So my son bought me one of these for Christmas a couple years ago - it's been sitting on the shelf in the basement waiting for me to make jerky.
Today was the day - I mixed up 3.5# of ground venison with some cure and seasoning and put it in the fridge for 4+ hours.
Then I got the blaster out and opened it - I never really realized what I had - this is a power unit, with an electric motor and multiple output heads, capable of doing some higher output. Well, la-tee-da, let's give it a whirl!
I read the instructions, loaded it up, pulled the trigger - and nothing. The green light was on, showing power, but nothing. Tried different plug....nothing.
Now I've got about 1.5# of meat in a tube and no way to get it out. And it's 8 at night. Google says the Cabelas about 25 mins from me is open until 9, so I'm zooming with the wifey. Packed everything out to the customer service desk at Cabelas and tell the young lady there I have a jerky emergency. Turns out they have stock of the unit I need and they check to make sure it works, and swap me out. Easy peasy, no hassle no fuss. Just like Cabelas ought to be (suck it Basspro). So that's the good.
The replacement gun worked very well. Easy to assemble, easy to use, it was easy to clean. Like I said, I didn't open it when it was given to me, so I didn't realize that it had multiple attachments (single strip and double strip jerky heads), and snack stick heads as well! The gun also pulls back a click after you let go of the trigger, pulling the meat back so it doesn't keep coming out after you stop. Pretty cool feature. Good instruction manual. Everything fits in the carry case well. All that is good.
The bad? Having to trek to the store for a bum electric motor on the jerky gun was a downer. Lucky for me, it's only 20-something mins away. I would have been pissed if it was a couple hours away. Also bad - the jerky gun set now lists at $129, but the gun doesn't FEEL like a $129 appliance - it's light, feels cheaply made, and I wonder if I'm going to get 20 sessions out of it. If I do, I'll feel it was worth to money my son paid for it. But overall, I'm very happy to have it and be using it now. I think making jerky is going to become a regular task for me now.
Note - the two Cabelas employees who assisted me were very friendly, very courteous and professional. They got a kick out of handling a "jerky emergency" and have now assigned a "code" for that one. Also note - my dehydrator is round - my wife is like "Why do they make dehydrators round? That's stupid...." I had no answer, she's right you know. I may be looking in to oven racks or a different dehydrator.
Also note, the gun has an adjustable speed feed rate, which is cool.
Today was the day - I mixed up 3.5# of ground venison with some cure and seasoning and put it in the fridge for 4+ hours.
Then I got the blaster out and opened it - I never really realized what I had - this is a power unit, with an electric motor and multiple output heads, capable of doing some higher output. Well, la-tee-da, let's give it a whirl!
I read the instructions, loaded it up, pulled the trigger - and nothing. The green light was on, showing power, but nothing. Tried different plug....nothing.
Now I've got about 1.5# of meat in a tube and no way to get it out. And it's 8 at night. Google says the Cabelas about 25 mins from me is open until 9, so I'm zooming with the wifey. Packed everything out to the customer service desk at Cabelas and tell the young lady there I have a jerky emergency. Turns out they have stock of the unit I need and they check to make sure it works, and swap me out. Easy peasy, no hassle no fuss. Just like Cabelas ought to be (suck it Basspro). So that's the good.
The replacement gun worked very well. Easy to assemble, easy to use, it was easy to clean. Like I said, I didn't open it when it was given to me, so I didn't realize that it had multiple attachments (single strip and double strip jerky heads), and snack stick heads as well! The gun also pulls back a click after you let go of the trigger, pulling the meat back so it doesn't keep coming out after you stop. Pretty cool feature. Good instruction manual. Everything fits in the carry case well. All that is good.
The bad? Having to trek to the store for a bum electric motor on the jerky gun was a downer. Lucky for me, it's only 20-something mins away. I would have been pissed if it was a couple hours away. Also bad - the jerky gun set now lists at $129, but the gun doesn't FEEL like a $129 appliance - it's light, feels cheaply made, and I wonder if I'm going to get 20 sessions out of it. If I do, I'll feel it was worth to money my son paid for it. But overall, I'm very happy to have it and be using it now. I think making jerky is going to become a regular task for me now.
Note - the two Cabelas employees who assisted me were very friendly, very courteous and professional. They got a kick out of handling a "jerky emergency" and have now assigned a "code" for that one. Also note - my dehydrator is round - my wife is like "Why do they make dehydrators round? That's stupid...." I had no answer, she's right you know. I may be looking in to oven racks or a different dehydrator.
Also note, the gun has an adjustable speed feed rate, which is cool.
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