Venison snack sticks are one of the easiest and tastiest treats we make as deer hunters.
If you ‘re like the rest of us, you’re no stranger to the mouthwatering powers of original, hot, Teriyaki, pepper, sweet and smoky, and venison cheddar snack sticks. But, you can’t eat eat any of them until you learn how to make them yourself. Luckily, we have all the information you to need to get those snack favorites into some storage bags for your next outdoor excursion.
Venison snack sticks are an easy-to-make, natural-tasting treat with no additives or preservatives. Packed with protein, they serve as a great alternative to all of the sugar-filled junk food from the store that offers very little nutritional value.
With a little brown sugar and garlic, as well as any spices you fancy, you can have a delicious stuffed treat everyone will enjoy, but you’ll need to keep them refrigerated, even if you vacuum seal them.
There are quite a few great recipes, but we found one that is quite simple and easy to follow from Out Grilling.
Ingredients and Tools
- 1 Cup Cold Water
- 3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
- 1-1/4 Teaspoons Granulated Garlic
- 1 Tablespoon Onion Flakes
- 1 Tablespoon Kosher Salt
- 1-1/4 Teaspoons Black Pepper
- 1/2 Teaspoon Dry Mustard
- And of course about 2 pounds of your Ground Venison
To do venison snack sticks the best way possible, you’re going to need a couple of tools in your arsenal to help you along. Not only that, but since you will be using ground venison, (or any ground red meat) you are going to have to consider food safety as a priority.
Here’s what you will need:
- Sausage Grinder/Meat Stuffer
- Properly Sized Edible Casings
- Vacuum Sealer
- Sealing Bags
- Meat Thermometer
- Grill, Smoker, or Oven (oven instructions included)
The Method
Prepare your grill or smoker to a lower heat–around 250 degrees–with hickory wood if possible. Combine all of the listed spices with the brown sugar and set aside. Mix your ground venison in a bowl with the cold water and then incorporate the spice mixture.
Tie one end of the sausage casing and then thread it onto the sausage stuffer. At this point, you can begin the process of stuffing your casing with the mixture, but it needs to be said that you have to take care not to overstuff the casing. Tie off the opposite end and repeat until you’ve used the entire mixture.
For your grill or smoker, the idea is now to cook the snack sticks to an internal temperature of 165 degrees by using indirect heat for roughly 30 minutes. Let the finished sticks cool and then cut them into 4-inch slices, which you will then vacuum seal or place into ziplock baggies and refrigerate.
Conventional Oven Directions
Mix about ½ teaspoon of liquid smoke into venison if you would like to add smoke flavor.
Cook in the oven at 300 degrees for about 30 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165.
The Final Product
As with any preservative-free food, you have to ensure the snack sticks are refrigerated–ideally in vacuum sealed bags–or frozen. These tasty treats can be stored for two weeks in the fridge or frozen for up to six months.
Certainly, once you’ve achieved some success with this recipe, it shouldn’t be all that hard to change things up by adding flavors such as BBQ or Teriyaki. Or, you can even ramp up the heat with your favorite hot pepper or chili flakes.
It should be a simple process to add or subtract to these listed spices to satisfy your own tastes, but undoubtedly this recipe has been a winner for a reason. For those of us who will try this in the oven, it doesn’t take much liquid smoke to do the job since it can be overwhelming with too much.
Since many of us like to add pork to our ground venison, checking the internal temperatures of the cooked product is even more of a must because pork products need to be a verified temperature after cooking.
Enjoy!
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NEXT: VENISON BACKSTRAP: AN ODE TO OUR FAVORITE CUT
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