Beef Stick Journey Starts Right Now!

[JayT9000]

Hey everyone! I’m excited to join this forum—my name’s Jay.

I’m diving into the smoked sausage/beef stick game and want to make my own Country Archer like beef stick. I’m pretty new to this, so I’m figuring out how to get a similar texture and nutrition profile.

Here’s the deal: I found that these sticks have about 3g fat and 4g protein in a 14g serving (like this https://www.countryarcher.com/cdn/shop/files/OG-Minis-0.5oz-NFP.jpg?v=1711509521&width=1445). I think the VL ratio should be around 80/20 or 75/25, but I’m not 100% sure as I do not yet know the amount of moisture loss, fat rendering, and protein coagulation.

Here are the questions I hope someone can help answer:

1. Does anyone have experience making beef sticks, and how much shrinkage occurs in percentage % during the smoking process?
2. What meat-to-fat (VL) ratio do you recommend?
3. How do you achieve the specific texture you're aiming for in your beef sticks? Are there any techniques or equipment you use to control the texture?
4. Regarding smoking techniques: What is your smoking process in terms of temperature, time, and other factors? How do you achieve the desired flavor and texture?

Also, any tips on flavoring or smoking would be awesome! Would love to hear from the pros.

Thanks, and I appreciate any help from you guys!

 

[Winterrider]

Welcome from ND
Use the search form (top right magnifer), will get you lots of additional info.

 

[GatorAGR]

Welcome Jay! I started this journey about 6 months ago and it's been great. As Winterrider said, your best best is to search snack sticks or beef sticks on the forum and you'll find more information than you need. I also found value watching youtube videos. I've made several batches and they've all turned out great. My one key tip that I learned here is...After cooking, place in a paper bag and refrigerate for about a week. The taste and texture improves significantly. Hard to wait it out, but if you do, you'll be glad you did. Good luck!

 

[BGKYSmoker]

Naaaa
Never have

 

[JayT9000]

Thanks for the reactions! I’ve done my DD with the ol' search bar and browsed through a bunch of previous topics, which have been super helpful (seriously, thank you!).

BUT… and this is a big but—I'm still stuck on this one: what’s the meat-to-fat ratio that these popular beef sticks are using?

Can anyone throw me a bone (pun intended) and share some insight on the right VL (visual lean) percentage to aim for so I can get those sweet, sweet commercial-grade nutritional values?

Appreciate any advice before I turn my kitchen into a full-blown beef stick science lab!

 

[GatorAGR]

I'm by no means the expert here, but I've made few batches that I think turned out great. I try to stay in the 75-80% lean mix for my beef sticks. I have no idea how much the ratio is exactly though. I don't have a grinder so I buy ground beef from a butcher and add a little pork fat to the mix. Good luck!

 

[nlife]

Naaaa
Never have

You really should give them a try someday . In fact, rumour has it that there's a recipe floating around these forums and I hear its quite divine!

 

[slavikborisov]

Thanks for the reactions! I’ve done my DD with the ol' search bar and browsed through a bunch of previous topics, which have been super helpful (seriously, thank you!).

BUT… and this is a big but—I'm still stuck on this one: what’s the meat-to-fat ratio that these popular beef sticks are using?

Can anyone throw me a bone (pun intended) and share some insight on the right VL (visual lean) percentage to aim for so I can get those sweet, sweet commercial-grade nutritional values?

Appreciate any advice before I turn my kitchen into a full-blown beef stick science lab!

I would stick to the 85/15, 80/20, 75/25…. It’s your personal preference…. Try 80/20 and go from there…. If your doing beef a simple brisket ground up is a good starting point if you aren’t buying already ground meat

 

[BGKYSmoker]

You really should give them a try someday . In fact, rumour has it that there's a recipe floating around these forums and I hear its quite divine!

That nepas guy?

 

[larnanc]

Thanks for the reactions! I’ve done my DD with the ol' search bar and browsed through a bunch of previous topics, which have been super helpful (seriously, thank you!).

BUT… and this is a big but—I'm still stuck on this one: what’s the meat-to-fat ratio that these popular beef sticks are using?

Can anyone throw me a bone (pun intended) and share some insight on the right VL (visual lean) percentage to aim for so I can get those sweet, sweet commercial-grade nutritional values?

Appreciate any advice before I turn my kitchen into a full-blown beef stick science lab!

Dumb question I know, but what is DD? Thanks!

 

[nomoreusmc]

I would shoot for best flavor, not nutritional value but that's just me. 80\20 has always been a golden ratio for meat. It's at least a great place to start. You learn these things over time over multiple batches. Stuff like this I don't seem to get just right till my third or fourth try. It's like you need editing time! Lol