Has anyone here used hickory syrup in a marinade before? It’s basically a simple syrup infused with roasted hickory bark, and from what I’ve read is supposed to be like a smokey maple syrup.

Joe Hell Would this call for silicone or acrylic?
Jonathon Thanks for the update! None too promising, it sounds like – but I appreciate the effort. In the meantime, I’ll be ordering some snack stick seasonings and see if I can get it to work with Beyond Beef, which might be better behaved than crumbles-type products. https://www.beyondmeat.com/products/beyond-beef/

Jonathon Some additional thoughts: I noticed that off the shelf Slim Jims contain 480 mg sodium per finished 1 oz stick. Let’s suppose there was 50% loss in water weight, then that was originally 240 mg per oz, or 960 mg sodium per 4 oz serving before cooking. That may actually leave some wiggle room on the seasoning side.

On the binding side, it may be a little out there, but I wonder if something like transglutaminase might help. Not the first thing I’d try, but it is available.

Jonathon Yes, the sodium count will matter here, for sure. A quick google says that raw ground beef has about 75-100 mg sodium per 4 oz serving. Beyond Beef (the one I’m looking at) has 390 mg per 4 oz serving, and Impossible Burger (hard to find) has 370 mg per 4oz. Morningstar Crumbles has about 500(!) mg per 4 oz serving.

Off the top of my head, I’m guessing that one of the sweeter seasonings (and/or smoky) would be more compatible with the preexisting sodium content. But you can probably make a better guess, with all the ingredients info at your fingertips!

MT Elk Hunter I don’t see this diminishing the enjoyment of our wild take – if anything, I’m just trying to spread the Walton’s Goodness for everyone to enjoy.

Hi, all. Trying to accommodate a family request by turning a meat substitute (“Beyond Beef” ground beef in this case) into a snack item. According to the package it contains about 16% fat by weight. Would I be better off making snack sticks or restructured jerky with this? Anyone attempted this before?

Jonathon will you guys be selling glycerine in your catalog? Do folks just get it on Amazon?

Jonathon Holy cow, you guys work fast! That’s great news. Glad to hear it worked out. Is the taste identical to the sugar-based equivalent?

smcneese Jonathon Awesome, guys – looking forward to hearing how things go!

Also, if you’re putting together a marinade from scratch (rather than a seasoning mix), you could actually replace some/all of the sugar in the recipe with glycerol. From what I’ve read, it’s supposed to be about 40% as sweet as sugar, so you would need to use more glycerol than the sugar it’s replacing. (But as I said before, glycerol doesn’t affect blood sugar level as much as actual sugar, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Alcohols don’t screw up the proteins in your body the way that excess reducing sugars like glucose do.)

smcneese , something that I think could work really well (but haven’t actually tried) is adding glycerine/glycerol to the recipe instead of extra sugar. I mentioned it as an option in another thread (below), and would be really interested in having someone try it to see if it works. I don’t really make jerky, so I won’t be getting around to it myself anytime soon. Also FWIW, it is a carbohydrate, but the diabetes association seems to say that you don’t need to worry as much about it affecting your blood sugar level (http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/what-can-i-eat/understanding-carbohydrates/sugar-alcohols.html)

From the other thread:

"Glycerol is sweet like sugar, but it doesn’t evaporate like water (so it should increase the residual “moisture” without increasing the water activity), and isn’t sticky either.

(Note that if you look up information on glycerin online, you’ll see all sorts of stuff about it being a laxative, but that’s when it’s administered as, uh, suppositories. And it is indeed an alcohol sweetener, like sorbitol and mannitol – but unlike those sugar alcohols, your body can actually absorb and metabolize glycerol, so it doesn’t give you the nasty GI side effects of sorbitol and its siblings.)"

Has anyone used any of these seasoning mixes as an alternative for salting the rims of cocktail glasses?

Has anyone ever tried adding some glycerin/glycerol (instead of extra sugar) to provide a more tender texture? It’s sweet like sugar, but it doesn’t evaporate like water (so it should increase the residual “moisture” without increasing the water activity), and isn’t sticky either.

(Note that if you look up information on glycerin online, you’ll see all sorts of stuff about it being a laxative, but that’s when it’s administered as, uh, suppositories. And it is indeed an alcohol sweetener, like sorbitol and mannitol – but unlike those sugar alcohols, your body can actually absorb and metabolize glycerol, so it doesn’t give you the nasty GI side effects of sorbitol and its siblings.)

Jonathon Haha Yeah, I knew it was a long shot, trying to supplement the 94% lean with 1) a liquid fat (soybean oil) and 2) not knowing whether the reported fat content in meats reflects the wet weight or dry weight. Let’s say I was “disappointed but not surprised” (sort of like watching the San Diego Chargers when I was growing up).

My impression of the process is that the microwave is creating tiny pockets of steam throughout the slices of loaf as they are heated (held in by the network of protein) – you could see them puff up a little, sort of like you see with marshmallows in the microwave. And although the fat content was too low to fry in the pan, I guess there’s still enough present to crisp things up once the water is driven off. IIRC, there wasn’t really much of an odor to speak of, so you shouldn’t have to worry too much in that regard.

BTW, is it the phosphate in the Bacon Seasoning that creates the rubbery texture in the baked loaf?

Well, I really wanted to try out my Imitation Bacon Seasoning, but only had access to 94% lean turkey. So, I took 1 lb of the turkey, added 1 T seasoning (no cure), 3/8 c H2O, and ~1 T veggie oil. Let it sit O/N in the fridge, then baked it according to directions.

When I tried frying the slices, it was awful (but not terribly surprising since I didn’t use the right meat).

HOWEVER, I decided maybe I should try zapping it in the microwave instead (I put a LOT of things in the microwave), and what I got were these crispy, airy things almost like fried pork rinds. Not at all what I was looking for, but still a nice enough treat.

Now I’m wondering what other seasonings might work – pretty much any of the sausage seasonings? I don’t know meat chemistry enough to figure it out just from the ingredients lists.

Jonathon Is there any way to know/find out which other dry rubs are a fine enough grind to be sprinkled onto snack foods?

Thanks, guys – I somehow missed the whole section on seasoning shakers! Definitely have some exploring to do

Hi, all – I was wondering if anyone has suggestions for spice mixtures that would be good for seasoning snacks – chips, nuts, etc. Preferably with not too much heat, so that the kids can dig in too. Any ideas?