LEM Jerky Cannon Reviews: Our Editorial Take

The short version

A few hundred owner comments point the same direction: this is a fast, well-liked way to make ground jerky. The complaints all land after the meat is loaded, never before.

What's good:

• Fast from start to finish: mix seasoning into ground meat, load the barrel, and extrude straight onto trays, often an hour from raw to dehydrator.
• Uniform strips and sticks every batch, with flat and round nozzles that decide the shape and the bite.
• Cheaper than whole-muscle jerky: grocery-store lean ground beef, turkey, or venison instead of pricey roasts, and the whole marinade stays in the meat.
• Beginner-friendly and repeatable once you get the meat consistency right, which is why it fills so many first-batch posts.

What's not:

• Real hand and plunger effort to push dense mince through the tube, which is tough on weaker grips.
• Cleaning fat out of the tube and nozzle is the chore owners complain about most.
• Ground jerky only: a softer, Slim-Jim-style bite, not the tough whole-muscle strip some people want.
• Get the moisture or the packing wrong and it spits, makes a mess, or crumbles as it dries.

Who it's for

Grip strength and the bite you want decide this one.

Buy it for:

• Making ground-meat jerky sticks and strips in household batches without slicing or waiting on a marinade.
• Stretching a food budget with cheap lean ground beef or turkey instead of whole roasts.
• Beginners who want a forgiving, repeatable shape and a quick turnaround from raw meat to dehydrator.

Skip it if:

• You want classic tough, stringy whole-muscle jerky; a sharp knife and a partly frozen roast do that better and cheaper.
• Hand strength is a real concern; a longer-throw gun like the Weston, or a lever-driven sausage stuffer, takes less grip per squeeze.
• You only make jerky once or twice a year; the cleanup and the learning curve may not be worth owning another tool.

The specs that matter

The barrel, the nozzles, and the metal are what you are actually buying here.

Barrel holds roughly a pound per load: that covers a household batch, and you reload for bigger runs. If you dry in volume, the bigger LEM gun holds close to two pounds, but more meat per load also means more to push by hand.

Flat and round nozzles in the box: the flat tip dries faster and looks like a classic strip; the round tip leaves a softer core and takes dry rubs better. That choice, not the gun itself, decides what your jerky looks and eats like.

Metal-forward build with a plunger mechanism: the Cannon leans on metal where the cheap clones use plastic threads and plungers that crack or shave into the meat. The tradeoff is weight and the grip it takes to work it. First, know exactly what this tool is, because it gets confused with a sausage stuffer:

It's a pump style gun, similar to your average caulking gun, with a tube that you use to extrude fragmented jerky into uniform strips or sticks without the need for a sausage stuffer and casings. Fragmented (or formed) jerky is another name for ground meat jerky, which differs from whole muscle jerky. Fragmented jerky tends to be a bit softer of a bite which some people prefer, but ultimately it comes down to preference. Personally, fragmented jerky is the best way I know of to minimize the trimmings from whole muscle jerky, as you can grind up the trimmings along with pork fat to create a mix for jerky sticks. Running the ground trimmings through a stuffer and into thin collagen casings will give you a smooth uniform stick not unlike your jack links sticks or slim Jim sticks at the store. Basic jerky guns are pretty cheap on the starter level and it can help you decide if you want to invest in better quality tools, like battery powered guns, gri;nders, and suffers.

How well it preserves

Season ground meat, load the tube, lay down uniform lengths straight onto the trays. No slicing, no marinade wait. Owners are consistent that the result beats store-bought meat sticks, and first-timers are usually surprised by how much.

Got a jerky gun for Christmas and was so excited to be use it I just thawed whatever ground meat I had on hand(turkey,beef, Jimmy Dean pork sausage) spiced it up with some Cajun cure I got and threw in some Dan-Os BBQ seasoning. This stuff came out better than any meat stick I've ever bought from a store premade. I am absolutely floored. I love jerky being my hobby.

The money math is a real part of the appeal. Whole roasts for jerky add up fast, and a jerky gun lets you use cheap lean ground beef or turkey instead, with none of the marinade thrown away. One owner lays out the whole case, from cost to cleanup to flavor:

1000% yes! I got a Cabela's jerky gun for Christmas and what a game changer! For my first batch I used 80% ground beef, the Hi Mountain seasoning/cure, added the recommended water, the mix sat overnight in the fridge, then 5.5 hours on 165 - it came out amazing! Everyone is gobbling it up! I wish I had tried this sooner. I still love whole muscle jerky but ground beef jerky/meat sticks taste just as good without all the work (slicing, marinade, mess, waste, etc.) and it's less expensive too. I can't wait to experiment with seasonings, and the best part is the entire marinade goes into the meat - no waste. Your flavor mix sounds amazing. My next two flavors are going to be teriyaki and chili crisp.

Speed is the other half of it. Because you mix the seasoning straight into the ground meat, there's no overnight soak before you can start, so a batch is loaded and drying in minutes rather than the next day.

It’s good and much quicker than sliced as you can just mix in your seasoning and not have to wait for a marinade to seep into year meat. Just mix it in, fill up the tube, and pump out uniform strips of jerky, start to finish you’ll have jerky in a dehydrator in just about an hour.

The limit is the kind of jerky you get. Ground jerky is a softer, uniform bite, closer to a meat stick than a chewy whole-muscle strip. That is a preference, not a flaw, but expect it:

Different kind of jerky. Tasty but just...yeah different kind of jerky It's like comparing a bratwurst to a roast beef. I love both those things, but they're suuuper different.

Built to last

A jerky gun is a simple squeeze mechanism, and the cheap ones fail at predictable spots: plastic threads, plastic plungers. LEM's guns lean on metal instead, and long-term owners run them for years without drama.

I've been using the LEM jerky gun for 15+ years. The flat nozzle dries faster. The round nozzle leaves a bit more moisture in the core which makes it easier to chew and helps dry rubs taste better. If you're only making a pound at a time (lasts me about a week) you can get away with fattier meat such as 85/15. It tastes better but releases a lot of oil while drying, takes longer to dry (12+ hours) and spoils much faster, usually less than 3 weeks. I usually make two pound batches of 93/7 beef or turkey, it keeps in a ziploc at room temperature up to 4 months and only takes 4 or 5 racks on circular dehydrators for 7-10 hours, turkey dries faster. Anything leaner than 93/7 doesn't carry enough flavor IME, but it dries in 5-7 hours so if you're going on a trip the next day it can make a batch in an afternoon. Wet marinades are great, a 10-15oz bottle does 2-3 pounds pretty well, it doesn't effect drying time. Dry rubs are also great if you can find/make a decent recipe, about 4-5 teaspoons per pound, fattier meats work better for dry. Edit: It also doesn't make a difference if you mix the flavor in and put it straight on the racks, or prepare it one day and put it on some time later, the flavor will be just as strong. I often mix a batch when I get home from work, then put it on before bed, it'll be ready by the time I wake up. Edit 2: I can't speak for every jerky gun but my LEM can be run through the dishwasher afterwards, the tube needs to be positioned at an angle in the bottom rack which may not be possible in all dishwashers, if it can't a soapy bottle brush will also clean it out just fine. Total time between prep, squeeze, and cleaning is around 15 minutes.

That longevity is why the LEM keeps getting named when people ask which gun to buy, especially the larger-capacity version for anyone drying in volume:

I prefer to make it this way and recommend the big LEM jerky gun it will hold almost two pounds. Watch a few YouTube videos on how to load it. The big gun is best if you have a big dehydrator.

Every jerky gun has some plastic somewhere. On the cheaper models the plastic threads and plungers crack first, and they can shave flecks into the meat. That is the best argument there is for buying a metal-heavy gun over a bargain clone:

Then looking at a jerky gun, the reverse is true, great for snack sticks but not much else. Also that jerky guns are annoying to load, hold smaller amounts of meat, and are generally pretty fiddly - they like to break. I also can NOT find a 100% stainless steel jerky gun, they all have a few parts that are plastic. Sorry, but plastic doesn't go with meat. Plastic also takes on smells, ew, no. The plastic has also has a lot of reviews of shaving off (which happens when metal threads meet plastic threads duh) plastic chunks into the meat and are also the 1st pieces to break.

The Cannon is not fragile. It sits on the sturdy end of the category, a notch above the plastic kits below it. Treat the nozzle threads and the plunger seal as the wear points, don't force dense mince through a half-packed tube, and it will outlast the guns it's usually cross-shopped against.

Living with it

A jerky gun is not effortless. You pack the tube, squeeze each length out by hand, reload, and then clean fat out of a long narrow tube afterward. Owners who have used both a gun and a knife are blunt that the gun is not automatically the easy route:

The jerky gun requires you to load the tube often, squeeze the jerky out of the tube for each strip, multiple reloads, and then a thorough cleaning ofthe gun at the end of your prep session. When you compare that to the process of simply slicing a piece of top round or London broil, the latter is clearly less work.

The mess is real too. If the meat is too wet or too fatty, or packed with air pockets, it spits, lays down uneven strips, and drips into the bottom of the dehydrator. Some owners dial it in and love it; others decide slicing is simply cleaner:

I have a Jerry gun, but I really don’t like it much. It’s messy to use. If the moisture isn’t right, it’s hard to lay down consistent strips. If the strips don’t bind well in drying, it can be trouble getting them off the dehydrator screens. Too much fat or moisture and it makes a mess in the bottom of the dehydrator. I’m sure I could dial in the process better, but I find that slicing and marinating is easier and produces a better product.

The payoff, once the process clicks, is speed and repeatability. The same owners who name the effort also point out that a settled-in gun turns out snacks and dog treats far faster than slicing, and that some grip effort is just the price of the tool:

I've been making jerky and meat sticks of all varieties for 30yrs. I have a couple jerky guns. They serve a purpose and do it well. Everything requires effort.

I got the smaller of the units sold at Cabella's. To me, the process is less work, and I can still have tasty jerky snacks FASTER! I use it exclusively now to make beef sticks and dog treats. The dog and I use the same beef, just different flavorings and shapes. For my own snacks, I prefer to use the collagen meat stick casings. Once they're done, I cut them into 1/2 - 3/4" chunks and munch away. The casings make for a more tender, uniform shape, and is much more forgiving if left in the drier too long. For dog treats, I use plain jerky cure and the flat shnozzle, then cut them into 6-8" strips. She goes nuts for them. A couple of things to be aware of: 1) Use the leanest meat you can find. I use 93% lean beef. 2) use 1/2 to 3/4 cup of wet ingredients per pound of meat. Again, the collagen casings make this more forgiving. You'll need some moisture to make the mixture the correct consistency to go through the gun, but not too wet that it won't dry out in a reasonable time. I started with a dry rub mix from Cabella's, then once I was comfortable with the different process, I began to modify other more traditional marinades but with less moisture. My verdict on the jerky gun: Just as tasty, but 1/4 the time!

The learning curve is short but real. Cleaning is the part nobody enjoys. Grip effort matters if your hands aren't strong. Use the leanest meat you can find, keep the moisture in check, and clean the tube while the fat is still soft, and living with it gets a lot easier.

How it compares

Four tools come up most when people cross-shop the Cannon, and one of them isn't a gun at all.

Versus the Weston Original Beef Jerky Gun: the Weston is the step up for grip and volume. Its longer trigger throw gives you more leverage per squeeze, which matters if plunger effort is the thing holding you back on the Cannon. You pay more for that ease, but the extrusion is easier on dense lean mince.

Versus the larger heavy-duty LEM jerky gun: same brand, same metal-forward build, bigger barrel. It holds close to two pounds per load instead of about one, so it suits anyone running a big dehydrator and drying in real volume. The tradeoff is more meat to push through per fill.

Versus the SMOQIO jerky gun kit: the budget floor. A cheaper kit bundles the gun with extra nozzles and cleaning brushes, so it's a low-risk way to find out whether ground jerky is your thing. You trade the LEM's metal-heavy durability for more plastic and a shorter expected lifespan.

Versus just slicing a roast: the real alternative for a lot of people. Slicing a partly frozen roast makes chewy whole-muscle jerky with no gun to clean, and some owners prefer it outright. It's more knife work and pricier meat, but it's a different, tougher product, not a worse one:

Dehydrated cat poo lol. Gag gift material. I dislike the jerky gun method. I just slice up some meat marinade and into the dehydrator. Its jerky so i expect it to be tough and something you have to gnaw on for a little bit.

Using it well

Use the leanest ground meat you can find, ideally 90 percent lean or leaner, so it dries fast and keeps well. Fattier mixes taste good but ooze oil and spoil sooner. Mix your seasoning and cure in thoroughly, roll the meat into logs a touch thinner than the tube, and drop them in to avoid the air pockets that make it spit. Flat nozzle for faster-drying strips, round nozzle for a softer, dry-rub-friendly bite. Clean the tube while the fat is still soft.

I completely forgot about my jerky gun. Yeah they work great. Have you ever had those long flat strips in a package made by Jacks Links? That’s what you’ll get. Just get a package of ground beef with no more than 10% fat content, season, load, squirt. BOOM.

I love my jerky gun. I use the wide tip mostly. Two lbs of 90/10 with on minced calf liver makes a nice blend if you’re into getting a little organ meats. Basic salt pepper garlic powder paprika does very well.

The gun is only half the setup; the dryer you pair it with decides how the batch finishes. Ground jerky needs to reach a safe temperature, so airflow and heat matter. Our guide to the best dehydrator for jerky walks through temperature, airflow, and cleanup across brands, with the format choices that pair well with a jerky gun.

Our verdict

If ground jerky is the jerky you want to make, buy it. Fast, uniform sticks and strips from cheap lean meat, no roast to slice and no marinade to wait on. Owners are consistently happy with what comes off the trays, and the metal-forward LEM build holds up where the plastic clones crack.

What holds us back is the part nobody posts photos of. A jerky gun takes real grip to work, makes a mess when the moisture is off, and the tube is a chore to clean. You're trading knife work for plunger work and cleanup. Keep your meat lean and your packing tight and the Cannon pays you back in quick, repeatable batches. Want the tough whole-muscle bite instead, or have hands that tire, and you'll be happier slicing a roast or reaching for a longer-throw gun.