Cajun Venison Snack Sticks

• If you plan on using natural sheep casings then the night before you plan on making this recipe clean and rehydrate your casings. Add 1/2 tsp of baking soda to 2 cups of water and let the casing soak in that solution overnight.
• Clean your meat of any silver skin, sinew, arteries and cut into small strips or cubes. Place the meat and fat in the freezer for an hour or until the temp reaches 32f – 34F (0c – 1.1c).
• Prepare all of your seasonings, and if you are going to ferment these sticks then rehydrate your starter culture. The starter culture needs to rehydrate for 30 minutes prior to use.
• Grind your very chilled meat and fat on a course plate (10mm) then regrind on a medium plate (6mm)
• Add your seasonings, the ice cold water, and the starter culture to your mince meat and mix till it becomes very tacky. If you grab a small handful it will stick to your hand if you hold your hand upside down.
• Stuff your mince meat into the casings and hang them in an area where the temperature is 75f- 95F (23.8c – 35c) for 18-20 hours (you can also place them in your oven with the light on during this fermentation stage)
• After fermenting place the snack sticks in your smoker and begin to apply smoke (we use an external cold smoker for this)

Cooking Schedule

• Start at 125F (51.6c) for 1 hour, 155F (68.3c) for 1 hour, 175F (79.4c) till the internal temp reaches 145F (62.7c) (smoke is being applied lightly through the entire cooking process)
• Once finished cooking submerge in ice cold water and hang to bloom for 3-4 hours

Optional Step Drying

• If you have an area that stays fairly cool 55f (13c) and humid (70% – 80%) you can hang your snack sticks in there for 2-7 days to dry them out a bit and concentrate the flavor. The longer they dry the more firm they will be.

NOTES

• This recipe has lots of optional steps. Fermentation, smoking, and drying are 100% optional. The one thing I will say is that if you choose to dry your snack sticks I would ferment and smoke the snack sticks. Smoking the snack sticks will not only give it a nice flavor but it will also protect your snack sticks against any mold that might want to grow on them while they are drying…

  Fermentation is also dual purpose. Flavor and protection. The lower ph protects the snack sticks against unwanted bacteria while they dry. We used a starter culture to ferment but you can use products like Encapsulated Citric Acid or Fermento to get a similar effect.