Snack Stix - Advice on grind?

[Prerylyon]

I'm going to try my hand at making some snack sticks. Before I use any of my wild game, I figured I would try with some regular ground beef to get a hang of the recipe and casing stuffing process. I have quite a bit of 80-20 beef grind I can use.

Is the 80-20 a good ratio for snack sticks to start? I figure for venison I would need to add some beef or pork fat to make it work better.

Any experience is appreciated.

Regards,

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[Timr245]

I make them annually and use 50% venison 50% extra lean beef, the same as is used for jerky. If you have seasonings great, if not, I highly recommend Con-Yeager spices. They’re made here in PA and their snack stick seasoning is great! Season, stuff amd smoke a few hours and they’re tough to beat.

 

[nv-hunter]

Try it and see but I think 20 percent fat is a little high. The fat will melt out of the meat and either make pockets in the casing or cook out and leave you with shriveled up sticks. Bring it to temp internally then put them in an ice bath to stop the cooking and retain the moisture.

 

[dirtclod Az.]

I just made sausage1 LB 80/20 beef and 1 Lb. of Sage Sausage ! teaspoon of pink salt.GOOD STUFF.

 

[mallardsx2]

I mix mine about 75% deer 25% wild hog. If I didn?t have wild hog I would add beef fat. Maybe 5%.

 

[6mm Remington]

Try some HI-COUNTRY seasonings out of Lincoln Montana. They make some wonderful seasonings for sausage, jerky, snack stix!!

http://www.hicountry.com/products/products/jerky-seasonings/

 

[Fink]

Getting ready to try some snack sticks myself. Just did my first round of summer sausage a while back, and I thought it needed more fat (pork fat), and needed a coarser ground. This time around I’m going with 25% pork fat and the coarse die on the grinder

 

[Work2hunt]

I use a 70/30 mix of venison to pork shoulder but. I used to mix with straight fat but when I switched to pork shoulder butt, the flavor went from good to great and now all my friends use it too.

 

[Prerylyon]

I use a 70/30 mix of venison to pork shoulder but. I used to mix with straight fat but when I switched to pork shoulder butt, the flavor went from good to great and now all my friends use it too.

I use pork shoulder to make my Italian sausage-str8 up, nothing else but the seasonings; it was my dad and grand dad's recipe; so your experience using it really piqued my interest. [emoji200]

Some good ideas all around for stuff to try!

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[Bonecollector]

Every time I log into the forum I get hungry....
Thanks a lot guys! Now I need to go get a sandwich...

 

[Hilltop]

Snack sticks are best fat free in my opinion. I do 100% venison with no fat added. I do like fat in summer sausage and bulk sausage but sticks turn out better without. They also keep longer without adding fat.

 

[Prerylyon]

HT,

I kinda wondered about that; since in some of the recipes-esp when making jerky-there is concern about the fat going rancid in the final product; and the body of advice, at least on jerky making, is to cut all/as much fat off as possible for that reason.


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[Timr245]

Exactly why I use the 95/5. There’s also a cure salt packet that goes with the Con-Yeager brand for smoking / dehydrating.

 

[Prerylyon]

'Tim,

I'll have to check that stuff out. We don't have it here locally in Iowa, at least as far I can tell with a quick look. I'm heading back 'home' to western PA this weekend to spend the Holidays with my family; looks like that brand is 'ground zero' in that neck of the woods.

Just checked out their website; some kewl info on sausage making; recipes-mostly how to use their stuff-but interesting nonetheless. They even listed a sausage making class - that's kinda different. Def keep them in mind, as I have been toying with making larger quantities of snack sticks, salami, and summer sausge. I saw how much money I have been saving making my own jerky; these products are next for me tackle.


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