How to Make Delicious Venison Snack Sticks in Your Oven

Venison snack sticks are a tasty, protein-packed treat that you can easily make at home. With just some basic ingredients and equipment, your oven can turn wild game meat into snackable, shareable sticks of smoky joy. Follow this step-by-step guide to crafting flavorful venison snack sticks without specialized gear.

Choose Your Meat

The first step is sourcing quality venison. Use fresh meat from this season’s harvest Or defrost frozen venison from last season that was properly field dressed, butchered, and stored.

Lean muscle meat with little sinew or silver skin works best. Venison round, sirloin tip, or shoulder are excellent choices. You can also use meat scraps from processing.

For added fat and flavor, mix in 15% to 30% pork, beef, or bacon. This binds the sticks and provides juiciness. Consider a [70/30 venison to pork blend].

Once combined pass the meat through a grinder to evenly mix textures. Chill meat before the next stages.

Prep the Seasonings

With quality venison in hand, next comes seasoning. Snack stick recipes allow for limitless flavor options. Start with a proven [venison snack stick kit] as a guide.

Follow kit directions to combine spices, cure, and meat into a uniform mixture. Refrigerate overnight to meld flavors and cure thoroughly.

After curing, add liquid components like [beer or wine] to impart even more complexity. Massage liquids into the meat by hand.

Let seasoned meat sit 30-60 minutes to absorb marinade before stuffing into casings.

Stuff the Casings

Now the fun part begins – stuffing the spiced meat into casings to form the snack sticks. You’ll need:

Cured venison mixture
[21mm collagen casings]
Sausage stuffer, jerky gun, or piping bag

Soak casings briefly in cool water before stuffing to make them pliable. Twist or tie one end. Load meat into stuffer and pump into casing, leaving room for expansion.

Tie off or twist every 6-8 inches to make sticks. Lightly prick casings with a needle to release air pockets.

Hang uncooked sticks on racks overnight in the fridge. This allows the casings to dry slightly.

Cook Low and Slow

To lock in flavor and get that authentic stick snack texture, low and slow cooking is key. Preheat your oven to [150-170°F].

Line racks with aluminum foil or silicone mats to catch drips. Place stuffed sticks directly on racks with airflow all around.

Cook 1-2 hours until sticks firm up. Bump heat to [175°F] and continue cooking until sticks reach an internal temperature of [160°F].

Use an instant read thermometer to test doneness. Cooking times vary based on size.

Chill and Store

After cooking, immediately submerge the sticks in ice water for 10 minutes. This quickly chills the sticks to set the fat and juices.

Pat dry with paper towels. Separate into portions and vacuum seal the cooled sticks. They keep for months frozen.

Oven Tips for Perfect Sticks

Follow these oven tips for flawless, restaurant-quality venison snack sticks every time:

Use nonstick foil or silicone mats to prevent sticking
Rotate racks halfway through cooking for even browning
Keep oven door closed to maintain temperature and moisture
Temp with a meat thermometer for safest doneness
Adjust oven temp lower/higher to fine-tune cook times
Chill in ice bath right after cooking to set juices
Separate into portions before vacuum sealing for snacks

Ideas for Different Flavor Profiles

The oven method allows infinite options to put your personal spin on venison snack sticks:

Southwest Style – Use chili powder, cumin, garlic, onion, jalapeño
Pizza Flavor – Add oregano, fennel seed, red pepper flakes, garlic
Teriyaki – Use a teriyaki jerky cure kit and rice wine
Sriracha – Mix in hot sauce, chili paste, ginger, brown sugar
Thai Curry – Blend in lemongrass, coriander, turmeric, coconut milk
Nashville Hot – Coat in cayenne pepper sauce after cooking

Let your tastes guide you toward creative flavor combinations. Home oven-baked venison snack sticks beat any store-bought option.

Enjoy Your Homemade Sticks

Now comes the best part – devouring your jalapeño venison sticks! Keep bags handy for road trips, hikes, fishing, hunting, or whenever hunger strikes.

Share the bounty with family and friends. Venison snack sticks also make terrific gifts for the hunter in your life.

And remember, your home oven can produce gourmet smoked meat results with minimal equipment. Try this satisfying snack stick recipe and unleash your inner butcher today.

Smoked Venison Snack Sticks (with casings) Start to finish!

FAQ

What temperature do you smoke venison snack sticks?

Smoke the snack sticks at 150° for one hour, then rotate them as follows: roll the sticks 180° on the rack (upside down), rotate the jerky racks 180°, and rotate the position of the racks in the smoker from top- to-bottom. This extra step will ensure the sticks are cooking as evenly as possible.

What is the ratio of meat to venison in snack sticks?

For this venison snack stick recipe, making sure you have the right meat-to-fat ratio is important. For the best meat sticks, you’ll want to shoot for a range of 15-25% fat and 85-75% lean for the finished product. Any leaner, and you risk a dry and crumbly texture in your snack sticks.

How much water do you put in venison snack sticks?

If you pre-ground it, hand-mix it in now. Add a little fat first, then pass the meat through the grinder one last time using a quarter-inch plate. Mix the cure, water (one ounce of water per pound of ground meat), and ground meat together for five minutes. It’s done when a clump sticks to your hand.

How long to cook snack sticks at 200?

Place in the smoker or oven at 200° F (93° C) for 2 hours or until internal temperature reaches 165° F (74° C) (test with a meat thermometer).