# Venison snack sticks



## klutzyspuds (Dec 4, 2016)

Success during hunting season for the family has afforded the opportunity to let me play with the smoker. This time around was a batch of venison snack sticks. 

Started by grinding and mixing 50/50 with high fat pork. Reground the mix using the course plate for both grinds, and added seasonings. This batch I used Cabelas teriyaki snack stick mix.

The New MES 40 is a great tool, but not big enough to get the whole 25 pounds in at once, so half went into the smoker at 130 for 1 1/2 hours to dry some before adding smoke.  Smoked for about 2 1/2 hours, then pulled and placed in the wife's oven to make room for the other half. Same process all over again.

Taste is great, texture is good, and freezer is full.  Life is good.

Just out of the oven and cooled off












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__ klutzyspuds
__ Dec 4, 2016






Money shot cut and ready for packaging.













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__ klutzyspuds
__ Dec 4, 2016






All packed up and ready for the freezer.













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__ klutzyspuds
__ Dec 4, 2016


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## pc farmer (Dec 4, 2016)

Looks good.    Try adding some beef with the vension and pork.   It makes it a different stick all together.


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## klutzyspuds (Dec 4, 2016)

c farmer said:


> Looks good.    Try adding some beef with the vension and pork.   It makes it a different stick all together.



Thanks, Adam.  Haven't added any beef to sticks, but have with venison summer sausage, and would agree, it does change the sausage vs just pork.  May have to try that next time.


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## disco (Dec 11, 2016)

I would like me some of that! Nice job!

Disco


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## avidangler84 (Jan 23, 2017)

When you smoked in the MES did you just make it into coils and smoke on racks? Also what casings did you use? We made some recently and we tied them into 9" sticks so they fit well in the smoker on the racks but I feel like I should have stuffed them a little bit lighter and just cooked them for a better result and not so much work prior to smoking. If you were to add beef to the recipe what cuts of meat would you recommend ? Thanks for the info. Your sticks look good !!


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## hillbillyrkstr (Jan 23, 2017)

Those sticks look great! 

I cut mine with no more than 20% pork though. 50 seems high. Are you losing a lot of the venison flavor with that big of a cut?


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## klutzyspuds (Jan 23, 2017)

avidangler84 said:


> When you smoked in the MES did you just make it into coils and smoke on racks? Also what casings did you use? We made some recently and we tied them into 9" sticks so they fit well in the smoker on the racks but I feel like I should have stuffed them a little bit lighter and just cooked them for a better result and not so much work prior to smoking. If you were to add beef to the recipe what cuts of meat would you recommend ? Thanks for the info. Your sticks look good !!



Yes, I made coils that for the most part were long enough to basically fill each rack individually, but in some cases I either had to add shorter ones or multiple different ones to fill the racks sufficiently.  I try not to over stuff the racks and leave a little room between coils to allow even heat and smoke. Shorter pieces to fit the racks to me are just extra work.  We find that stuffing a single, longer stick, then twisting periodically to be able to cut shorter as we load racks works the best for us, but that's my two cents, not the only way.

When adding beef to any of my sticks or summer sausage I generally just buy the higher fat content ground beef. Usually this is 73/27 or similar, but any cheaper cut with decent fat ratio works.  The larger three to five pound packs of burger are usually about as cheap as anything else we find.

Thanks for the comments, they did turn out good.

Mark


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## BGKYSmoker (Jan 23, 2017)

Those sticks look good.

I can send you my PO Box #


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## crankybuzzard (Jan 23, 2017)

Those look like you nailed the recipe and process.  The texture looks great as well.

Now you're going to have to make more, because the first batch usually doesn't last very long!


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## klutzyspuds (Jan 23, 2017)

hillbillyrkstr said:


> Those sticks look great!
> 
> I cut mine with no more than 20% pork though. 50 seems high. Are you losing a lot of the venison flavor with that big of a cut?



I will agree that 50/50 may be high.  20% may work very well, as long as the fat content is sufficient. I don't want mine to be too dry.  As for losing venison flavor, it might, but I live in vegetable country, and the venison here tastes more like beef than some deer from wooded areas.  This allows for basically any ratio as long as fat is high enough. Future batches will probably be higher levels venison, but tried to make this batch so the wife might like it.  Advantage: more sticks, disadvantage: more sticks, longer till I can make more.

These may have been slightly high fat content for my tastes, but still very good.  Worst mistake was sharing. Now got lots of friends who want some made.

Mark


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## klutzyspuds (Jan 23, 2017)

nepas said:


> Those sticks look good.
> 
> I can send you my PO Box #



Thanks nepas, turned out great.  Just have them WI neighbors stop in and they can bring ya some. Oh, they may nor make it that far, though:laugh1:

Mark


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## klutzyspuds (Jan 23, 2017)

CrankyBuzzard said:


> Those look like you nailed the recipe and process.  The texture looks great as well.
> 
> Now you're going to have to make more, because the first batch usually doesn't last very long!



Thanks CB.  Thanks to you and a few others posts, the textures were spot on, and the process is where I try to excel as it is what make replication possible.  Still a lot to learn, though.

Made quite a pile this year, but still seems to be disappearing quickly.  Oh well, more practice in my future. :yahoo:

Mark


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## avidangler84 (Jan 23, 2017)

Awesome thanks for the info! I'm going to try several diff recipes soon I'll be sure to post my results. Happy smoking !!


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## tropics (Jan 23, 2017)

Mark them sticks look good from here.

Richie


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