If it twere me, I'd look at buying some cheap beef roasts and doing muscle jerky. WAY easier, less mess, and stores better IMO. If you want to go that way, buy the roasts and come on over. I have a deli slicer and smoker racks for jerky. Give it some thought. If you are set on ground beef, I would go with the middle of the road lean. Too lean and you get crumbles along with some difficulty stuffing. Too fatty and you end up with wrinkled up sticks and LOTS of grease in the bottom of whatever you use to cook it with. Good Luck!!!