I've been pondering about purchasing a separate jerky gun in a long while, since my commercial grinder has the same attachments. However, pulling it out simply to perform a few pounds of ground meats into jerky strips, this is not efficient, nor sane. I've used smaller plastic type guns in the past, but durability and clean-up wise, it's more than a chore than they were worth. The following day from receiving the gun in the mail, I made so much jerkies, I drove the neighbors and animals insane.PROSMaterials: stainless steel nozzles, very strong aluminium tubing, and metallic-strong plastic parts. I don't use dishwasher to wash my tools. Hot soapy water, follow up with food grade sanitizing agents. Barrels are incredibly easy to clean. A bit of major brand liquid dish soap, and barrel is squeeky clean. Literally. The supplied barrel brush is a massive bonus. Nozzles are perfectly large enough to get the fingers/sponges to clean the surface properly. Absolutely no fuzz. The barrel rings that hold the nozzle attachments, the hard plastic materials is well designed to prevent sticking of any sugary/tar-like substances from the marinading recipes from sticking on. Warm/hot soapy water easily remove materials and substances from the plastic rings. The trigger assembly contains the most moving parts, yet, nothing sticks into small places that cannot easily be removed in mere seconds. It takes more time to stuff the tubes than it is to clean all the parts up. Total time to clean up all the components, no more than 2 minutes, with one additional minute in sanitizing the parts for storage.The jerkies: I prefer the flat over the round attachment any day. However, my kids like their round sticks (similar to the Slim Jim they had) for the fun during their snacking. Flatness allow me to store more efficiently, and compress better for during long treks. This is where this gun is much superior than the plastic models; the compression ratio. Plastic guns could not provide the proper compression ratio for the lean ground meats (such as elk, venison, turkey, chicken, beef, even pork) for a strong and consistent delivery of a thinker strips, especially if there's more than normal amount of marinating liquid in the batch. This is not the case for this gun. Excess liquid is expelled at the edge of the nozzle, but the strips/rolls of meat extruded perfectly each time. The only thing I may wish for is the ability to control the amount of meat coming out at this pressure load, to make slightly thicker strips, or, at least a larger delivering flat/round nozzles. Width-wise, it's perfect.CONSYes, there are cons to everything. Instructions are included for utilizing the gun, such as assembling and operational Do and Don't. But, what about maintenance/storage? A quick search on the forums will probably provide some results, but it's good to have such information if it's for me to give to someone as a gift, who doesn't have such savvy ability to search for information on the info superhighway.Oil for the trigger's ram rod. Very light layer of olive oil to prevent sticking/rusting for the zinc/copper coated part within the trigger housing? For now, I'll use a very minute layer of food grade silicone if I don't use it more than 3 weeks. Fat chance.How do you perform a long term storage on the tube that you don't use? I have no choice but to use food grade silicone to very lightly cover the internal wall, maybe external wall, and around the threads at each end. A paper towel will be used to draw any moisture away, and it will be placed in a ziplock bag away from moist area; in the same location as my commercial grade grinder. I may be corrected on this one.Cleaning of the tube brush? It's a great brush to remove everything, but wow...you got to see the amount of materials the brush holds onto after each cleaning. So far, Dawn, hot water, and rigorous swirling removes 95% of the buildup. Sterilizing with light bleach solution will destroy the brush fast. Commercial grade hydrogen peroxide for clean can be costly. Boiling can destroy the plastic bristles. Oh well. May need to purchase a few more of the brush after a wee while.OVERALLI'm very impressed of the product. On top of that, the company immediately contact me when there's a delivery issue to my work location on a holiday, ensuring me that the delivery would be reattempted on the next business day. That's one heck of a customer service for you.

I ordered this in 2018, just 2 months after buying a plastic crap version that broke the second time used. The jerky gun is my secret weapon in making the best elk/beef/venison jerky in the world. I don’t even eat it but people can’t believe that’s I use ground meat. I’ve stopped telling them.That said, The Judge jerky gun is as good and solid today (I just made 7 pounds of beef jerky) as it was when I bought it in 2018.I hand wash it because I’m already cleaning up so many other things that either don’t fit or won’t work in the dishwasher. I’ve read some comments about submersing the handle and having water come out the next use. I don’t know how that possible. I put it back together after it dries. I’ve never had a problem cleaning it and I’m lazy and cut corners (but don’t really want to see what happens if I play fast and loose with raw meat).And the price? Easily the best value around. Along those lines, Jack Links is $18.50 for a 1 pound bag. I just bought 6 pounds of 85/15 and 1 pound of 93/7 for $24.00 (Safeway had the 85 on sale), that will make 3.5 pounds of beef jerky for $7/pound. Best value all around and a way better taste without the crap they put in it (though me and Jack Links agree on brown sugar!!!).

Just pushed six pounds of ground venison through it, and I must say the unit works as advertised.**Weight in the hand when full is so manageable, anyone can use this gun.**The barrel chamber easily accommodated 1.25 pounds of ground venison with room to spare.**Two nozzles are included; one for a ribbon of meat and one for a "snack stick". The ribbon is about 1" wide, & the the ribbon's "thickness" is slightly less than I'd like. Nevertheless, the venison comes out smoothly from the ribbon nozzle. The "snack stick" nozzle seems just right in diameter.**Use is very, very simple. The mechanical advantage engineer into the pistol grips would let a ninety year old lady squeeze and operate the device with ease. Squeezing out jerky is effortless.**Clean up is logical & straight forward. Some comments in the reviews that bestowed one star (related to cleaning the components) are not even remotely consistent with my experience. Hot water, a drop of dish soap, and the included brush allow for swift complete cleaning of the barrels. Yes, one nut has to be loosened and two screws undone in order to take off the cover above the handle off. But a kindergarten student could disassemble the unit for cleaning, so if you've graduated from kindergarten, you're good to go.**The instruction manual... no wait, there is no instruction manual!! The manufacturer has screwed the pooch on this oversight. You must do a little homework on food prep, food safety, and proper cleaning in order to do it right.Why five stars? I did my homework and this gun works.