I purchased their Jerkey Making Kit. I was skeptical of turning ground meat into jerky. I figured it would dry out, fall apart and turn to something like Pemican. To my great surprise it held together and I was using Venison (lower fat content). The Nesco Flavor packets were quite tasty. The Ground meat Jerkey lacks the feel of tradtional strip beef jerkey but makes it easier to eat, especially those with dental issues.

The one problem I have with the jerkey Kit is that it is too small, you get less than 1/2 lb of meat per load, so you have to load the gun at least twice, usually 3 times per pound of meat. Sometimes it can gugle and spit when their is air in the meat. Usually by the last half of the tube the air has call compressed out but then you have to reload. If you really want to make Jerky I would get a gun with a larger capacity. But this gun proved to me it could be done (I had a lot of doubt).

One tip, squirt the meat onto wax paper and then transfer it onto your drying... Read more

I have to admit when my husband presented me with this contraption, I was a little skeptical. My experiences with beef jerky were limited to the leathery stuff you buy in convenience stores. My first concern about using ground beef was safety. My Snackmaster dehydrator dries at a high enough temp that that was no longer a concern.

My second concern was taste. What on earth would ground beef jerky taste like? So, hesitantly, I bought extra-lean ground beef, and used the seasoning packets that came with the "jerky gun."

If you've ever used a press, you are going to LOVE how easily this thing makes jerky that's uniform and attractive. (Okay, I know most folks don't care what it looks like so long as it's good, but *I* care.) The only criticism I could have of this is that it doesn't hold very much at a time, so I would have to stop and refill it. But this is so easy to use, I was still done in no time.

Several hours later, the jerky was dried. I took a smaller piece out of the... Read more

My wife and I recently received the Nesco American Harvest Jerky Works Kit as a gift. I was somewhat skeptical of this product because I have always made my venison jerky out of steaks and roasts.
The first time I tried this product, I was very impressed by the texture and taste of the jerky. Since then, I have made several batches of jerky with it, and everybody that has tasted it can't believe that I made it.
I haven't gone back to my other method of making jerky since I have tried this product, and I don't expect that I ever will.