Hi J C, I really don't know what Slim Jims taste like, but I will add my snack stick recipe here
It is a bit spicy but the heat can be adjusted up or down with the cayenne pepper.
This recipe is for 5 pounds of your favorite meat.
5# ground meat
1 Tbls Black Pepper
1 Tbls Red Pepper flakes
1/2 Tbls cayenne papper
1 Tbls whole mustard seed
1 Tbls Crushed Fennel
1 Tbls crushed Anis
1 Tbls granulated Garlic
1 Tbls onion powder
1 Tbls MSG (optional)
1/2 Tbls Italian Seasoning
1 teaspoon Cure 1
4 teaspoons kosher salt
Mix all dry ingredients
2 1/2 OZ Soy Sauce
2 1/2 OZ Worcestershire Sauce
4 OZ very cold water
Mix all wet ingredients together, Then mix the wet with the dry and mix well.
Then mix this combination into the ground meat.
I prefer to chill for about 30 to 45 minutes, then I run it through the grinder again. You can either stuff now (I use 21 mm Collagen casing) and set in fridge over night or you can cover the container and fridge over night and stuff the next day. Either way it comes out the same.
I then place in smoker preheated to about 120 degrees, let hang until there is no moisture felt on the casings, at this time, I add the smoke and slowly increase the smoker temps each hour or so until the sticks hit 150 degrees. I prefer not to cold water bath mine, thats up to you.
I just shut the heat off and let the sticks hang for an hour or so, then remove them, lay them on a tray and let them cool on my counter untill I feel no real heat in them, at this time, I cut them to desired length, place them in a brown paper shopping bag and let sit in thye fridge for a couple days before I vacuum pack them and freeze them.
Like I said, they aren't SLIM JIMS, but they are darn good.
Rich-
