Jerky has become one of the most popular delicious snacks in America. It's a favorite among campers, hikers, active families, and meat lovers everywhere. It's also a bit expensive if you buy it in supermarkets due to the amount of beef required to make it.
By producing your own jerky, you can skip the high prices and the limited flavor options. Beef, lamb, pork, and turkey are the most common meats for making jerky. If you're being adventurous, you can even try elk, venison, or ostrich!
Just remember to remove any extra fat from the meat. This extra step will keep your jerky gun nozzles from sticking and make extruding the meat faster and easier. Plus, you'll get healthier beef jerky this way.
Now, there are a lot of options available online. We have sorted the best ones for you, keeping in mind the efficiency to use, affordability and availability. All of the will help make enough jerky for any occasion.
Keep reading this blog to know more about the best beef jerky maker kits on the internet!
Beef Jerky Maker Kits: Top Picks
1. SIGVAL Classic Jerky Gun, Easy-Clean Jerky Maker
This beef jerky maker kit is a SIGVAL product. It is a complete jerky maker kit with a barrel of anodized aluminum, four (04) stainless steel nozzles, two (02) cleaners that easily reach the thinnest areas of the barrel, a carrying case, and an instruction manual.
You can choose the type of meat you feel like serving, and this would come in handy for all your size needs. Feel like you just want to make a few quick beef jerky sticks? A wide flat nozzle attachment is the one for you.
Do you hear kids asking for beef sticks as a game night snack? Their double-round nozzle will do the job for you.
The anodized aluminum barrel guarantees its durability so that the kit can be a part of your kitchen for a very long time. Good quality and heavy-duty plastic are used for the caps, making it easier for you to make your beef sticks without worrying about the caps breaking apart.
Who doesn’t love their cooking utensils clean? This product comes with detachable caps, dishwasher-safe tubes, and dual brushes that reach every corner of the kit: quick food preparation and quick cleaning are the best.
Best of all, this product comes highly rated in reviews from the owners. They have found it efficient and durable, and we hope you do too!
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This is a product of XINQIAO. It carries most of the qualities from the previous kit. However, it differs in the size of nozzles included in the kit. You can select the size of the jerky gun, which can hold 1 pound, 1.5 pounds, or 2 pounds of meat. In addition, there are nozzles with different shapes to meet your needs.
You can specify your choice with another option available; material type. There are two options available, Plastic and Aluminum.
The complete kit holds four stainless steel nozzles, two cleaners, and a plastic barrel/aluminum food pipe. Jerky Gun Kit is perfect for handmade beef sticks, sausages, and meat strips. The cleaning brushes that come with the kit also help you clean the jerky gun thoroughly.
Overall, the manufacturer has taken pains to ensure their jerky kit is easy to clean. For instance, the caps are detachable, and the steel attachments are dishwasher safe. You can also disassemble the main machine of the XINQIAO Gun Kit, wash it with soap, rinse with warm water, and dry the assembly before storage or reuse.
Finally, the use of heavy-duty plastic and rugged aluminum ensures its durability over a long period. Caps are made with durable material and can be used without the fear of breaking or failing.
Product Specification
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As the name says, it is perfect to have a BBQ on a sunny day with your father or other family members.
This is a Geesta product and comes in 11 pieces. The package includes a set of four stainless steel nozzles, an extruder and funnel, cleaning brushes, and a user manual. You can easily assemble, use, and disassemble this jerky gun with the help of instructions from the user’s manual.
The four nozzles give you the ability to make everyone’s favorite jerky in no time. It comes with cleaning brushes like other kits, and its aluminum body is super easy to clean.
The attachments are dishwasher safe, while the main body should be washed with soap and rinsed with water, as per the manual instructions. Also, you can choose your product from two available options: 1 pound and 1.5 pounds capacity.
With a Geesta Jerky Gun, you get a one-year warranty. If the product doesn’t make you happy, they refund you in full (but you don’t want to give up on instant sausages, do you?).
Customers have rated this product almost 4.5 stars out of 5 on nearly every aspect, including affordability, efficiency, and cleaning ease. For that reason, it is a sound choice for most customers.
Product Specifications
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This Jerky Gun kit is a Great Valley Product. It is considered one of the best affordable Jerky Gun kits available. Each package features an aluminum barrel, four nozzles, and two large cleaning brushes like other jerky gun kits.
However, some features make it stand out among the rest of the kits. It comes with a micro-brush and two bonus recipe cookbooks. The micro-brush cleans every inch and corner of the machine thoroughly and precisely.
This jerky gun is easy to assemble and use and even includes seasoning ideas in the same package. What else could make a more thoughtful gift for your next housewarming party?
We understand if you act selfish and keep this for yourself, though.
Product Specifications
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Our last pick of the blog is a product by WILDDIGIT. As the saying goes, we should save the best for last, so we did!
This product is a little more expensive than the other products listed in this blog. If you are looking to invest in a super durable, sturdy product for your weekends and parties that happen very often, this is for you.
This could be one of your great investments in the long run. But what makes this product better than the others? Keep reading.
If we call this a professional-grade jerky gun, we are probably right. It assembles into food-grade stainless steel cannon and five (05) nozzles. It also comes with six (06) cleaning brushes. YES, you read that right! These brushes allow you to clean even the flat nozzles rather than just the round ones.
This product claims that the stainless steel used in the barrel is much healthier than the aluminum used in various other jerky gun kits. Why? Because aluminum can damage the human nervous system if used regularly. Also, it disturbs calcium absorption and impacts the mineralization of bones. You can enjoy your jerky with confidence because this gun is made with 304 stainless steel.
Although this jerky gun is professional-grade, kids and newbies can easily assemble and use it. The pump is super smooth and easy to use, so you won’t waste time trying to make it work. Everyone loves a good activity that you can savor later too.
Product Specifications
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Beef Jerky Maker Kit Frequently Asked Questions
How Do You Dry Beef Jerky After Making it?
The best way to dry beef jerky after processing it in a jerky gun is by using a food dehydrator. Food dehydrators are specially developed to expose beef strips to lots of air at a low temperature. This movement of air at a low temperature helps extract moisture from the meat without cooking it.
Meat can also be air-dried or dried using other jerky-making techniques. But for household use, it is best to use a food dehydrator because these devices will keep insects and contaminants away from your food, speed up the drying process, and give you much more control over the type of jerky you would like to produce.
Do You Need a Jerky Gun to Make Jerky?
No, you do not need a jerky gun to make jerky but a beef jerky kit will make it much easier to make jerky from ground meats. Beef jerky can be made from all sorts of meats and from different cuts. It can also be made from ground meat.
If you want to make beef jerky from ground meat but don't have a jerky gun, you will need to roll the seasoned meat on a piece of wax paper and create long strips that you can lay out on the dehydrator mat. This can be a very time-consuming process and it is going to be tricky to produce solid and aesthetically pleasing beef jerky strips.
A beef jerky gun will pressure the ground meat together so it will stay in strip form once dried. The process is much quicker and the ground beef jerky strips come out much better because the strips are even with a solid structure so you can easily pick it up from the dehydrator mat.
How Much Jerky Does 1 Pound of Meat Make?
The approximate ratio of meat to jerky meat is 2:1 to 3:1. This essentially means that every pound of meat you dehydrate will yield about 1/3 - 1/2 pounds of jerky. Five pounds of raw meat will yield 1.75 - 2.5 pounds of jerky.
Various factors can have an impact on how much jerky you can produce from a pound of raw meat. For example, the drier the jerky is, the lighter it becomes. Ground beef jerky with lots of fat will also produce higher yields because fat doesn't lose as much moisture during the dehydration process.
What is the Best Cut of Meat for Making Jerky?
You can make jerky from any cut of meat and from any type of meat. For sliced beef jerky, it is usually better to take larger cuts with lean fat quantity like the top round, bottom round, lifter, and pectoral cuts because these cuts consist mostly of pure meat tissue.
But for ground beef jerky, you can use any cut you like because all meat is ground into tiny pieces before it is seasoned and dried.
Conclusion
Making jerky is a simple process that may be done in various ways, whether in snack stick or slice form. You can get started with these beef jerky-making kits!
These products were chosen for you based on their ease of use, affordability, and value for money. The brands offer warranties and customer support if the product is faulty or not fully functional.
The SIGVAL Classic Jerky Gun comes with everything you need to get started making jerky. The gun is made of high-quality aluminum. The gun's metallic grip is both strong and comfortable to hold.
You can't go wrong with the SIGVAL Classic Jerky Gun.
Concerning durability and ease of use, we rate SIGVAL classic jerky gun five stars while all others rank second with a 4.5-star rating. You can choose any of these you like, but according to our recommendation, nothing beats SIGVAL.
If you are still reading this blog and deciding which one fits your choice better, we shall leave you here with all the options.
Hopefully, our guide will help you select the best beef jerky maker kit. Bon appetit!
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