# Spicy Jerky Snack Sticks (with Q-View)



## luv2q

After receiving the jerky gun that I had ordered last week, I figured I'd dive right in an make some jerky. It was either this or re-caulk the bathtub with this thing, so I chose the former... 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






I went over to Sam's Club and bought a 4.5 pound tray of 93/7 lean ground beef. From what I've read, the leaner the better because fat goes rancid. I pulled out the digital scale and weighed out two pounds, then put it into a big plastic tupperware tub that I use for mixing.

As per Nesco's directions, I put in two packs of cure and two packs of their Hot & Spicy Jerky Seasoning (one pack of each per pound of ground beef) and mixed it thoroughly with the ground beef. Once thoroughly mixed, I hand-made little sausages in a diameter smaller than the jerky gun's shaft and stomped them down tightly with the kit's stomper tool to remove any air pockets.

Since I wanted snack sticks for this particular project, I screwed on the single snack stick end onto the gun's shaft and proceeded to extrude rows of jerky snack sticks directly onto the MES's shelf.

*UPDATE: By the way, I have also used the single flat jerky end on this gun and have successfully laid out flat jerky onto the MES's shelf, so for those of you who think that you need to get some special screen shelving or thin-holed shelving for jerky, I can tell you with much certainty that they are unnecessary. You can extrude right onto the MES's shelves and save your money for something else. For the MES 40's shelf width, you can extrude approximately one pound of ground beef flat jerky per shelf and approximately two pounds of round snack stick jerky per shelf. Of course, this is my experience, so your particular mileage may vary.*

While all this was going on, I had already preheated the MES to 125 degrees with nothing in the water pan and had the AMNPS lit with one row of hickory pellets. Once the raw jerky shelf went into the MES, the jerky took four hours of hickory smoke at 125 degrees. When the single row of hickory pellets burned out, I increased the MES's temperature to 175 degrees until the internal temperature of the jerky snack sticks reached 155 degrees, which happened almost three hours later. The total time in the MES was just under seven hours.

After a brief cool down period on paper towels, I cut each length of snack stick into quarters and vacuum packed some for family and friends. The rest went into a zip-loc bag for our own consumption.

Here's the Q-View, as promised:

Two pounds of 93/7 lean ground beef mixed thoroughly with Nesco's Hot & Spicy Jerky Seasoning.







After packing the prepared ground beef into the Weston Original Jerky Gun, I evenly extruded the snack sticks directly onto the MES's shelf.







Here's a close-up of the raw jerky snack sticks.







After soaking up thin blue hickory smoke, courtesy of the AMNPS, and reaching an internal temperature of 155 degrees, this is what the jerky snack sticks looked like.







Here's what the jerky snack sticks look like after a brief cool-down period.







These are the jerky snack sticks cut into quarters and ready to be vacuum packed.







Like with most of my projects, I always make a few packs to give away to my family and friends.







I hope you enjoyed the Q-View and thank you for looking!!!


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## dward51

Ummmm, tasty.....  Nice job


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## BGKYSmoker

Nice job with the jerky gun making sticks


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## luv2q

dward51 said:


> Ummmm, tasty.....  Nice job


dward, thank you!
 




nepas said:


> Nice job with the jerky gun making sticks


nepas, thank you! In the coming months, I will hopefully find the time to gather the necessary equipment to make my own sausages. When I do, I will be going over your posts with great detail in order to do things correctly. Thank you for the inspiration!


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## 90beater

Yum that looks tasty. Make me think of "Step into a Slim Jim" a commercial here.


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## DanMcG

Wow.... they look fantastic! :thumb:


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## smokinhusker

You did an outstanding job making those sticks with the gun!!! My hat's off to you!


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## sam3

It all starts with a Jerky Gun, and then............







Great job on the sticks!


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## alelover

Nice looking stix.


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## jrod62

Nice Thumbs Up


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## crashiz

They look great..thx


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## luv2q

90Beater said:


> Yum that looks tasty. Make me think of "Step into a Slim Jim" a commercial here.


Beater, thank you!
 




DanMcG said:


> Wow.... they look fantastic!


Dan, thank you!
 




SmokinHusker said:


> You did an outstanding job making those sticks with the gun!!! My hat's off to you!


Husker, thank you! The trick is to leave the alcohol consumption until after the sticks are laid out. If you do it the other way around, your sticks will end up like the roads in the Smoky Mountains. Trust me! 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	




 




sam3 said:


> It all starts with a Jerky Gun, and then............
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> Great job on the sticks!


sam, it sounds like you're speaking words from experience, right? 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





 By the way, thank you for the kind words!
 




alelover said:


> Nice looking stix.


ale, thank you!
 




jrod62 said:


> Nice


jrod, thank you!
 


crashiz said:


> They look great..thx


crash, thank you!


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## boykjo

I see a problem here............................You didn't make enough.........
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Nice sticks

joe


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## bluebombersfan

Those look awesome!!  Great job without casings!!!


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## 90beater

OK after drooling on this thread again I ordered the same jerky gun.


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## ron forst

Nice Job!


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## luv2q

boykjo said:


> I see a problem here............................You didn't make enough.........
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> Nice sticks
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> joe


joe, you're right! I'm out already. I still have a couple of packs of Nesco's regular jerky to use up out of that combo package I originally ordered, but I went online last night and ordered up some Hi-Mountain, so that I could try them out, as well. So many people are recommending it, that I just had to give them a shot. When these pre-packaged jerky seasonings are all gone, I'm going to attempt to make my own jerky seasoning and see what kind of trouble I can get into. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	




 




BlueBombersfan said:


> Those look awesome!!  Great job without casings!!!


Blue, thank you!
 




90Beater said:


> OK after drooling on this thread again I ordered the same jerky gun.


Beater, you won't be disappointed. It really is a well built gun and that particular one comes with all the things you'll need, including the cleaning brushes.
 




Ron Forst said:


> Nice Job!


Ron, thank you!


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## tamarockstar88

Awesome. Looks great, slim jims aint got shit on that! Nice pics and great info thank you!


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## ritamcd

Great work !! Looks like you have mastered the gun !!


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## scrappynadds

When will they make taste-a-vision.........looks great.....


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## scarbelly

Snack sticks look like they turned out great.


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## webowabo

Just curious, did you allow them to "cure" over night or for any time or did you go straight to the smoker. I Just got the Jerky gun from Santa and Im going crazy to make some. Just pulled out 4 ibs of ground venison to thaw.

Ill be using just a simple recipe with Mortons Q-T ... 

Thanks,

Mike


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