Venison smoked sausage and shrimp jambalaya. Turned out really good. Served with fresh green beans, salad and French roll. Cooked in cast iron Dutch oven.

Made a chicken & sausage gumbo for New Years Day. Has been a lasting family tradition since I was a kid growing up in Louisiana.

Happy New Year all!!!

After watching many videos and reading many post on this site, below is my snack stick plan. I welcome your feedback to make my first attempt a success. Thanks all!

Venison/Pork Snack Sticks
3# Pre-ground Venison 80/20 beef fat
3# Pork butt
Cube pork and ground venison (semi frozen)
Grind pork thru 3/8” plate
Mix pre ground venison & ground pork (put in freezer again if not ice cold)
Add Willies Seasoning (184g)
Add Sure Cure (6.8g) mixed with 8oz cold water
Add Sure Gel (40.8g)
Add smoke powder (6.8g)
(put in freezer again if not ice cold)
Grind thru 1/8” plate
Mix by hand for a long time to get good protein extraction (may use kitchen aid mixer)
Add ECA (27.2g) and mix again but don’t over mix
Divide into two 3lb batches
To one 3lb batch;
• Add dried jalapenos (6 peppers)
• Add high temp cheddar (5 oz for 3# meat)
Mix until evenly distributed
Add meat into my new Black Friday Walton 11lb stuffer
Use smallest stuffing tube
Stuff into 19mm collagen casings
Put in Excalibur Dehydrator with fan
• 1 hr at 125 degrees
• 1 hr at 140 degrees
• 2 hr at 155 degrees
• Move to oven at 175 degrees until internal temp of 160
Remove and put in ice bath
Dry on rack with fan circulating air
Refrigerate overnight
Cut to length and Vac seal
Re-wrap 11lb stuffer and put back under tree before wife gets home

Chicken liver 5 lbs
Pork 20 lbs
Bell Pepper 4 cups
Celery 4 cups
Onion 8 cups
Garlic 8 cloves
Kosher Salt 250 grams
Blk pepper 80 grams
Red pepper to taste
Paprika 80 grams
White pepper 40 grams
Thyme 40 grams
Bay leaves 6
Cube pork and rough chop veg, add liver
Add 80% seasoning
Overnight in frig
Cover with water and cook 3-4 hr til meat falling apart
Remove meat and vegetables with spider reserving liquid
Whip meat & veg with cake paddle in mixer ( or grind)
Add Fresh green onion (4-5 bunches tops only chopped)
Fresh parsley (4-5 bunches chopped)
Add 50% rice and continue blending just until evenly incorporated
Add about 1/3 to 1/2 liquid, should be very moist but sticking together
Taste and adjust seasonings
Stuff into casings

Happy Thanksgiving to my Walton family. Thanks for all the great post and answers to my questions as I get better at this hobby. This forum has a really a great group of men and women willing to help anyone!

Tried out my new Waltons stuffer on a small batch of venison & pork boudin today. Stuffer worked flawlessly. Flavor was dead on for boudin with the trinity, fresh green onion, fresh parsley and chicken livers. Great on a cackers with stone ground mustard and hot sauce, but will increase seasoning level about 20% next time.

Chef I worked for Sara Lee in their Jimmy Dean Foods division and was responsible for buying all of their seasonings and ingredients. There is no sage in the regular seasoning.

Experience? I have made venison breakfast sausage and summer sausage a few times but they both turned out very dry. I grill and smoke often and would like to get better at making sausages. Have a lot of venison that I need to process further.

Favorite snack or seasoning flavor? I love boudin, snack sticks, jalapeno cheddar smoked links and summer sausage.

Smoker? WSM 22.5 & 18.

That’s what I thought. I love my WSM, just not the right tool for this job. I see another smoker in my future. Will have to start laying the ground work with the wife.

I do something similar with my Excalibur seasonings if I do not use the entire bag. I just used a small strip of a textured vac seal bag inserted in the original seasoning bag to draw the vacuum. Works great!

I bought my 11lb Waltons this time last year when they went on black Friday sale and it has been great for snack sticks. It is a quality product, has high and low ratio gears, and comes with an extra plunger gasket.

Thank you for your service and sacrifices!

I support my local meat markets. This has become an almost lost art. They provide a great service to the community. The large conglomerates can keep their meat.

If you don’t want it, you can always give it away in the weekly drawing with a bag of tender jerky.

The only way I do pre-cooked sausage is when I am smoking some other meat. I put raw chubs of break sausage on smoker while cooking and pull at 160. Refrigerate then slice and warm for a great smoked sausage and cheese biscuits the next morning.

Chef Agree no tomato, but has to have a really dark roux and okra!

Wow, can’t plant here until May 15. I remember staggering my planting in Louisiana to spread out harvest. No need in IL.

I dehydrate my own jalapenos after I pick them. Then add seeds and all to the meat block without rehydrating. They act as a water/fat binder and rehydrate during cooking process.

I definitely clean and flush casings well
I was out of casings and purchased a small pack from a local small butcher. They could have been old.
I brought the sausage to room temp and let dry in front of a fan before smoking
I did prick casings after stuffing
I rinsed in cold water. I will try warm water next time.

In summary, I now have fresh casing from Walton’s and will rinse them with warm water and let soak at least an hour before stuffing. We will see if that helps.

Thanks!!!

I have the 22.5" WSM and smoke kielbasa on it all the time. I have not purchased a hanging rack yet so I do them on the racks with an empty water pan. I live in Chicago and smoke during the winter most of the time so it is easier to maintain the lower temps. I also have a pit controller with a fan to keep the temps I need. Setting your charcoal up in a 2X2 or 2X3 snake around the outer edge of your fire ring will also help keep temps low. Depending on outside temps you can adjust the width and height of the snake until you get the temps you need. When it is below zero outside, I can just use a pile of charcoal in the middle and my fan will keep the temp where they need to be without a problem. Welcome and good luck.