Snack sticks

[Pete]

Wild game snack sticks
Watching your video on snack sticks you say to use 2qts. Water to 25lbs. of meat this seems like a large amount I have been using 20 oz. per 25lbs. Using that much water would make stuffing the 17mm casings easier but of does this much water effect to cooking and the look of the sticks will they have a smoothe surface or will they have a wrinkled texture. What consistency should the meat be as far as liquification be.

[Jonathon]

Pete Great question! Yes, the recommended 2 quarts of water does make stuffing much easier than if you were to use 1 qt. Now, using that much water will make your cook schedule a little longer. So, if you are not concerned with making your stuffing easier then you can use 1 qt and your cook time will be faster. I’ve never noticed a difference in the smooth or wrinkled texture when adding 1 or 2 qts, mostly when I see wrinkled casings it’s either cooking too hot too fast or lack of protein extraction during the mixing phase (if you haven’t seen it this is a pretty good video on protein extraction https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wStH-RtQUY8).

The consistency of the meat when adding the 2 qts of water might be significantly different depending on what binder you are using, I almost always add carrot fiber and that holds up to 26 times its weight in water. If you aren’t using a binder it might have a slightly soupy consistency but that excess water will cook out during the smoking/cooking process.

Let me know if I didn’t understand part of your question or if you have more!