SNACK STICKS
As a reference guide for making batches of Snack Sticks smaller than 25 lbs. -
1 cup of water = ½ lb. of water
2 tablespoons = 1 oz. of Snack Stick Seasoning
As an Example:
If you would want to make a 10 lb. batch of Snack Sticks, you would use:
2 Cups of Water And
14 Tablespoons of Snack Stick Seasoning
[you also need just a little bit less than ½ Tablespoon of Sodium Nitrite]
20 lbs. of lean venison and 5 lbs. of lean (80/20)pork trim (lean pork butts will work)
or
8 lbs. of lean venison and 2 lbs. of lean (80/20) pork trim (lean pork butts will work)
[the meat should be as cold as possible]
OR
20 lbs. of lean beef and 5 lbs. of lean (80/20)pork trim (lean pork butts will work)
or
8 lbs. of lean beef and 2 lbs. of lean (80/20) pork trim (lean pork butts will work)
[the meat should be as cold as possible
1. Coarse grind the beef/pork or deer/pork meat mixture (grinding plate with 3/8 to 1/2 inch in diameter holes).
2. Mix 2½ pounds (5 cups) of purified* water and the 1 oz. pkg of quick cure (Sodium Nitrite) thoroughly. (Water to meat ratio is 1 lb. of water for every 10 lbs. of meat).
3. Add the pkg. of AC Legg Snack Stick seasoning to the water/sodium nitrite and mix and stir thoroughly.
4. Pour the water/seasoning/sodium nitrite mix into the coarse ground meat and mix/stir thoroughly (approximately 5 minutes of hand mixing).
5. Grind this mix of meat/seasoning through fine (regular hamburger plate - 1/4 to 1/8 inch in diameter holes).
{A} If using Encapsulated Citric Acid, this should be added AFTER the final grind and before stuffing. The Encapsulated Citric Acid should NEVER BE GROUND! Just mix the Encapsulated Citric Acid into the sausage mix by hand thoroughly.
6. Stuff into 19 mm collagen casings
7. Place the stuffed snack sticks in cooler (refrigerator) overnight (12 to 24 hours) in a plastic or glass container.
8. Place in smokehouse on screens. Set temperature to 130° F. with damper completely open and no smoke. If you don't have a smoker, you can "cook" your snack sticks in your kitchen oven. Click here to see the directions for processing Snack Stick in a Oven.
9. After 2 hours, raise temperature to 145° F, close damper to 1/2, and add sawdust to begin the smoking process.
10. After 2 hours at 145° F, raise temperature to 160° F, keep the damper at 1/2 open and continue smoking.
11. After 2 hours at 160° F, raise temperature to 175 - 180° F, close the damper to 3/4 closed and continue smoking until the internal temperature of the snack sticks reach 160° F.
12. Remove snack sticks from smokehouse and leave at room temperature for 2 hours.
13. Then package snack sticks (vacuum packing is best) and keep in the refrigerator. The Snack Sticks are now ready-to-eat!
* Distilled water works good for the seasoning mix. You can also use "good" tap water if you let it sit for 24 hours in the refrigerator to dissipate the chlorine. It is best to use ice cold water for the seasoning. Just let the water sit in your refrigerator overnight to chill it down before using.