Jalapeno Cheddar Venison Snack Sticks

[Hazer67]

Made a batch of Jalapeno Cheddar Venison Snack Sticks, turned out perfect! I made a 5 # batch and used 1/4 cup of dehydrated jalapenos and 1/2# high temp cheddar. Stuffed the night before and on to the smoker the next morning until 152 degrees internal temp.

 

[Sowsage]

They look great!!..nice work!.. Was this a pre mix seasoning? If so what one did you use? Or if its your own mix do you mind sharing??

 

[kit s]

question.
How does one keep the cheese from compressing (squishing) when your stuffing them with meat into casing?
Yours looked like they still had form. Mine always seem to just blend in.
Yours look yummy.
kit

 

[Hazer67]

They look great!!..nice work!.. Was this a pre mix seasoning? If so what one did you use? Or if its your own mix do you mind sharing??

Snack stick mix from theseasonedbutcher.com

 

[JBPilot]

Deleted

 

[JBPilot]

question.
How does one keep the cheese from compressing (squishing) when your stuffing them with meat into casing?
Yours looked like they still had form. Mine always seem to just blend in.
Yours look yummy.
kit

Do you use a dedicated stuffer or a grinder with a stuffer attachment? Also are you using high temp cheese or regular? I found that when I stuffed my sticks with my grinder it tended to smear a lot of the cheese, also using regular cheese it would just melt out.

 

[indaswamp]

question.
How does one keep the cheese from compressing (squishing) when your stuffing them with meat into casing?
Yours looked like they still had form. Mine always seem to just blend in.
Yours look yummy.
kit

Use a dedicated stuffer.
Dry the cheese prior to mixing to firm it up.
stuff immediately after mixing in the cheese, but do not over mix.

 

[WI Smoker77]

Those sticks look great! Love the pics showing the process. Thanks for posting. Will check out the seasoning mix.

 

[Hazer67]

Do you use a dedicated stuffer or a grinder with a stuffer attachment? Also are you using high temp cheese or regular? I found that when I stuffed my sticks with my grinder it tended to smear a lot of the cheese, also using regular cheese it would just melt out.

I use a dedicated stuffer and I always use high temp cheese specifically for sausage making. A friend of mine owns a butcher shop and I buy it in 5# bags. And....no I do not get any smearing to speak of.

 

[bauchjw]

Those look incredible! Perfect snack sticks, great work!

 

[JBPilot]

I use a dedicated stuffer and I always use high temp cheese specifically for sausage making. A friend of mine owns a butcher shop and I buy it in 5# bags. And....no I do not get any smearing to speak of.

They look great! I was trying to respond to kit s question about cheese in sticks smearing. Your post has me thinking that I need to put up a post of my most recent batch of sticks.

 

[boykjo]

Nice Job.... Vacuum sealing should be out of the question!

Boykjo

 

[kit s]

Do you use a dedicated stuffer or a grinder with a stuffer attachment? Also are you using high temp cheese or regular? I found that when I stuffed my sticks with my grinder it tended to smear a lot of the cheese, also using regular cheese it would just melt out.

Stuffer 5#

 

[Sowsage]

Nice Job.... Vacuum sealing should be out of the question!

Boykjo

Agreed!!... If my kids saw those on the counter they would be gone by the time I could turn back around!!

 

[uncle eddie]

Do you use a dedicated stuffer or a grinder with a stuffer attachment? Also are you using high temp cheese or regular? I found that when I stuffed my sticks with my grinder it tended to smear a lot of the cheese, also using regular cheese it would just melt out.

I use a Hakka stuffer and have not had the cheese issues you mentioned...although if I did tiny diameter snack sticks, I could see that being an issue considering the force needed on my stuffer crank in low gear.

 

[JBPilot]

I’ve used my dedicated stuffer with as small as a 19mm casing stick and not had any issues with the cheese smearing in the casings. It does a little on the top of the plunger as it reaches the bottom but that is to be expected I would think.

Kit S if you’re using a dedicated 5lb stuffer and high temp cheese I’d say to just either stuff slower, or try a slightly larger diameter casing/stuffing tube. There are plenty of guys here with a lot more experience than me that might can help you out if you describe in detail what you do. Good luck!

 

[Fueling Around]

Excellent sticks. Jalapeno cheddar is my favorite venison stick

Snack stick mix from theseasonedbutcher.com

How is the salt level. Some mixes are fine alone, but adding in the cheese gets it over the top for my taste.

On the cheese smear issue, I've noticed if the HT cheddar chunks are too large it will shear in stuffing.
Look for small chunk cheese.