Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Food, Cooking, and Game Preparation need help with snack sticks

i absolutely love deer snack sticks but hate the price at the locker.
had a friend make me some one time and they turned out great but when i tryied i have probs
first prob is stuff the caseing we have a cabelas 10 lb crank stuffer and we either blow it out the top of the stuffer past the seal or blow the caseing outs
other prob is they are always dry and tough flavor great but not moist
any help is appreiciated
any recipes too

First, you need to mix hot water in with your batches. I just do it by sight & how the meat feels when mixing it. You want it to flow through the stuffer without stripping gears, but not be too soupy.

Also, if you are using the curing salt and hanging snack sticks to dry; you really gotta watch them. They cure really quickly compared to larger sticks of summer sausage. I break the ends off daily, as they are hanging, and test them by looks and taste. A little premature pulling is generally better than leaving them hang too long.

Finally, be careful to not over-smoke the snack sticks. I generally will only have smoke going to my snack sticks for 12 - 16 hours; versus about 36 hours for my larger summer sausage.

There can be lots of trial and error when learning to make your own sausages and I recommend doing things in small batches until you can get your recipes spot on. This will help avoid possibly ruining a bunch at one time. Once you get it, you will have something that is unique and everyone will be begging for more. Very rewarding!

Here is what I use

18lbs Venison
7lbs Pork

12 Tbsp. salt
10 Tbsp. sugar
5 tsp. cure
2 1/2 Tbsp. Black pepper
2 1/2 Tbsp. minced garlic
2 tsp. Marjoram
1 Tbsp. Coriander
1 Tsp. Ginger

Mix my seasonings with the cubed meat, grind, mix, and regrind. Stuff it into sheep casings, into a preheated 130 degree smoker for about three hours, with heavy smoke. I then steam at 160 degrees until an internal temp of 145. Hang at room for a half hour, then into the fridge overnight.

I sometimes add 8lbs of cheese to the above mix.

Need to stuff as soon as I finish the second grind or the meat can set up and hard to stuff.

How do you steam?

My smoker has a burner in the bottom with a water pan above it. Dump boiling water in close the upper draft watch the temp adjust burners as necessary and steam away.

Speaking of stuffing. On my list to buy.

http://www.dakotahsausagestuffer.com/sausage-stuffers-p/dks-240.htm

Cheaper here.

http://www.meatprocessingproducts.com/dks-240.html

Interesting...