Finally got around to making some jerky. I use a LEM jerky gun and Cabela`s hickory smoked jerky seasoning. 5 lb.`s of ground deer meat ended up being about 2.5 lbs. of dried jerky. I add 3Tbls. of red pepper flakes for 5 lbs. of meat.

I'm now reading a book of fiction called True Grit. They headed into Oklahoma Indian country. They took deer jerky but it was in strips.

You dry it in the oven, dehydrator, or some kind of smoker?

Looks great. I got my dad one of the jerky guns for Christmas a few years ago, our first attempt was a cabelas kit with... javalina…. it was pretty good, but the boar javalina had a little stink. Some of us ate it with no issue some wouldn't. We smoked ours on an offset smoker like you would cook a brisket etc. on, it came out good but im thinking the smoking method we could improve on.

does the kit spices have some type of curing salt included in the mix? Years ago, I got my dad a dehydrator and a jerky gun, he played around with and finally got a good recipe that everyone liked. I still have both in my attic but I've never played around with it ...

I had it in the oven for about 5 hours @ about 190-200 and let it sit out for about 12 hours after taking it out of the oven.

Yes , it does have some cure in the mix.

Looks great

I use the cabelas cure on whole muscle jerky with zero complaints. The peppered is a little better than the hickory in my opinion.

Thanks for sharing