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Walk into any homebrew or outdoor store and you’ll find two distinct camps of jerky makers: the slicers and the gun people. Both swear their method is superior. Both have made excellent jerky. And both have made terrible jerky.
I’ve been in both camps. I started with a knife and a cutting board, graduated to a meat slicer, then spent a solid six months deep in jerky gun territory before forming my actual opinions. Here’s the honest breakdown.
What Is a Jerky Gun?
A jerky gun (also called a jerky shooter or jerky cannon) is a kitchen tool that works like a caulk gun. You load it with seasoned ground meat, attach a nozzle, and squeeze the trigger to extrude uniform strips or sticks directly onto dehydrator trays.
The most popular options—like the LEM Products or Cabela’s jerky guns—come with flat strip attachments and round stick attachments, giving you flexibility in shape. They’re typically made from aluminum or stainless steel with food-grade plastic components.
Key requirement: jerky guns use ground meat, not whole muscle cuts. You’re working with 80/20 or 90/10 ground beef (or venison, turkey, etc.), mixed with seasonings and curing salt, then extruded.
What Is Sliced Jerky?
Sliced jerky starts with a whole muscle cut—typically eye of round, top round, or flank steak—sliced thin (usually 1/4 inch) against or with the grain, marinated, then dehydrated.
This is the traditional method, and it’s what most people picture when they imagine homemade beef jerky. Sliced jerky has that distinct “whole meat” texture, visible muscle fiber structure, and a chew that ground meat simply can’t replicate.
Jerky Gun: Pros and Cons
The Advantages
Consistency. Every strip is exactly the same thickness, same width, same length. Load the gun, squeeze, done. If consistency frustrates you about hand-sliced jerky, a gun eliminates that variable entirely.
Lower cost per pound. Ground beef is almost always cheaper than whole muscle cuts like eye of round or top round. You can also use leaner ground beef percentages (93/7 or 96/4) that would be difficult to achieve with whole muscle cuts without significant trimming.
No slicing equipment needed. You don’t need a meat slicer or knife skills. Mix your ground meat with seasoning, load the gun, extrude onto trays. The barrier to entry is lower.
Works great for sticks. If you want round jerky sticks (think Slim Jim-style snacks), a jerky gun with the round nozzle attachment is the most practical way to make them at home. You can’t really do that with whole muscle cuts.
Easy to customize seasoning. Because you’re mixing ground meat with seasoning, the flavor is distributed evenly throughout every bite. No surface-only marinade absorption.
The Disadvantages
The texture is fundamentally different. Ground meat jerky has a denser, more uniform texture—similar to a meat stick or slim jim—rather than the fibrous, chewy pull of whole muscle jerky. Some people love it. Many purists hate it.
Food safety requires extra attention. Ground meat carries a higher pathogen risk than whole muscle cuts because bacteria that would normally only be on the surface of a steak gets mixed throughout the meat during grinding. This means you absolutely must reach an internal temperature of 160°F, and you should use curing salt (sodium nitrite, aka Prague Powder #1 or a commercial cure like Hi Mountain) in your recipe. This isn’t optional.
Less “authentic” texture profile. If you’re trying to replicate commercial jerky brands like Jack Link’s or Krave, those are whole muscle. Ground jerky tastes like a different product category entirely.
Cleanup. Jerky guns require disassembly and thorough cleaning after every use. The barrel, plunger, and nozzle attachments all need to be scrubbed and sanitized. Not difficult, but more involved than cleaning a knife or meat slicer blade.
Sliced Jerky: Pros and Cons
The Advantages
Superior texture. Full stop. Whole muscle jerky has a complex, layered chew that ground meat cannot match. You get the bite, the pull, the visible muscle fiber—the full jerky experience. This is why virtually every premium commercial jerky brand uses whole muscle cuts.
Better for flavor complexity. The marinade penetrates the surface of whole muscle cuts and interacts differently with intact muscle fibers than it does when mixed into ground meat. You get more nuance—surface caramelization, bark, the way the outside dries and concentrates flavor while the inside stays tender.
More forgiving with seasoning. Over-season ground jerky and every bite is overwhelming. Over-marinate whole muscle and the exterior absorbs more while the interior stays balanced. It’s a bit more forgiving.
Closer to what “jerky” actually is. If you’re making beef jerky to share, bring to a cookout, or give as a gift, whole muscle jerky is what people expect and what will impress them.
The Disadvantages
Requires slicing consistency. Whether you’re slicing by hand or using an electric meat slicer, achieving uniform 1/4-inch cuts takes practice or equipment investment. Inconsistent thickness leads to uneven drying and, sometimes, tough or underdone spots.
More expensive cuts. Eye of round runs $5–8/lb at most grocery stores. You’ll also lose weight to trimming. A jerky gun batch can cost meaningfully less per pound of finished product.
Takes up more dehydrator tray space. Whole muscle strips tend to be wider and harder to pack tightly, while extruded strips from a gun can be laid in perfectly uniform rows. If you’re working with limited tray space, ground jerky is more efficient.
The Texture Question: Why It Matters Most
If I had to distill the entire debate into one variable, it’s texture. Everything else is secondary.
Ground jerky texture is closer to a sausage or meat stick—uniform, slightly springy, cohesive throughout. Whole muscle jerky has distinct layers: a drier, more concentrated exterior and a chewier interior. When you bite into a good strip of whole muscle jerky, you feel the grain of the meat. There’s resistance, then give, then a satisfying chew. Ground jerky is more like biting through a dense meat stick.
Neither is wrong. They’re genuinely different products that happen to share a name and a dehydrator. The question is which one you prefer eating—and which one you’re making it for.
Food Safety: The Critical Difference
This is where the methods diverge most importantly and where I see the most mistakes from beginner jerky makers.
Whole muscle jerky: Pathogens like E. coli and Salmonella live on the surface of intact muscle. Dehydrating at 160°F internal temperature (or finishing in a 275°F oven for 10 minutes after dehydrating) kills surface bacteria effectively. The USDA guidelines for whole muscle jerky are well-established.
Ground jerky: When meat is ground, surface bacteria gets distributed throughout the entire mass. That E. coli that was only on the outside of a steak is now everywhere in your ground beef. You must achieve 160°F internal temperature throughout every strip, and you should use a commercial cure containing sodium nitrite as an added safety layer.
A reliable instant-read meat thermometer is non-negotiable for ground jerky. Don’t trust dehydrator time alone. Probe actual strips at their thickest point before declaring the batch done.
If you’re using a low-end dehydrator that struggles to maintain consistent temperatures, this matters even more. Our guide to the best cheap food dehydrators covers which budget units can actually hold safe temperatures reliably.
Which Method Should You Start With?
If you’re new to making jerky, I’d actually recommend starting with sliced whole muscle jerky. Here’s why:
- The margin for error on food safety is more forgiving
- You’ll develop a better feel for dehydration times and texture targets
- The result is closer to what people expect when you say “homemade beef jerky”
- You only need a sharp knife and partially frozen meat to get consistent slices
Once you’ve got a few batches under your belt, add a jerky gun to the rotation if you want to explore meat sticks or want a consistent low-cost option for high-volume batches.
If you’re specifically trying to make jerky sticks—the round, snappable kind—then a jerky gun with the round nozzle is really the only practical home option. Go for it.
My Honest Verdict
For pure eating quality: sliced whole muscle jerky wins every time. The texture, the chew, the flavor development during drying—nothing from a jerky gun matches it.
For convenience, cost, and jerky sticks: jerky gun has a real role in the home jerky kitchen. It’s not inferior, it’s just different. Some of my favorite snacking jerky has come out of a jerky gun batch where I dialed in the seasoning perfectly and got crispy, snappy sticks with bold flavor in every bite.
Own both if you can. Use the slicer (or knife) for your showpiece batches and gift jerky. Pull out the gun when you want a quick, budget-friendly weeknight batch or when you’re making sticks for a camping trip.
If you want to level up your whole muscle game, start with the marinade science guide—understanding what each ingredient actually does to the meat changes how you approach every recipe. And if your last batch came out wrong regardless of method, the tough jerky troubleshooting guide has the diagnosis.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is jerky gun jerky as good as sliced jerky?
It depends on what you mean by “good.” Ground jerky from a gun has a different texture—more like a meat stick than whole muscle jerky. Many people enjoy it, especially for sticks. But for traditional jerky texture and flavor complexity, whole muscle sliced jerky is generally considered superior.
Can you use a jerky gun with whole muscle meat?
No. Jerky guns are designed for ground meat only. The extrusion mechanism requires a soft, pliable mixture. Whole muscle cuts cannot be forced through the barrel and nozzle.
Do you need curing salt for jerky gun jerky?
Strongly recommended, yes. Ground meat has bacteria distributed throughout (not just on the surface like whole muscle cuts), so achieving 160°F internal temperature throughout every strip is critical. Curing salt (sodium nitrite) adds an extra antimicrobial layer. Most commercial jerky seasoning kits include a cure packet—use it.
What’s the best ground meat ratio for a jerky gun?
Most recipes call for 90/10 or 93/7 ground beef. Higher fat percentages (like 80/20) can cause issues during dehydration—fat doesn’t dehydrate, it just melts and pools on the tray, and it goes rancid faster during storage. Lean is better for ground jerky.
How thick should jerky gun strips be?
The flat nozzle attachment on most jerky guns extrudes strips roughly 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick, which is the sweet spot for dehydration. If your strips are too thick, increase dehydrator time and verify internal temperature. Thinner strips dry faster but can become brittle.