Venison sausage Sticks

[jones382]

Hi,

I used the following recipe a couple of years ago, and even with raising the temp of the sticks as slow as possible, i would get fat out, and the meat would slide right out of the casings.

Should i be using pork butt instead of straight pork fat? i'm wondering if there was just too much fat content as i see people using 60/40 venison to pork butt. I'm going to try another batch with pork butt not just pork fat, but want to reach out to see if there are any other items i should be thinking about.

60 percent venison, 40 percent pork fat. Seasoning added as well as the appropriate amount of pink curing salt. Also added a small amount of water

 

[oberst]

Never heard of that much straight pork fat; it has to be a factor.

 

[crazymoon]

J382, I make tons of snack sticks and never use anything but pork butt with my venison. 75/25 or 70/30 is my go to mix, no fat out at 165 temps and delicious finished product.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Hi,

I used the following recipe a couple of years ago, and even with raising the temp of the sticks as slow as possible, i would get fat out, and the meat would slide right out of the casings.

Should i be using pork butt instead of straight pork fat? i'm wondering if there was just too much fat content as i see people using 60/40 venison to pork butt. I'm going to try another batch with pork butt not just pork fat, but want to reach out to see if there are any other items i should be thinking about.

60 percent venison, 40 percent pork fat. Seasoning added as well as the appropriate amount of pink curing salt. Also added a small amount of water

Your fat content is maybe a little high. 70/30 is about the top end, I know some that go as much as 50/50, but I never will.

If you are smoking low and ramping up and having fat out issues it’s most likely caused from fat smear. This happens in the grinding and or mixing process. If the meat gets a bit to warm in either process the fat melts a bit or smears. This stops the meat batter from setting to the inside of the casing. It then looks like fat out and no adhesion to the casing. Tell more about your recipe and process so we can get to the root of the problem for you.

 

[indaswamp]

How cold is the fat when you grind it? Should be around 32*F for grinding. Warm fat will smear when put through a grinder leading to fat out.

 

[JckDanls 07]

Also... How are you monitoring temps in the smoker? What kind of smoker ?

 

[jones382]

Also... How are you monitoring temps in the smoker? What kind of smoker ?

I’ve got a vertical electric smoker, using the digital temp reading on smoker, then a probe to monitor the sticks.

I’m pretty confident my issue was using just pork fat. Going to try with pork butt

 

[JckDanls 07]

I’ve got a vertical electric smoker, using the digital temp reading on smoker

Those therms are notoriously off by up to 50 degrees... I suggest you get a quality dual probe thermometer for a more accurate reading of both your chamber temps and your meat temps...

Thermoworks has a big sale right now on the Smoke

Smoke® Remote BBQ Alarm Thermometer

Smoke® is a remote BBQ alarm thermometer designed for cooks who want steady control over long, low-and-slow cooks — without constantly monitoring the grill. With two probe channels, Smoke lets you track both your meat temperature and your pit temperature at the same time, sending live readings...

www.thermoworks.com

 

[Winterrider]

To follow up on @JckDanls 07 post, another digital thermometer inside cook chamber too verify actual temp

 

[Winterrider]

Whoops Keith, beat me too it !

 

[jones382]

just wanted to update everyone that i made a great batch of snack sticks!!! switching to pork shoulder fixed my fatout issue.

Thanks all!