How To Make Homemade Snack Sticks

[keoni02]

I have a question as far as curing and shelf life. Aside from sure cure, what else can be used aside from the encapsulated citric acid to help with the curing and having the snack sticks last longer? I honestly don’t like the tang that the citric acid produces.

[processhead]

This post is deleted!

[processhead]

keoni02 said in How To Make Homemade Snack Sticks:

I have a question as far as curing and shelf life. Aside from sure cure, what else can be used aside from the encapsulated citric acid to help with the curing and having the snack sticks last longer? I honestly don’t like the tang that the citric acid produces.

We see a lot of questions about ingredients that will extend shelf life and probably not enough discussion about general cleanliness of equipment, work surfaces, hands, and ingredients. This, and proper thermal processing is where you need to start.

If you start with clean ingredients that have been properly stored at cold temperatures, then the goal is to keep them that way through thermal processing.
This will take you a long way towards extending the shelf life. Commercial processors live and breath sanitation at their facilities for this exact reason.

[keoni02]

Never thought about that. I mean I wash my equipment before use and lay parchment paper down on my counter top as well for an extra barrier while stuffing. But didn’t really think about it in helping with shelf life

[twilliams]

keoni02 that would be sodium erythorbate or smoked meat stabilizer. The sodium erythorbate will not impart any flavor change but you must have a very accurate measuring device as the recommended amount is 7/8ths of an ounce for 100 lbs of product. The smoked meat stabilizer will give a slight tang but not as much as ECA. However, without the equipment to measure water activity and ph levels you still should not treat it as a shelf stable product. I’d still freeze til ready to consume then thaw and refrigerate for no longer than a week

[Midwest_kc]

Making my first snack sticks soon, going to be ordering a couple things I need, so want to make sure I have it all. I am making pork sticks, with the maple bacon seasoning. I will also be using bacon booster, and sure gel…but trying to decide if I want the tang from ECA. Would smoked meat stabilizer work as well in this set up, so that we can have maple-y, bacon-y goodness?

[Jonathon]

Midwest_kc Yes, smoked meat stabilizer is something you could use instead of the Encapsulated Citric Acid for sure. It will still impart somewhat of a tang but not as much as the ECA would. Another option is sodium erythorbate but you need a very accurate scale for that that can read fractions of grams. I love that you are using the booster, have you tried it before? We used to tell people not to use it even if they were making imitation bacon…now I tell people to feel free to toss it into anything bacony!

[Midwest_kc]

Jonathon I haven’t. I had just seen multiple people on here recommend to use it with this particular seasoning. How much should I use on a 25 lb batch?

[Jonathon]

Midwest_kc I use it at about full strength, so if you bought this one https://www.waltonsinc.com/bacon-taste-booster then it is 1.25 oz per 25 lb, if you bought this one https://www.waltonsinc.com/bacon-taste-booster-msg then it is 2 oz per 25 lb.

However, anytime I add a new ingredient I always add small amounts while I am mixing and then I pan fry a little to see where I am at in regards to taste, so I would say use 1/2 what I recommended above and then stop there if you are happy but add more if you think it can take it. Good luck!

[Midwest_kc]

Jonathon Thanks! I went with the regular one. Normally, I would be full in on the MSG version, but being my first time, I didn’t want to buy such a big bag.

[Sincitylv]

I will be making my second batch of snack sticks with all of your products. The first batch was very successful and the best I have ever done. My question is this, I smoke the sticks on my Camp Chef 36" woodwind pellet grill so last time last time I just bent the long strands back and forth on my racks and then cut to size after cooling and letting air dry and sit in the fridge until that evening. Would it be better to cut at least to the length of the jerky racks so I could keep consistancy in spacing the sticks or does it not really make a difference? Also, I didn’t place any water in the unit but kept the lid propped open to keep the temp down until I elevated up the temp scale so would the water make much of a difference in your opinion. I am in the desert of Nevada so not a lot of natural humidity. Love the site and products! Thanks.

[Jonathon]

Sincitylv It all makes a difference, might not be a huge difference but as we try to say often, its when you add up all the little tips and tricks that yous ee real improvement. I would recommend cutting them and laying them out so it is just a straight run from side to side. Even spacing throughout willlet the air flow more evenly around and give you a little more even of a cook.

Most important thing when doing it on the woodwind is to start your smoker with the product already in the smoker. This will give the meat a small conditioning phase to start with.

[keoni02]

So I realize this isn’t about making sticks however tonight I used the Honey BBQ Snack Stick Seasoning (using the 2lb conversion ratio) to make burgers topped with provolone cheese… AMAZING!!!

[Surg]

keoni02
Interesting. Sounds good.

[cdavis]

keoni02 Sounds good and looks good. I’ve used the mild Italian sausage seasoning for burgers and man was that a big hit around my house. Have a great day.

[Dcastro]

I realize there are variables that will cause cooking times to vary but can you give me a ballpark idea of how long it takes the sticks to reach 160 deg at the 175 deg setting at the end? I’m trying to plan how much time I will need to complete the cooking process.

[cdavis]

Dcastro that is hard to answer. There are so many variables. Type of smoker amount of water used air flow and humidity in your smoker. I use a masterbuilt and it can take anywhere from 8 to 12 hours. I know this isn’t much help. Sorry

[tjrice15]

First off, awesome website and awesome supplies.

Secondly, I made some venison snack sticks for the first time and was looking for some recommendations. The flavor and outside texture are on point but the inside has an odd texture and feels mushy. Below is what I did. Do you have any tips or recommendations?

3-1/2 lb of ground venison
1-1/2 lb of ground pork fat
4.5oz Willies snack stick Seasoning
0.8oz Carrot Binder
0.2oz Sure Cure
0.4oz Smoked Meat Stabilizer
6.4 oz of ice cold water

I mixed everything in a kitchenaid for about 8 mins and added the smoke meat stabilizer the last min. I used 16mm collagen casing and stuffed them with a grinder.
Is it possible that I didn’t achieve a good enough protein extraction by using a kitchenaid mixer?

Would adding some pork and less pork fat help with the texture?

[YooperDog]

tjrice15 my suggestion would be not use carrot fiber and use Sure Gel instead. Carrot Fiber has a higher water retention capacity. You can use it, but it is typically used in fresh products and Sure Gel used in cured products. I am not sure of what your cook/smoke schedule was, but if you didn’t have fat out there is a good chance your protein extraction was sufficient. The farce should be very sticky and it is unusual for most of us to over work the farce for protein extraction, the tendency is to not extract enough. Your meat to fat ratio looks okay, a little high on the fat for me. I would have gone 18oz of fat.

[JerkyIsMySalad]

tjrice15 Did you grind through a small plate twice? This can cause the meat to emulsify. I usually grind through a 3/8" and then a 1/8" (I think?). I tried to stuff using my grinder’s stuffing attachment and that also emulsified my meat. I could have been doing it wrong though.