Virgin Snack Sticks Escapades (Pics and Lessons Learned)

[mtnjim]

My virgin snack sticks making adventure…
The deets:
75/25 ratio pure Michigan whitetail venison/pork fat.
Half Willie’s and half habanero seasonings.
Ghost pepper cheese.
Carrot fiber binder.
Encapsulated citric acid.
19mm Smoke Collagen casings.

Lessons learned:

1. Don’t buy a cheap mixer. One blade bent during mixing and it would not crank in the reverse direction! Also, have some way to secure the mixer to your work table…it took two of us to hold it and crank.
2. Don’t use the full amount of carrot fiber binder recommended in the recipe. It came out kinda pasty…I’m thinking maybe using half next batch.
3. Stuffing: Had a heckuva time threading the 19mm casing onto a 3/8 inch tube. Had about 3 blowouts during the 11 lbs of stuffing.
4. Stuffing: It’s a b***h cranking the stuffing through those small diameter tubes! Definitely a 2 person job…
5. Stuffing: Find some way to secure the stuffer to your work table…C clamps, wood clamps, whatever. It took two of us wrestling to hold it in place, crank the handle, and guide the casing.
6. Smoking: I laid the sticks flat on four wire shelves. I’d figure out some sort of rotation schedule to move the shelves so that you get more even cooking of the sticks. The lower shelves were over cooked a bit and the upper ones under cooked.

The results:
Taste is awesome! And baby they got some heat…:-) Here’s a couple pics.

[Jonathon]

mtnjim The Carrot Fiber can make it a little harder to stuff as it is creating more of apaste than just the water would. If you want to make the stuffing easier three quick tips:

1. Like you said, either clamp down your stuffer or you can remove it from the base and bolt it directly into a table, if you have an extra table that you are okay using for just this purpose!
   2)Cold meat stuffs MUCH easier than warmer meat. Throw it in the freezer for 20 minutes before you put it in the stuff it. You will absolutely notice the difference
2. More water and higher fat content will make stuffing a lot easier too. If you used the 2 qts per 25 lb and still found it difficult then cutting back slightly on the carrot fiber might help!

This is why I dont go smaller than 19 and I recommend 21 for first timers, it can be pretty hard to get even the 19mms to stuff but it looks like you did a great job!

[mtnjim]

Jonathon Thanks! Please check your chat messages…I have a couple questions for you.

Jim

[Minnesotameat]

I have a home made air powered stuffer and it takes all the hard work out of it thats for sure! It makes quick work of the 19 mm casings.

[chippewa]

Jonathon said in Virgin Snack Sticks Escapades (Pics and Lessons Learned):

mtnjim The Carrot Fiber can make it a little harder to stuff as it is creating more of apaste than just the water would. If you want to make the stuffing easier three quick tips:

1. Like you said, either clamp down your stuffer or you can remove it from the base and bolt it directly into a table, if you have an extra table that you are okay using for just this purpose!
   2)Cold meat stuffs MUCH easier than warmer meat. Throw it in the freezer for 20 minutes before you put it in the stuff it. You will absolutely notice the difference
2. More water and higher fat content will make stuffing a lot easier too. If you used the 2 qts per 25 lb and still found it difficult then cutting back slightly on the carrot fiber might help!

This is why I dont go smaller than 19 and I recommend 21 for first timers, it can be pretty hard to get even the 19mms to stuff but it looks like you did a great job!

Just curious. How does cold meat stuff easier than say room temp? You would think the opposite for stiffness of the meat mixture being cold.

[chippewa]

mtnjim those look great for your first attempt!! I will be making a batch of jalapeño and ghost pepper cheese sticks and summer sausage next week with my Ohio venison.
Can you taste any “tang” with adding the ECA to your sticks? I have never tried it in sticks.

[doc_craig]

Minnesotameat
curios how you made your stuffer air powered

[Jonathon]

chippewa It does sound counterintuitive, doesn’t it? The reasoning behind it is that as fat warms up it becomes sticky and binds the meat up a little, when it is cold it is harder and firmer and it will travel down the tube a lot easier! You would think that it would get greasy and make it easier but it does the exact opposite.

[Minnesotameat]

doc_craig its a custom built cylinder about 8in in diameter and i hook up air to the bottom with a psi valve and a seperate valve for the dump to let off pressure. the meat is loaded in the top and then you bolt on the cover. there is a ball valve on the top which controls the speed of how fast the meat comes out. I made sizing tubes out of brass. it can handle about 75 lbs at
a time. Clean up is a little more but it works awesome. I will post some pics.

[mtnjim]

Minnesotameat Sounds awesome! You should put together a video for YouTube…:-)

[mtnjim]

chippewa thanks! yup, slight tang but mostly overwhelmed by the heat…:-)

[doc_craig]

Minnesotameat
that would be great