Are you a fan of venison and looking for a delicious snack to satisfy your cravings? Look no further than homemade venison snack sticks!
While traditionally made in a smoker or grill, you can easily make these tasty treats in your oven. With just a few simple ingredients and some patience, you can have a batch of perfectly seasoned and cooked venison snack sticks ready to enjoy.
In this article, we’ll guide you through the process step-by-step, including tips for adding smoky flavor and ensuring proper cooking temperatures. So, let’s get started on making some mouth-watering venison snack sticks in your oven!
How To Make Venison Snack Sticks In Oven?
To make venison snack sticks in your oven, you’ll need ground venison with at least 20% fat content, seasoning, and cure. If you want to add a smoky flavor, you can mix in about 1/2 teaspoon of liquid smoke.
Here’s the step-by-step process:
1. Preheat your oven to 300°F.
2. Mix the ground venison with seasoning and cure until well combined.
3. If desired, mix in the liquid smoke for a smoky flavor.
4. Form the mixture into snack stick shapes and place them on a baking sheet.
5. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F.
6. Once cooked, give them a cold dunk in a bath to stop the cooking process.
7. Serve immediately or refrigerate or freeze for later.
It’s important to note that if you don’t add preservatives or cure, the snack sticks won’t last long at room temperature. So be sure to store them properly if you plan on keeping them for more than a few hours.
Ingredients And Equipment Needed
To make venison snack sticks in your oven, you’ll need a few ingredients and pieces of equipment. Here’s what you’ll need:
Preparing The Venison Meat
When preparing venison meat for snack sticks, it’s important to use ground venison with at least 20% fat content. This will ensure that the snack sticks are moist and flavorful. The meat should be handled with care to avoid overworking it, which can result in tough and dry snack sticks.
If you’re using whole cuts of meat, it’s important to trim away any silver seam and fat before cutting the meat into small pieces. The most tender cuts of venison are the backstrap/loin and tenderloin, which can be cooked on high heat to medium rare or rare plus. However, most of a deer’s bulk is in the legs and shoulder, which have tough ligaments and connective tissue. To make these cuts tender and succulent, they need to be cooked with moist heat for a long time (two or more hours) at low temperatures in liquid by either stewing or braising.
When making snack sticks, the ground venison should be mixed with seasoning and cure until well combined. If you want to add a smoky flavor, you can mix in about 1/2 teaspoon of liquid smoke. The mixture should be formed into snack stick shapes and placed on a baking sheet before baking in the oven at 300°F for about 30 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F. Once cooked, the snack sticks should be given a cold dunk in a bath to stop the cooking process before serving or storing properly in a refrigerator or freezer.
Adding Flavor And Seasoning
When it comes to adding flavor and seasoning to your venison snack sticks, the possibilities are endless. You can use premade seasoning blends or create your own custom blend. Some popular seasonings for snack sticks include Honey BBQ, jalapeno, and garlic.
To create your own custom blend, start with a base of salt and black pepper. From there, you can add in any combination of spices and herbs that you like. Paprika, cumin, and chili powder are great additions for a spicy kick. Sage and thyme add a savory flavor, while rosemary and oregano add a touch of earthiness.
In addition to seasoning, you’ll also want to add cure to your meat mixture. Cure helps control microbial growth and gives the snack sticks a longer shelf life. There are two types of cure: Prague Powder #
Stuffing The Snack Sticks
To stuff the snack sticks, you can use a stuffing kit like the Cyclone Stuffing Kit mentioned above. This kit is specifically designed for stuffing smaller casings like those used for snack sticks.
First, you’ll need to remove the blade and plate from your meat grinder and attach the plastic auger onto the end of the grinder’s auger. Then, insert the stuffing tube through the adapter ring and tighten everything down with the end cap.
Next, fill the meat mixture into the hopper of the grinder and turn it on. The high-speed auger will force the meat mixture through the small 10mm tube, creating perfectly sized snack sticks quickly and easily every time.
Alternatively, if you don’t have a stuffing kit, you can use a sausage stuffer or even a piping bag with a nozzle attachment to stuff the snack sticks. Simply fill the casing with the meat mixture and twist it into individual snack sticks.
Once stuffed, place the snack sticks on a baking sheet and bake in the oven as directed above. With these simple steps, you can easily make delicious venison snack sticks in your oven.
Cooking The Snack Sticks In The Oven
Cooking the snack sticks in the oven is a simple and convenient method that doesn’t require any special equipment. Here’s how to do it:
1. Preheat your oven to 300°F and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. Place the snack sticks on the baking sheet, making sure they’re not touching each other.
3. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F. You can use a meat thermometer to check the temperature.
4. Once cooked, remove the snack sticks from the oven and give them a cold dunk in a bath to stop the cooking process.
5. Let them cool at room temperature before serving or storing.
It’s important to note that cooking time may vary depending on the size of your snack sticks and your oven, so be sure to check the internal temperature to ensure they’re fully cooked. Also, if you want a smoky flavor, you can mix in some liquid smoke before forming the snack sticks and baking them in the oven.
Adding Smoky Flavor (Optional)
If you want to add a smoky flavor to your venison snack sticks, there are a few options. One is to use a smoker or grill, but if you don’t have one, you can still achieve that smoky taste in your conventional oven.
To do this, you can mix in about 1/2 teaspoon of liquid smoke into your ground venison mixture before shaping into snack sticks. This will give your snack sticks a smoky flavor without the need for a smoker or grill.
However, if you do have access to a smoker, it’s worth considering as it can add a depth of flavor that liquid smoke cannot replicate. When smoking your snack sticks, it’s important to gradually increase the temperature to ensure there’s no fat or additive loss inside the snack sticks. The type of combustible you will use for smoking also has an impact on the taste and smoking process of your meat sticks. It is best to do some research and figure out which material you should use to obtain the best beef sticks.
To make the best smoked snack sticks, it’s recommended to use a high-quality electric smokehouse, like the Pro Smoker PK-100, which uses sawdust as smoke fuel. Always refer to your manufacturer’s instructions for smoking times and temperatures, but as a general rule, our recommend processing schedule is:
1. Set smokehouse to 120°F. Hang sausage sticks and set in the smokehouse to dry for 1/2 hour (no smoke)
2. Increase temperature to 130°F and smoke for 1 hour (dampers closed 75%)
3. Increase temperature to 150°F and smoke for 1 hour
4. Increase temperature to 170°F and remove smoke
5. Cook until internal temperature of the snack stick reaches 155°F degrees
Whether you choose to add liquid smoke or use a smoker, both options can give your venison snack sticks that delicious smoky flavor that we all love.
