How To Make Homemade Snack Sticks
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Fblemler I’d recommend taking an already sweet blend like BBQ Snack stick or Honey BBQ and then adding sugar as opposed to trying t create your own. It’s difficult to get the correct ratio, especially for salt content when making a seasoning mix at home.
You will have to play around with how much sugar to add per lb and it might change if you were to switch between seasonings.
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Fblemler I’d recommend taking an already sweet blend like BBQ Snack stick or Honey BBQ and then adding sugar as opposed to trying t create your own. It’s difficult to get the correct ratio, especially for salt content when making a seasoning mix at home.
You will have to play around with how much sugar to add per lb and it might change if you were to switch between seasonings.
Jonathon Instead of the sugar you have at home couldn’t you use Dextrose to add some sweetness? That’s what I do when making Sweet Italian, I use the Mild Italian seasoning and add Dextrose to it and it works out great, in my opinion anyway. Just wondering if it makes a difference on the source of sweetener you use. I know Dextrose is just a simple sugar that is similar to the sugar most people have at home.
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AdamCA Actually a lot of people use dextrose instead of sugar in making sausage and it has about 75% the sweetness of sugar so if you switch back and forth be sure to remember that. It is often used as a fermentation aid though.
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Hi Guys, my latest question how do I make Snack Sticks.
Any and all members that can help or have experienced this problem, please chime in…
My first 5 lb batches have been adjusted to a level of heat and salt that I like. That’s good for me.
Now my next concern. I’m using 19mm Smoke Collagen Casing. I have a problem with the cooked casing being very tough to bite thru and/or the casing comes off inside my mouth as I chew the SS. To me It appears the casing is not binding or adhering well to the meat of the SS. I can actually pull the cooked casing from the meat with ease.
OK guys, your thoughts and suggestions needed. We’re headed in the right direction.
Best Regards
Tommy -
Ode -Tom Does this happen right out of the smoker or is it after they have been ice bathed and packaged? Im going to guess that it’s after everything has cooled down? Most likely you have too much moisture in the package. Once you’ve ran them through the ice bath let them sit out at room temperature (un stacked, so single layer) for an hour then move them uncovered to a fridge overnight. Then vac pack them. If your problem is right out of the smoker then you might need either a longer dry schedule or add less water to your sticks.
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bpschuebel Yes it is, this was the first version of this stuffer that we got and it was before we determined that the motor was just not sturdy enough to do snack sticks. This is before I was in this department but I am willing to bet that that stuffer had to either be reconditioned or had the motor replaced after.
We might shortly have a change in the electric stuffers that would allow future ones to handle stuffing snack sticks but for now, we still absolutely do not recommend it.
Thanks!
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revid Most people want a fairly smooth casing with maybe some wrinkling, so I would say you ARE doing something right even if you aren’t trying to do it! I would always recommend you go with a prepackaged seasoning and sure cure (same thing as prague powder) and with snack sticks I like to use a binder like Super Bind or Carrot Fiber. If you really want a wrinkle appearance though I would probably up your water content and NOT use a binder and then cook it at something around 190° during your last stage. If that doesn’t work then toss them in the dehydrator for a few hours as I said.
Your fat content is probably pretty close to spot on! If you have any pics of the moose you get then I am sure the Bragging Board section would love to see them!
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BrianB Yeah all those things will work but probably what will you the best-finished product with a very wrinkly stick is to still use a binder but understyuff your casings a little bit to a lot depending on how wrinkly you want it. This is probably the easiest variable to manipulate without effecting the taste of the finished product too much!
I’m going to do a video here shortly on the difference in appearance of an overstuffed, properly stuffed and understuffed snack stick.
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BrianB Yeah all those things will work but probably what will you the best-finished product with a very wrinkly stick is to still use a binder but understyuff your casings a little bit to a lot depending on how wrinkly you want it. This is probably the easiest variable to manipulate without effecting the taste of the finished product too much!
I’m going to do a video here shortly on the difference in appearance of an overstuffed, properly stuffed and understuffed snack stick.
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BrianB Yeah all those things will work but probably what will you the best-finished product with a very wrinkly stick is to still use a binder but understyuff your casings a little bit to a lot depending on how wrinkly you want it. This is probably the easiest variable to manipulate without effecting the taste of the finished product too much!
I’m going to do a video here shortly on the difference in appearance of an overstuffed, properly stuffed and understuffed snack stick.
Jonathon In the video when you say “you don’t have to twist the links like with other sausages” do you mean you can leave the ends of the links open? On some of the pictures it looks that way, on others it appears folks are tying the ends off. My only concern is that while smoking the meat will ooze out of the casings.
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Hydrostan When using smoke collagen you can leave the ends untied. Or at least I always do and I almost never have any issue! It might be because I use a binder and get good protein extraction though. But as long as you do that then there is no need to tie off the ends, you might get a small bulb but it’s nothing more than a 1/2 inch or so and not tying them saves a lot of time!
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Jonathon Thanks for the response. To answer your question, yes. I have saved up a small Tupperware container full of rendered pork fat and bacon drippings, assuming i could use in recipes just as i would the normal pork fat that i would grind up. I will try doing 2 batches: 1 with ground fat and 1 with the rendered fat and see if any difference at all occurs. And i do use a binder, the sure gel binder i believe it is. Thanks again!
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llyn, As far as I know, all the fat I have used has been back fat, but that doesn’t mean none of it has been belly fat. Belly fat (lard) should work perfectly fine though!
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Hydrostan When using smoke collagen you can leave the ends untied. Or at least I always do and I almost never have any issue! It might be because I use a binder and get good protein extraction though. But as long as you do that then there is no need to tie off the ends, you might get a small bulb but it’s nothing more than a 1/2 inch or so and not tying them saves a lot of time!
Jonathon Another question: We had a heck of a time getting the meat into the 19mm casings. We made 10 lb. and used about 1 + quart of water. It took all our strength to fill those casings! Now our stuffing tube is 1/2" outside diameter, and 3/8" inside diameter. Do you feel our problem is not enough water or do we need a bigger stuffing tube?
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I’m Mr. Smallbatch. I mostly make things for me.
So in reality, 5 pounds is a big batch for me.
I am a pig, so I do gobble it up. But 5 lbs. is a big amount for an old guy who mostly eats it myself.
So… I use the wife’s KitchenAid, make 1-5 pound batches, stuff with a 5 pound stuffer.
So I only use the stand mixer as my grinder/mixer.
I like Willie’s Snack Sticks Mix, but also like home mixed ingredients, and Hot Italian Sausage Mix for snack sticks.
But the underlying theme for me is I do smaller batches. So I cannot justify to myself having the mass quantity type of equipment for my piddly needs.
Being retired, I tend to have more time than money or volume needs.
pauliedmondsjr So, I’m an old guy too and the kitchen aid seems like a perfect tool for mixing and grinding and stuffing, you could still combine two 5lb batches if you needed to?..I have a couple paddles, one with and one without a silicone wiper blade…how long do you find you need to mix it for good protein extraction and at what speed? Assuming that you have run it through a two plate grind first…
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Hydrostan a 12mm tube is smalle enough to allow a 19mm casing on it pretty easily and it should stuff fairly easily. What was your meat block and how cold was the meat? What else was added to the meat and what were you using to stuff?
I recently made some resturctured jerky and had a hard time because my meat had frozen bits in it. It kept clogging the all around jerky maker with tiny little bits of frozen meat. Same thing could be happening to you?
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How To Make Homemade Snack Sticks
Learn how to make homemade snack sticks with Walton's and Meatgistics. Watch the video, read the guide, and then post your questions or comments below
What Is A Snack Stick?
Snack Sticks are a meat snack and semi-dried sausage that are stuffed into a small diameter casing. Typically a collagen casing is used, but it is also acceptable to use natural casings or even make skinless snack sticks. Most snack sticks have a low pH from around 4.5 to 5.2, which is what gives them that familiar tangy flavor and is what helps aid in shelf stability. Another aid for shelf stability is a low water activity, which means binding water in the meat snacks to make it unavailable to support microbial growth. Water activity is not something that can be measured by a home meat processor, but we still set up our process and thermal processing to attempt to achieve a lower water activity. Snack sticks can be made from just about any type of meat, from beef, pork, chicken, other poultry, wild game, or a combination of meats. Walton’s recommends using a lean to fat ratio of at least 80/20, and many times a 30% fat ratio, with a maximum of 40% fat. Fat is where most of your flavor comes from so changing your lean to fat ratio will change the overall taste and mouthfeel of your product.
Meat Block
25lb 80/20 beef trim 1
Additives
1 package Excalibur Snack Stick Seasoning
1oz Sure Cure 2
6oz Sure Gel Meat Binder 3
4oz Encapsulated Citric Acid 4
2 to 3 lb High Temperature Cheese
19mm Collagen Casings
1 Quart Ice Cold Water 5
Process
Start the initial grind with a 3/8in (10mm) grinder plate, then grind a second time through a 1/8in (3mm) grinder plate. Always use a sharp grinder knife and plate. This will help you retain a better particle definition, color, and help prevent any smearing of the meat. If you cannot easily distinguish the lean from the fat when grinding, then it may be time for a new grinder plate and knife.
Meat Mixing
Using a meat mixer is preferred to hand mixing when making snack sticks. We need to make sure we get a lot of protein extraction, and that is a bit more difficult to achieve in hand mixing but still a possibility to do if you don’t have an actual meat mixer. We are going to want to mix for about 8 minutes, and we’ll want to reverse the direction of the mixing paddles every 1 minute. When you start the mixer, just start adding all the ingredients, except the Encapsulated Citric Acid and High Temp Cheese. These last two ingredients can be added in the last 45-60 seconds of the cycle, or just long enough to evenly disperse. Over mixing Encapsulated Citric Acid could lead to breaking the encapsulate and over mixing the cheese can lead to smearing and loss of shape.
Sausage Stuffing
Avoid creating air pockets when you load your sausage stuffer and begin stuffing until the casings are full with a smooth exterior. We will stuff into as long of ropes as we can, and then we’ll cut them to length when we actually hang on smoke sticks in the smokehouse.
Thermal Processing
For information on adding humidity to your smoke schedule go HERE
Either hang on smoke sticks or lay on racks in your smokehouse or oven. Just be sure to leave a slight gap between the snack sticks. A simple cooking schedule you can follow is here:
125F for 1 hour
140F for 1 hour
155F for 2 hours
175F until internal meat temp of 160FCooling
To help set the casing to the meat and also prevent wrinkling we need to shower the snack sticks when they are done cooking or put them in an ice water bath. It should only take around 10 minutes to get the temperature to drop down. Then, we’ll let them set out for about 1 hour before moving to the refrigerator/freezer. After we are totally done with the cooling process, then we will package in vacuum pouches for longer term storage.
Wrap up
It’s easy to get the basics on making snack sticks, but practice does make perfect. Walton’s has everything you need (except the meat) to make great snack sticks, plus we have the knowledge to help you perfect your own process. If you have any questions or need help in your process, please share your questions or comments below.
Notes
- Using a binder like Carrot Fiber, or Soy Protein Blend will not change how much water you put into your product.
- Place a small pan of water in the bottom of smokehouse during the entire cooking cycle to help increase humidity
If your smoker, smokehouse, dehydrator, or oven cannot reach temperatures as low as 125F, just start as low as possible and slowly increase the temperature over time
FootNotes
1. Or use 18 lb wild game meat and 7 lb pork fat or beef fat, though beef fat will have different texture and taste (Return to text)
2. Sure Cure packet is included with seasoning (Return to text)
3. Instead of Sure Gel also try 4 oz of Carrot Fiber (Return to text)
4. If you do not use a cure accelerator like Encapsulated Citric Acid or Smoked Meat Stabilizer, then after it has been stuffed into its casing hold in a refrigerator for approximately 12 hours or overnight (Return to text)
5. For Home Processors 2 Qts Will Make Stuffing Easier (Return to text)Watch WaltonsTV: How To Make Snack Sticks
Austin I have a question regarding shelf life. I made some snack sticks Tuesday, using Willie’s Snack Stick (Non-MSG), Sure Cure, Water and Carrot Fiber. I have them now vacuumed sealed in smaller packages after processing, blooming, and cooling, and sitting in the refrigerator. My intention is to put these into holiday gift bags for friends and family for Christmas. Will I have to freeze these between now (12/12) and Christmas or will they be ok as they are in the refrigerator? I already made 30# of H Summer Sausage and froze those. Any input would be appreciated.
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