Best Cut of Beef for Snack Sticks

[MarkL786]

Hi all,

I'm a beginner in snack stick making, and know this question has been covered in a post a couple of years back, but I wanted to hear your thoughts on the best cut of beef to use for all-beef snack sticks (no pork in them).

I've read that chuck is one of the better options because of its higher fat content relative to regular ground beef. Are there other cuts that have good fat content?, and are there certain cuts which I should avoid?

All help would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[indaswamp]

IMO, you should never use store bought ground meat for making smoked sausage. Store bought ground meat is the most unclean you can buy. I highly recommend buying only whole cuts of meat and grinding it yourself at home.

As to which beef to use, bull meat binds better than cow meat. Bull meat will absorb 100% of it's weight in water where as cow meat will absorb about 60%. The 'tougher' cuts usually contain more collagen and therefore better binding properties. Brisket, shin, Flank....