Austin
I tried making snack sticks for the second time. This time I added citric acid for some tang. The mix never got sticky and when I stuffed the casing it was not smooth and the water seperated and ran out on the counter top. The meat was like little seperated lumps in the casings. After cooking, they tasted good, but the texture was like compressed saw dust.

Lost River Jones
I was making a test batch of 1 lb. I used 1/4 C. ice water.
The cure I used was from Hi-Mountain snack stick kit, 2t. and 1 1/2 t. Citric acid. Besides different seasonings from last time the only difference was adding the citric acid for the tang.

Austin
I actually just found this site while tryimg to figure out what went wrong. I ordered a couple things this morning.

Austin The first time attempting making a snack stick the taste was ok, but I like that tang of Slim Jims. Well after some research I found that I needed citric acid forthat tang. Well, being new at this I went to the grocery store and picked up some citric acid. Big mistake, it was not encapsulated, thats why the meat immediately started clumping.