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.

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.

PapaSop said in 1st time around venison summer sausage.:

1GRINDER
Wow, That looks very nice. Recently had the rind effect happen with some snack sticks and once with summer sausage. It was not much, but I think it gave it a bit of a “chew” factor that I really enjoyed. I typically do a 70/30 venison to pork ratio, but that’s just personal preference. I like the extra venison flavor. Looks tasty, time to pull a stick out of the freezer.

Jonathon is right about the water cook though. The last venison summer sausage I did was pulled from smoker after it hit the stall at 145. Put directly in a turkey cooker of water @ 170. This hit finished temp in 45 minutes. Great time saver. I did not vacuum seal these but went straight to the cooker. I know Jonathon has gone back and forth about this before with Parksider. I think it’s a love-hate thing

I started doing it the same way with the turkey fryer pot on the stove at 170* without vacuum sealing. what a time saver and the meat was evenly cooked and moist.