was the Cajun, it just didn’t have much Cajun taste 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

mbirdsley said:


> Get the bigger gun. I don’t have the cabelas jerky gun but, have the hi-mountain one. I bought the littler gun and it’s kinda a PIA to have to keep re loading with burger to fill the casings or to jerky . If I were to do it over again that’s what I’d do any how.
> 
> I’ve made 1 batch jerky and sticks with my gun. The jerky from burger was out of this world. So tender almost like the stuff you get at the store. Sticks were good too.
> 
> ...


It's easy to either over or under-season with the Cajun it seems. just my experience. There must be a sweet spot but to me it needs more seasoning than the recipe calls for.


----------



## M.Schmitz87 (Mar 12, 2013)

I started with a Jerky gun and quickly switched to using the grinder as a stuffer. Way easier and faster for me.


----------



## Gamekeeper (Oct 9, 2015)

M.Schmitz87 said:


> I started with a Jerky gun and quickly switched to using the grinder as a stuffer. Way easier and faster for me.


I don’t know how others do it, and I posted all of this here before with pictures.

I trim clean and grind the meat course
medium can be too fine sometimes.
fine turns into bologna.

I mix the seasonings in at the ratio the recipe calls for, and then I put it in a one or 2 gallon Ziploc bag and let it sit in the refrigerator for a couple days

That turns it into kind of a sticky meatloaf, but flavors seem to meld better.

i’ll grab handfuls of the material sort of roll it a little bit and stuffed them into the jerky gun until it’s full.

Then I squirt it out onto the smoking racks in long runs Like a caulking gun.

I smoke it until it’s as dry as I want, and then let it cool.
Cut it into sticks or strips, and vac bag it.

If you don’t, you will eat the entire pile in a week or less.

Keep in mind, an entire hind quarter and shank only makes about 2 1/2 pounds of smoked/dried jerky or stick when finished. It’s probably 8-1 loss of moisture.

I’ve tried the oven method, and prefer my products smoked until dry.


----------



## jjlrrw (May 1, 2006)

mbirdsley said:


> Get the bigger gun. I don’t have the cabelas jerky gun but, have the hi-mountain one. I bought the littler gun and it’s kinda a PIA to have to keep re loading with burger to fill the casings or to jerky . If I were to do it over again that’s what I’d do any how.
> 
> I started with just doing jerky from steak and started with hi-mountain variety pack. Than I bought the snack stick kit and bought the gun directly from hi-mountain


Is this the gun you have from Hi mountain? I am leaning this way as it already comes with multiple nozzles for jerky or snacking sticks.









Big Shot Jerky & Sausage Gun


Wrangle up Big Western Flavor with Hi Mountain Seasonings, bold western flavors, make your own jerky, sausage, smoked meats




himtnjerky.com








sureshot006 said:


> It's easy to either over or under-season with the Cajun it seems. just my experience. There must be a sweet spot but to me it needs more seasoning than the recipe calls for.


I agree, maybe one of the reasons I started making smaller batches sometimes it turns our great sometimes not as good? My summer sausage recipe is good but I learned to back off on the salt, I do a max of 3# batches at one time eat it with sharp cheese, crackers and coke. 



Gamekeeper said:


> I don’t know how others do it, and I posted all of this here before with pictures.
> 
> I trim clean and grind the meat course
> *medium can be too fine sometimes.*
> ...


^^^ bold I agree just pulled a small 1# batch out and using venison burger ran back through the grinder to stuff and it is very fine. Also seems dry, used the Cajun blend it has okay flavor but as Sureshot said maybe need to use a little more seasoning.

Thinking my next trial run I may mix 50% venison burger 50% Italian sausage and see what happens. Worst case I can bring it to work and leave it by the coffee pot. 

Anyone add pork into the mix? ratio pork to venison?


----------



## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

I have a cabelas branded jerky "pistol" I guess. Seems to me it was when they first came out. Mine is plastic except the rod and a washer/cap nut.

The trays are great but when you put a lot on them you have to pull and rotate them because the ones underneath will not get cooked as quickly. But if cooking in an oven, you don't want the drippings smoking in the bottom.

Came with 3 racks, a drip tray, a plunger, funnel, 4 nozzles and a cleaning brush. Pretty sure it was $20. This was years ago but even at the time it was one heck of a deal, as they were getting rid of them around Christmas.


----------



## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

Don't grind it too many times! Minimize it as much as you can.

For dryness, don't overcook it.


----------



## jjlrrw (May 1, 2006)

sureshot006 said:


> Don't grind it too many times! Minimize it as much as you can.
> 
> For dryness, don't overcook it.


I cooked to the directions 200* for 2 hrs used a meat probe when it hit 160* I pulled them out that was at about 1.5 hours I feel the 160 may be a little high?


----------



## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

jjlrrw said:


> I cooked to the directions 200* for 2 hrs used a meat probe when it hit 160* I pulled them out that was at about 1.5 hours I feel the 160 may be a little high?


Man I can't remember now from when I last made sticks... I think I did go to 160 because that's what the instructions said. I'm surprised you got there in 1.5 hrs though. Seems quick. From what I remember they hit a wall around 145 or so and don't want to go higher for a long time. 

I've had an issue before where some get dry because of non-uniform heating. If the probe is in a cool spot the rest will get hotter than 160 and dry out.


----------



## jjlrrw (May 1, 2006)

sureshot006 said:


> Man I can't remember now from when I last made sticks... I think I did go to 160 because that's what the instructions said. I'm surprised you got there in 1.5 hrs though. Seems quick. From what I remember they hit a wall around 145 or so and don't want to go higher for a long time.
> 
> I've had an issue before where some get dry because of non-uniform heating. If the probe is in a cool spot the rest will get hotter than 160 and dry out.


This was in a convection oven sometime they say back off the temp if using convection, I don't know how accurate my probe or oven is I could have placed the 2nd probe in the oven but didn't. Once I find a good mix I will then move on the smoker.


----------



## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

jjlrrw said:


> This was in a convection oven sometime they say back off the temp if using convection, I don't know how accurate my probe or oven is I could have placed the 2nd probe in the oven but didn't. Once I find a good mix I will then move on the smoker.


I have only used the smoker for cased sticks, and convection oven (on convection mode) for non-cased.

For the probe... make SURE it is not resting on metal or anything else. ONLY the piece of meat being measured.


----------



## mbirdsley (Jan 12, 2012)

jjlrrw said:


> Is this the gun you have from Hi mountain? I am leaning this way as it already comes with multiple nozzles for jerky or snacking sticks.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


No that’s the bigger one. Mine is the smaller clear red plastic one. I would get the bigger one. The smaller gun came with all of the attachments. I believe it was like $34.99 from high mountain. So for 15 extra bucks I’d definitely go with the bigger gun and save some reloading hassle 

I think they even send cure with the jerky gun. I have so many baggies of hi-mountain jerky/snack stick cure it isn’t funny. But, they only send so much spice. The cure most be cheap to produce. I swear they send 2 bags of cure to one bag of spice.

Even the Cajun was good it just didn’t have much flavor 

Most I’ve made before was on 2 separate occasions I’ve done 4 lbs of snack sticks and 4 lbs of the jerky from burger. I only have so much room in my smoker. The snack sticks didn’t take all that long because, you can fit a lot in. However, the burger jerky took 2 solid days of smoking through my box smoker. That was after I had to buy different grates from hi-mountain and than had modify them with my angle grinder to get them to fit in my smoker. Well worth the effort though. The grates from hi-mountain were only like $6-$7 a piece. So I wasn’t that worried about cutting them to fit. 

This last time I smoked jerky was this last week before I came up north. It totaled 4 lbs of beef round steak and roast combined and that only took me two loads to complete. 

I got into making jerky and sticks because, that’s the only way the wife will eat venison. I’ve been doing it for a year now. Next deer I get will be nothing but, back straps, burger and steak. It will all get made into jerky again. I like neck roast ( best part next to straps imho) but, she won’t eat it 




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

mbirdsley said:


> No that’s the bigger one. Mine is the smaller clear red plastic one. I would get the bigger one.
> 
> I think they even send cure with the jerky gun. I have so many baggies of hi-mountain jerky/snack stick cure it isn’t funny. But, they only send so much spice. The cure most be cheap to produce. I swear they send 2 bags of cure to one bag of spice
> 
> ...


I think they send an amount of cure for the max amount of meat. And if I remember correctly, ground vs whole muscle require different amounts of cure. Better to have more than not enough, but i end up running out of seasoning. I like to add a little more than recommended.


----------



## mbirdsley (Jan 12, 2012)

sureshot006 said:


> I think they send an amount of cure for the max amount of meat. And if I remember correctly, ground vs whole muscle require different amounts of cure. Better to have more than not enough, but i end up running out of seasoning. I like to add a little more than recommended.


Yeah now that I’ve been doing it a while I like to add more spices too and your right the burger takes more. Sometimes I do add red pepper flakes or Cheyenne pepper to the spices 

I smoke all my stuff jerky/sticks at about 220ish for 1.45-2 hours 

When i first start warming it up I’ll get it 250 to get the chips smoking than put in the meat and turn temp down to 220. My smoker seems to want run about that temp with out fussing with it to much 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

mbirdsley said:


> Yeah now that I’ve been doing it a while I like to add more spices too and your right the burger takes more. Sometimes I do add red pepper flakes or Cheyenne pepper to the spices
> 
> I smoke all my stuff jerky/sticks at about 220ish for 1.45-2 hours
> 
> ...


When I do summer sausage I like to add fresh crushed/coarse peppercorns and some diced Jalapeño. Mmmmmm I might have to make another batch soon!


----------



## mbirdsley (Jan 12, 2012)

sureshot006 said:


> When I do summer sausage I like to add fresh crushed/coarse peppercorns and some diced Jalapeño. Mmmmmm I might have to make another batch soon!


I want to try summer sausage next with some hi-temp cheese and jalapeño’s like your saying 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

mbirdsley said:


> I want to try summer sausage next with some hi-temp cheese and jalapeño’s like your saying
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I can't remember now if this was bear or whitetail. It is the proper year for my last bear but I think I made garlic/pepper out of bear and Jalapeño out of deer. Turned out better than I ever expected from a Hi Mountain kit.


----------



## mbirdsley (Jan 12, 2012)

sureshot006 said:


> I can't remember now if this was bear or whitetail. It is the proper year for my last bear but I think I made garlic/pepper out of bear and Jalapeño out of deer. Turned out better than I ever expected from a Hi Mountain kit.
> View attachment 799273


Dang, I’ve never had bear but, I’d eat that. 

Seams like most venison summer sausage you get anymore is really dry 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

mbirdsley said:


> Dang, I’ve never had bear but, I’d eat that.
> 
> Seams like most venison summer sausage you get anymore is really dry
> 
> ...


Bear is naturally a little greasy. But it was awesome!

The venison was not dry at all. But the white specs you see are pork fat. It helped. The key is to NOT get too high of temperature. Summer sausage takes ALL day and into the night. You need to get the temp up, but not so much the fat renders out.

I found the note I had made. The one pictured is venison.


----------



## jjlrrw (May 1, 2006)

sureshot006 said:


> I think they send an amount of cure for the max amount of meat. And if I remember correctly, ground vs whole muscle require different amounts of cure. Better to have more than not enough, but i end up running out of seasoning. I like to add a little more than recommended.


My summer sausage recipe calls for 4 tablespoons of curing salt for a 5# batch, I also started adding some other flavored salts and that is where I got into trouble with it being too salty, now I have cut back to 2 TB of curing salt.

I did some jerky with my bear, same way I would do deer at the time in the oven, for the deer I would place a cookie pan to catch the juices, for venison I would pull the pan after an hour and clean it up as the meat was done dripping, with the bear I checked after 45 minutes and the pad was overflowing had to empty it three times. Summer sausage with the bear didn't really like too greasy I like it very lean.

I have a buddy from Ohio we would meet up and snowmobile in the UP a couple times a winter, when I had the bear jerky our schedules didn't work out so I put some jerky in a lock box and hid it in a tree stump in the back country gave him the GPS coordinates and received a picture of him finding it a couple weeks later


----------



## jjlrrw (May 1, 2006)

sureshot006 said:


> Bear is naturally a little greasy. But it was awesome!
> 
> The venison was not dry at all. But the white specs you see are pork fat. It helped. The key is to NOT get too high of temperature. Summer sausage takes ALL day and into the night. You need to get the temp up, but not so much the fat renders out.
> 
> I found the note I had made. The one pictured is venison.


FYI If you find yourself needing to use the oven and if the oven has a digital controller and the minimum temp of 170° is higher than you like most of them you can program a "-" or "+" offset up to 15°, so if you put in a -15° offset a 170° bake would regulate at 155°.


----------

