Tasty and fast Meat Stix

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Led Freddie

Fire Starter
Original poster
Sep 9, 2018
50
75
BC Canada/ Tucson, Az.
I had half a pork butt staring me in the face and crying out for attention. I've been wanting to make some meat stix snacks for a while and it felt like time to do it. I've seen many recipes to pepperoni but wanted instant gratification so I took a favorite sausage recipe and twisted it.

Ingredients
1 pound of pork butt
pink 1/8 tsp
kosher salt 5 tsp
brown sugar 2 tsp
course grind Blk. pepper 1 tsp
granulated garlic 1 tsp
chilli powder 1 tsp
cracked black pepper 1 tsp
chioppine pepper flakes 1 tsp
fennel- ground fresh 1 tsp
Balsamic vinegar 2 tsp

I par froze the pork and ground on the largest plate I have ( approx 3/8")

I then added the Balsamic vinegar and added the seasoning over the meat covering all of it and covered it in the fridge for 24 hrs.

The next day I pulled it out and put it in the freezer for 30 minutes to harden up, then put it to work through my stuffer with a course faceplate into casings.

I used hickory and preheat my smoker to 110.
I hung my sticks and let them heat at 110 for 2 hrs.
Then, upped the heat to 130 for another 2 hrs.
Finally, 1 more hour at 140.
They hit 145 quicker than I expected and there seemed little sent of hickory at first. Then I put them in the fridge to bloom.
20190706_170507.jpg

While resting the hickory really started to come to life and the casing crinkled nicely. I managed to leave them alone for 2 hours in the fridge before attacking the first one.

20190706_170559.jpg


The marbling is beautiful and there wasnt a single drop of fat that dripped while smoking. Just 2 hours out of the smoker, the texture was a little chewy but ideal. It wasnt dry inside nor was the casing pulling away. The smoke was very apparent and the seasoning makes for a mild bite. The balsamic gives it a nice little tang.

20190706_170817.jpg


18 hours in the fridge and the ziplock bag smells like a smokehouse and the texture has firmed up beautifully. It remains moist and chewy, the way I like it and the chioppine flakes give more than heat, they add to the over all flavor. The cracked pepper gives a nice suprise crunch on occasion.

The only thing I regret is we had people over last night and the wife pulled out two sticks and cut them up for sampling. Alas, I now have to make a full mansize batch.

You want easy... this is it. No Buttermilk, no fermentation, no drying. Party stix, meat stix... HEAVENLY Stix!
 
Last edited:
Look great but I have a question....

Is that "pink 1/2 tsp" in the recipe 1/2 tsp of pink salt (cure #1)? If it is, that is about 2 1/2x the recommended amount for a pound of meat. It's 1 level tsp to 5 pounds. For a pound of meet it should be 1/5 of a tsp or just under 1/4 tsp since a 1/4 tsp is available in some measuring sets. It works out to 1.13 grams per pound if you have a precision scale that will do 1/100th of a gram.
 
Look great but I have a question....

Is that "pink 1/2 tsp" in the recipe 1/2 tsp of pink salt (cure #1)? If it is, that is about 2 1/2x the recommended amount for a pound of meat. It's 1 level tsp to 5 pounds. For a pound of meet it should be 1/5 of a tsp or just under 1/4 tsp since a 1/4 tsp is available in some measuring sets. It works out to 1.13 grams per pound if you have a precision scale that will do 1/100th of a gram.

Thanks Dave for pointing that out. My typo. I used 1/8th a Tsp. I corrected my typo. thanks.
 
Man those look great, I have been looking for a good snack stick recipe. Do you think a 50/50 mix pork & deer would work? Collagen casings?

Thanks for posting.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Led Freddie
Yes i used collegen casings. I think the pork and venison combo would be great. I'd be temptedadd some cracked red pepper to it as well if you can find some.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jac63
Heat bulid up...new one on me. Never heard of it before. To be sure you might want to test your therms and varify the temp in your smoker. At some point in the future it might cause a problem.
Great looking sausages, by the way. I'm gonna copy that one.

BTW, Nice Sled !!
 
Heat bulid up...new one on me. Never heard of it before. To be sure you might want to test your therms and varify the temp in your smoker. At some point in the future it might cause a problem.
Great looking sausages, by the way. I'm gonna copy that one.

BTW, Nice Sled !!
Funny you mention checking the temps.
Ive bern watching my onboard thermometer with a wary eye. I had a couple sausage batches burn out the fat. I now keep an oven thermometer inside and my spike thermometer to verify. my on board is running hotter by 5 degrees. I will be watching close as im making a batch of sweet chorizo stix later this week
 
Those are some great looking snack sticks there Freddie, Thatss a big like for me!!! Interesting with the balsamic, imagine a nice tang to them. Congrats on the carousel ride.
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Hot Threads

Clicky