Bambi Black Smokey Stix

couger78 · Jun 18, 2012

After a rather quiet Father's Day morn, I figured I'd make myself productive & crank out some sausage. Saw Nepa's recipe (Thanks, Rick!) here for the Black smokey Sticks, I had all the ingredients so why not? ;) These wont' be a black as his, but that's okay.

Per the recipe, here's what I used:

I left out the MSG (Accent) due to sensitivity to it in our household. I added 2 tsp of hickory liquid smoke too.

In place of beef or pork, I used some very lean venison steaks.

There were ground through a 4.5mm plate:

For fat, I added a pound (20%) of some nice & smokey pork fat trimmings I had leftover from my cold-smoked bacon batch.

This was well-chilled & ground just like the venison.

All well-mixed by hand & ready to be stuffed:

I'm using some 20mm smoked collagen casings I had and proceeded to get stuffing. Tied up all the ends as they will hang n my smoker.

Using hickory & applewood pellet mix (leftover from my bacon project) and after drying the hanging stix in the smoker for an hour, I upped' the temp and added smoke.

About an hour of smoke so far....

Five hours later, 160° IT is reached, so I pulled the sticks.

Onto a rack by a large fan to cool...

These will sit overnight in the fridge to firm up a bit before I slice them into the 'proper' lengths.

More to come...

Kevin

sam3 · Jun 18, 2012

These look great! I have some venison left and might give these a try as well!

jrod62 · Jun 18, 2012

Looks good.
I need to make some more stix.

smokinhusker · Jun 18, 2012

Looks great!

driedstick · Jun 18, 2012

Those do look nice good job

savannahsmoker · Jun 18, 2012

I have not made sausage since I work in a Wisconsin German butcher shop back in 1959.

I give y'all sausage makers a lot of credit for what you do and sure would like some

.

Great job and thanks for posting.

couger78 · Jun 18, 2012

Got the sticks all sliced. they've firmed up nicely overnight & darkened slightly.

They taste very similar to smoked sweet italian sausage ( I love anise & fennel) but with a slight tang I attribute to the venison. I

'm not a big fan of venison, but in this form, it's not bad at all.

Getting crowded.....

...and into the fridge they go. These will keep for several weeks, but I'm betting they'll be pretty much gone by the weekend.

Kevin

africanmeat · Jun 19, 2012

O M G they look amazing .

boykjo · Jun 19, 2012

africanmeat said:
O M G they look amazing .

DITTO

slownlow · Jun 20, 2012

Nice Job

putmeoutside · Jul 11, 2012

Those sticks look awesome!

I'm new to smoking and have tried sticks twice with terrible results.

What temp did you smoke your sticks at to start with? And then how high did you go when you added the smoke?

The two batches I have done came out super dry, I think I have my temp too high trying to keep it under 200.

Any advice would be very much appreciated

couger78 · Jul 11, 2012

Originally Posted by putmeoutside

What temp did you smoke your sticks at to start with? And then how high did you go when you added the smoke?

The two batches I have done came out super dry, I think I have my temp too high trying to keep it under 200.

Any advice would be very much appreciated

Started out about 120-130° with no smoke for about an hour. This will dry out any exterior moisture and allow for better smoke adhesion to the sticks.

Then added light to moderate smoke & upped the temps gradually 140°>150°>160°>170° over the next 3-4 hours. The last hour I kicked up the temp to 185° to bring the desired IT of the sticks to 160° (for game). Total smoke time : 5 hours (plus 1 hour with no smoke)

Over 200° for any length of time, you'll probably ruin the sticks = fat out, dry, crumbly sausages & sticks.

Kevin

mds51 · Jul 11, 2012

Would you please print the exact recipe that you used for these sticks. This is the type of flavors that I want to acheive with both snack sticks and maybe even a salami or summer sausage attempt. Thank You ! mds51

couger78 · Jul 11, 2012

mds51 said:
Would you please print the exact recipe that you used for these sticks. This is the type of flavors that I want to acheive with both snack sticks and maybe even a salami or summer sausage attempt. Thank You ! mds51

Here ya go! This is Rick's recipe (Nepas), that I've only altered by leaving out the Accent.

5 lbs ground Lean Venison

1 pound Pork fat (I used fatty bacon ends & trimmings)
7.5 tsp Kosher salt (35 g)
1 tsp Cure#1
2 tsp of Liquid Smoke (I used 'Mesquite' as it was all I had))
4 tsp Black pepper (7.6g)
2.5 tsp Mustard seed (8.3g)
2.5 tsp Fennel seeds, slightly crushed (8.3g)
1-1/4 tsp Anise seed (2.6g)
1-1/4 tsp Garlic powder (2.6g)
24mm collagen casing

mds51 · Jul 11, 2012

Thank you for the quick response and great recipe. It is nice that everyone shares their success stories and recipes. Curing bacon as we speak and then I will be ready for this recipe as my next project.

putmeoutside · Jul 12, 2012

Thank You ! I think that is what my problem has been. Too Hot.

I have a gas smoker and haven't figured out how to keep the temp down below 200.

Any tips beyond getting an electric smoker?

smokinhusker · Jul 12, 2012

Hey Putmeoutside,

I believe s2k9k http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/u/47943/s2k9k did some mods to a propane he has. Check the propane mods forum or do a search for propane mods

putmeoutside · Jul 12, 2012

Awesome - Thank you

s2k9k · Jul 12, 2012

putmeoutside said:
Awesome - Thank you

PM sent.

I see that you are new here, when you get a minute would you do us a favor and go to "Roll Call" and introduce yourself so we can get to know you and give you a proper welcome, also would you add your location to your profile, we like knowing where you are when we talk to you, Thanks!

BGKYSmoker · Jul 12, 2012

You found the Black Angus Da Hoofin

Bambi Black Smokey Stix

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