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smokindrum

Newbie
Original poster
Jun 15, 2017
3
10
Hey everyone new to snack sticks and had a question. I have a bunch of venison that when I got processed the butcher added 10‰ beef fat to and now im interested in try my hand at some snack sticks. I have heard of added pork to venison for snack sticks but not beef fat. Can I use this for snack sticks or should I grind up some of my roasts instead?

Thanks in advance,

Vince
 
A  little lean for my taste, I like 20% fat, but that should make some good sticks...JJ
 
Great! I really didnt want to deal with grinding anything for my first run. So anyone have a good recipe and maybe some ideas on how to make it work on my drum? I was thinking to just coil it around on my cooking grate.
 
I've made 90% lean beef sticks before with no issue.  Venison with 10% beef fat added would be in that or the 85% range.  It will work or you can add a little more fat to get it down to the 80% level.  I would compare how much fat it looks like it has vs 80% ground chuck and add more if needed, but it would work "as is".
 
Hey everyone new to snack sticks and had a question. I have a bunch of venison that when I got processed the butcher added 10‰ beef fat to and now im interested in try my hand at some snack sticks. I have heard of added pork to venison for snack sticks but not beef fat. Can I use this for snack sticks or should I grind up some of my roasts instead?

Thanks in advance,

Vince
Hi there and welcome Vince!

As others are saying you should be fine.  I make stick jerky from 100% ground venison and it is perfectly fine.  Now that is not exactly the same thing as a Snack Stick, but at the very least you end up with tender jerky and not a half jery half sausage combo that is a snack stick.  

Also I have made stick jerky from 88/12 beef I get from Costco and it works fine as well.  A little more sweaty than I prefer but it does just fine.

Finally, I would encourage you to tell your meat processor to NOT add any fat to your Venison grind.  

I process about 6 deer a year (from an MLD hunting property in Texas, so yep 6 is legal) and I found that there is no need to add fat to Venison grind.  I make burgers with it and have no issues with it not having any added fat, but I understand adding some beef fat if you want a better burger patty.

At least in Texas almost all processors "add fat" to your venison because you "need" it according to them.  Or they add brisket because the fat is "needed for making sausage".  Well it is true you need fat to make sausage but when you pay $4 a pound to have sausage made and they add 10 pounds of brisket, they just charged you $40 for beef that can be purchased at the store for much less.  That is one hell of an unnecessary mark up.

If you have the 100% pure Venison grind you can always go buy some trimmed pork back fat from a butcher or have them order you 10 pounds and then you can add pork fat as needed for making sausage, snack sticks, etc.  Hell I had my local grocery butcher sell me 2.25 pounds of beef fat the other day for $0.99 a pound so I could make 11 pounds of Venison Pastrami Loaf, so it is maybe easier than you think to add fat as needed.

I make taco meat, meat spaghetti sauce, burgers, hamburger helper, etc. all the time with my 100% pure venison grind.  I process my own meat so I take good care to eliminate anything that may be gamey.  I guarantee you would never be able to tell I used 100% pure venison instead of beef.

Anyhow, enough of my rant I just wanted to share a little information about 100% pure venison grind because I've done it both ways with/without fat and yet people who have never tried 100% pure venison grind with no fat added swear to me that fat MUST be added, and that is just not accurate.   

Best of luck on the snack sticks, I look forward to seeing how they come out :D
 
Last edited:
Hey everyone new to snack sticks and had a question. I have a bunch of venison that when I got processed the butcher added 10‰ beef fat to and now im interested in try my hand at some snack sticks. I have heard of added pork to venison for snack sticks but not beef fat. Can I use this for snack sticks or should I grind up some of my roasts instead?

Thanks in advance,

Vince
should work good. I had my local butcher grind some pork butt for me. Worked out great. I did a recipe nepas posted for pepperoni snack sticks. Turned out awesome.
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