Snack Stick Recipe

This is our "recipe" for a 25 lb. batch of Beef or Deer Snack Sticks.
Our AC Legg Snack Stick Seasoning comes pre-measured for 25 lbs. and contains the correct amount of Sodium Nitrite [Quick Cure].

20 lbs. of lean venison and 5 lbs. of lean (80/20)pork trim (lean pork butts will work)
or
8 lbs. of lean venison and 2 lbs. of lean (80/20) pork trim (lean pork butts will work)
[the meat should be as cold as possible]

 OR

 20 lbs. of lean beef and 5 lbs. of lean (80/20)pork trim (lean pork butts will work)
or
8 lbs. of lean beef and 2 lbs. of lean (80/20) pork trim (lean pork butts will work)
[the meat should be as cold as possible]

 1. Coarse grind the beef/pork or deer/pork meat mixture (grinding plate with 3/8 to 1/2 inch in diameter holes).

 2. Mix 2½ pounds (5 cups) of purified* water and the 1 oz. pkg of quick cure (Sodium Nitrite) thoroughly.  (Water to meat ratio is 1 lb. of water for every 10 lbs. of meat).

 3. Add the pkg. of AC Legg Snack Stick seasoning to the water/sodium nitrite and mix and stir thoroughly.

 4. Pour the water/seasoning/sodium nitrite mix into the coarse ground meat and mix/stir thoroughly (approximately 5 minutes of hand mixing).

 5. Grind this mix of meat/seasoning through fine (regular hamburger plate - 1/4 to 1/8 inch in diameter holes).

{A} If using Encapsulated Citric Acid, this should be added AFTER the final grind and before stuffing.  The Encapsulated Citric Acid should NEVER BE GROUND!  Just mix the  Encapsulated Citric Acid into the sausage mix by hand thoroughly.

 6. Stuff into 19 mm collagen casings

 7. Place the stuffed snack sticks in cooler (refrigerator) overnight (12 to 24 hours) in a plastic or glass container.

 8. Place in smokehouse on screens. Set temperature to 130° F. with damper completely open and no smoke. If you don't have a smoker, you can "cook" your snack sticks in your kitchen oven.  Click here to see the directions for processing Snack Stick in a Oven.

 9. After 2 hours, raise temperature to 145° F, close damper to 1/2, and add sawdust to begin the smoking process.

 10. After 2 hours at 145° F, raise temperature to 160° F, keep the damper at 1/2 open and continue smoking.

 11. After 2 hours at 160° F, raise temperature to 175 - 180° F, close the damper to 3/4 closed and continue smoking until the internal temperature of the snack sticks reach 160° F.

 12. Remove snack sticks from smokehouse and leave at room temperature for 2 hours.

 13. Then package snack sticks (vacuum packing is best) and keep in the refrigerator.  The Snack Sticks are now ready-to-eat!

* Distilled water works good for the seasoning mix.  You can also use "good" tap water if you let it sit for 24 hours in the refrigerator to dissipate the chlorine.  It is best to use ice cold water for the seasoning.  Just let the water sit in your refrigerator overnight to chill it down before using.

Your collagen casing do NOT need to be soaked in water before using.
[They can be soaked in water if you prefer - they can be stuffed dry or wet.]
Also, if your stuffing horn is long enough, it is best (and fastest) to put the whole 50 foot tube on the horn.
 Just stuff the whole 50 feet with snack stick meat.  Then cut the 50 foot long casing into pieces
that will fit your smoker or oven.

Here is a picture of our finished Deer Snack Sticks using the "Recipe" listed above.  Just click on the picture to see a larger view.

If you have your own Smoker or Smoke House, we have 5 Lb. Bags & 1½ Lb.
 Bags of 100% Natural Hickory Sawdust available.

If you do not have a way to "naturally" smoke your Snack Sticks, you can add Liquid Smoke or a Dry Smoke Seasoning to your seasoning/water mix and "cook" your snack sticks in your kitchen oven. 


Directions for Processing Snack Stick in a Oven

2.  Place aluminum foil on the bottom of the oven to save cleaning up a mess later.

3. If you have a Digital Thermometer timer, push the probe into the center of one the Snack Sticks and set the temperature alarm for 160°.

4.  Set the oven temperature at 170° (200° will work if that's the lowest setting on the oven) and leave the oven door open 2 to 5 inches.

5.  After one hour close the oven door, maintain the same oven temperature until the internal temperature of the Snack Sticks reaches 160°.  Then remove the Snack Sticks from the oven.

6.  Let the Snack Stick cool at room temperature.  After cooling, place the Snack Sticks in Ziploc bags or vacuum package them and store in the refrigerator.  Even though the Snack Sticks are room temperature stable (and safe), they will stay preserved longer in a temperature below 40°.

Last Updated:  Thursday, August 19, 2010 11:21 AM

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