Using commercial snack stick mix for jerky?

[cptnding]

Curious if anyone has experience with using commercial snack stick blends for jerky. Ground or whole muscle.
I've been dry curing and cold smoking all types of bacon for years so I'm not concerned with the curing process. I've never used a commercial spice blend for anything because I was lucky enough to have someone with experience to get me started on the right path and go from there. I've had some failures with flavorings but nothing so bad it couldn't just go into a pot of beans ect. Just part of the fun of experimenting.
But I've had no experience with jerky and was thinking I would use some commercial spice blends to get started and go from there. There is lots more snack stick blends out there than jerky specific ones so I thought I would throw the question out there for those more knowledgeable. Doesn't seem to me that there would be much of a difference but maybe there's a good reason. I do know from making bacon that some flavors are very hard to get into whole muscle even with 3 weeks of curing.
I intend to make my own blends in the future and if anyone wants to share a process or recipe it is much appreciated. Steve H 's Thai jerky using pork loin is already printed out and in the cue line lol!

 

[mike243]

I have made a lot of jerky over the years and always ground for the last 15 or so, all of the packages I have used were fine, 1 thing I found is if any moisture is left you will get mold if in a zip lock bag. it's white and I learned to put in fridge or freezer if I have made a big batch. I also shoot sticks out of the mix for something different. Dentures and whole meat jerky is a frustrating adventure lol . I weigh the meat to make sure I have the correct numbers for the cure to work properly, No fat in the jerky or sticks , I use deer most of the time and it's very lean and takes seasonings well.

 

[chopsaw]

1 thing I found is if any moisture is left you will get mold if in a zip lock bag.

Yup . You need air flow . I have an old Tupperware container for storing Spaghetti . Has a 2 part lid that spins to open a hole to dispense the pasta . I use it to store jerky and adjust the lid like a damper . Keeps in the fridge as long as you want , but it always goes fast .