Cabela’s 15″ Jerky Blaster

I have been getting into two things lately, smoking meat and dehydrating meat.  You can say I have discovered two new ways to enjoy delicious animals.  I have already posted about the dehydrator I have been using and also the seasoning I have been using.  We have received some emails back regarding what is a great jerky gun to use, so I figure I might as well post about one.  I can’t say I have tried a ton of guns or even two guns.  I have a Cabela’s by me, so I ended up driving over there and buying the Cabela’s 15″ Jerky Blaster.  After a ton of use, I can say this is probably the gun I am sticking with.

If you are looking for a comparison, this probably isn’t the article for you.  I really wanted to give you the low down about the Cabela’s 15″ Jerky Blaster since the box, website or other articles don’t really talk about it.  As far as price, it’s a bit pricey at $50, but I have to say the quality is great.  This is just one of the guns I think I will own for a long time, just as long as I take care of it.  The tube itself can hold 1.5 lbs, which I feel is a fair amount of meat.  As a side note, you can also buy a smaller jerky gun for less.  The body is made from an aluminum and poly structure.  They even include a couple cleaning brushes which makes cleaning the tube easy.  However I really never use these as I just push a rag through a couple of times and it’s clean.  Being Aluminum, it should never rust.  The handle and push rod are also high quality. Even when I push hard, there isn’t any flex in the rod.  The springs that run along the rod are strong and not some flimsy inexpensive springs that will break over time.  One thing I really like is that the kit comes with three rubber rings instead of one.  I am sure over time you will lose one and now you have a back up.  Even the rings are thick and quality.  Next on the list is a funnel.  The funnel can attach directly to the tube.  I really don’t use this, but I can see how it can help get your meat in the tube, wow that sounded a little dirty.  Again, this is a strong, thick plastic that really doesn’t bend.  Next in the kit, you get a push stick.  As you put your meat in the tube, you will get void areas and it tends to be hard to push down with your fingers.  The tube will allow you to compress the meat in the tube and allow for more meat to be packed in there.  The last item you get is the tips or ends.  You get a total of four tips, two for jerky and two for sausage.  The sausage and the single jerky tips are by themselves where you will need to insert an o-ring and the black cap in order to use these tips.  The double barrel jerky is already assembled, so you just need the o-ring.  Again all these tips are stainless steel and not flimsy.

Cleaning the jerky gun is really easy, there aren’t too many places for meat to hide.  The operation of the gun couldn’t be simpler and it’s pretty easy to squeeze the trigger, so I really don’t have much to complain about.  I know it’s a little hefty on the price tag of $50, but after you see what you get and the quality of the gun, it’s really not a bad price at all.  In fact, I think it’s a steal for $50