Venison snack sticks (Qview)

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xray

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
Mar 11, 2015
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Northeast PA
A special thanks to CrankyBuzzard and Nepas for answering some questions on a previous thread.

I used a snack stick kit from Hi Mountain, it was their Hickory blend. 70/30 venison to ground park was used and stuffed about 14lbs of meat.


I started the smoke at 130 degrees and bumped up the temperature every hour by 10 degrees until I reached 175. This ended up being easier said than done due to high winds and freezing rain.

I pulled the sticks when the IT was 152. The sticks varied greatly in temperature. Some sticks had a difference of almost 15 degrees between their tops and bottoms.

Sticks were hung for an hour prior to cutting. Weighed in at just under 9lbs.

All in all, a good smoke but just a tad too salty for me.
 
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So I stored the sticks in gallon zip lock bags in the fridge...I noticed the amount of moisture forming inside the bag.

I didn't have any paper bags so I lined a cookie sheet with parchment paper, laid the sticks in the paper and then covered with another piece...I hope this will dry them out better?

I think I did the right thing here? Tommorow night, I'm going to bag them back up and deliver to my brother-in-laws.
 
Never use zip lock bags as you found out.

I think what you came up with will work.

BTW, they look great
 
Thank you Adam. I kept checking them, and they were getting soft, I was worried about them losing their snap and having the collagen casings seperate from the meat.

Although not as enclosed as a paper bag, I think it will work too.
 
Them look good.

Yes zip lock bags are bad for smoked sausage. Un waxed white or brown butcher paper is good if you dont have any brown lunch bags. Keep in mind that in paper in the fridge the sausage wil start to dry some making a semi dry style sausage (which is fine for me)

Some of my family members and friends dont like the collagen casings so a peel of the casings at times is good.
 
Great looking sticks.

Those look really good.

The sticks look fantastic!

Great job!

Al

Thanks guys!

Them look good.

Yes zip lock bags are bad for smoked sausage. Un waxed white or brown butcher paper is good if you dont have any brown lunch bags. Keep in mind that in paper in the fridge the sausage wil start to dry some making a semi dry style sausage (which is fine for me)

Some of my family members and friends dont like the collagen casings so a peel of the casings at times is good.

I will pick up some paper bags after work today, the parchment paper was a "what would MacGuyver do" moment. It was all I had at that time. The original plan was to just give them to my bro-in-law after cutting them and have him do whatever he wanted with them(his deer)....but he ended up no-showing so I got stuck keeping them overnight. He will get them later this evening.

I tried some this morning, sticks were drier but the casing is softer. They're still good.

What is the best way of storing them so they keep that snap? unrefrigerated?
 
Thanks guys!
I will pick up some paper bags after work today, the parchment paper was a "what would MacGuyver do" moment. It was all I had at that time. The original plan was to just give them to my bro-in-law after cutting them and have him do whatever he wanted with them(his deer)....but he ended up no-showing so I got stuck keeping them overnight. He will get them later this evening.

I tried some this morning, sticks were drier but the casing is softer. They're still good.

What is the best way of storing them so they keep that snap? unrefrigerated?
You used cure 1 with the mix.

Shelf life unrefrigerated is only a week or so before they start to develop mold. Now if they were cure 2 sticks the mold would be good and counter life would be a few months

In the fridge the moisture will make the casing soft
 
Thanks guys!

I will pick up some paper bags after work today, the parchment paper was a "what would MacGuyver do" moment. It was all I had at that time. The original plan was to just give them to my bro-in-law after cutting them and have him do whatever he wanted with them(his deer)....but he ended up no-showing so I got stuck keeping them overnight. He will get them later this evening.


I tried some this morning, sticks were drier but the casing is softer. They're still good.


What is the best way of storing them so they keep that snap? unrefrigerated?


You used cure 1 with the mix.
Shelf life unrefrigerated is only a week or so before they start to develop mold. Now if they were cure 2 sticks the mold would be good and counter life would be a few months

In the fridge the moisture will make the casing soft

How long will they keep vacuumed seal and in fridge only (not freezing) ??
 
Thank you DS! They've been getting better since sitting in the fridge the past few days.

They were originally salty but mellowed out a lot. I would use this kit again.
 
Nice venison sticks, look tasty. Hi Mountain is good stuff. 
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Sticks look great! I have a hi mountain snack stick kit for my fist go at sticks. Used there jerky kit and was really good!
 
Nice venison sticks, look tasty. Hi Mountain is good stuff.  Thumbs Up

Thank you!

Sticks look great! I have a hi mountain snack stick kit for my fist go at sticks. Used there jerky kit and was really good!

Thank you! If I remember correctly, we both used the Hi Mountain jerky kit and smoked it on the same day.
 
We did! I think you used the hickory blend and i used the cracked pepper n garlic.

This was a hickory kit as well, it was picked up by my brother in law who wanted me to make venison sticks with the deer he shot.

The kits are exactly alike. The snack stick kit only gives you more seasoning and cure plus the collagen casings.

You could make a small batch of sticks using any leftover fracked pepper n garlic that you have.
 
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