Packaging Snack Stix

[josbocc]

Hey Everyone,

Going to be making up a batch of venison snack stix today, and I am looking for a little help.  One of the commercial meat plants here in Northern NY will make snack stix out of your venison (for a rather healthy price).  When they package them, there is a moisture on the outside of the stix that keeps them moist, and adds just a little "tang" to them.

Every time I make snack stix, they come out dry as a popcorn fart.  The flavor is awesome, but they are always really dry, even when I increase the pork fat content.  I am assuming that the commercial plant puts some type of vinegar-based solution into the vacuum bags just before sealing, to help keep them moist.  Does anyone have any experience with this?  Your thoughts and ideas are always helpful.

Jeff

[Grouperman941]

I am not really an expert on sticks. I am replying because this has been sitting all day.

The moisture in the commercial pack is probably a preservative (potassium sorbate?). It stops mold from growing. I do not know what they would be adding to make the sticks moist.

But when smoking sausage, if your end product ends up with the texture of sawdust, the meat probably got too hot and you had yourself a 'fat-out'.  This happens when the internal temperature gets much above 160 degrees.

[Habanero Smoker]

Check to see if sodium phosphate is on the ingredient label. That is often use to help meat retain moisture, but the more moisture it retains, there is a possibility that the self life will be shorten. That is why they are probably packing it in potassium sorbate solution.

[josbocc]

Thanks guys!  Stix came out great, just hoping to figure out how to keep them moist once vacuum sealed.  I'll take a look at one of the packages (if I can find one..., those things don't hang around long once you open them)!

Jeff