Venison Meat Stick Along

[LV2HUNT]

I have been wanting to try this for some time. My friend has some great meat sticks made but his butcher is too far for me. So I ordered a kit and with my jerky gun that I already had I gave it a go.

Sorry, I need to resize the pics again. They were too wide I will be back.

[LV2HUNT]

Okay, I am back with some resized pics. Here are the basic tools I used. It would be a lot easier with a real sausage stuffer.

The meat was mixed with the seasoning and cure and then refrigerated for 24 hours or more. I also mixed it several times during refrigeration.

 

[LV2HUNT]

I used a spoon to stuff my jerky gun tube with the meat.

 

[LV2HUNT]

Once the tube was stuffed since I was not using a regular stuffer I had to work with a manageable sized casing. I found this size to be easiest to work with and would cut it with scissors.

 

[LV2HUNT]

Once the tube is stuffed and casing cut I slide it onto the tube that is on the jerky gun. When you pump the trigger the meat fills the casing and pulls it off the tube. The casing is fragile though so you have to be careful.

 

[LV2HUNT]

This is what happens if you go too fast!

 

[LV2HUNT]

Here is how I repaired the blow out.

 

And then the other side:

 

[LV2HUNT]

Eventually I got my stroke and was able to pump out some long ones. The final product will be dried in the oven for a few hours till it reaches a temp of 152 degrees.

 

The kit I got can be done in the oven with liquid smoke added or done in a smoker. I figured I would try this batch in the oven and then do one in the smoker to see which I like better. I will post the pics of the dried product when they are done tomorrow.

I was not sure if I should post a link to where I got the kit but if you want to know just pm me. The kit has 5 different flavors that will each do 5 pounds. This batch was 5 pounds and I figure that will let me try each flavor to see what I like best.

[tradtusker]

cool man! we have the same thing in South Africa called Droewors basicaly means "dried sausage"

and is great with venison! mostly it is air dried, if you only want a slight smokey flavour try dry it for one day the put it in the smoker for a short while take it out and then let it finish drying!          

[geno]

Good job LV2H. if you dont want to use casings you can just shoot them on to a wire rack ot a cookie sheet and dry them that way.

[rappstar]

tradtusker....don't you guys call that stuff biltong?

[sticshooter]

MMMMMMMMM that looks great. well done.<><

[BTH]

Hey, I had some of that Droewors while I was in RSA. My guide, Dewalt Cronje, made droewors out of blesbuck. Great stuff...especially with Carlings Black Label or a cold Castle  
 
That's pretty cool L2H. I want to make sausages with some of my venison and wild pork. There is an online butcher shop called The Meatman that sells all the stuff to do it with. Let us know how it turns out.

[BrianK]

Rappstar, biltong is dried meat - strips and droe wors is sausage made with ground meat. Some like it quite wet and others really dry. Both very good but very different. My 3 1/2 year old grand daughter calls it "biltoms".

Biltong and dry wors are very popular in South Africa. Most butchers have a selection of both, mostly beef and some venison in season and there are speciality shops in shopping malls etc. that have a large variety of diferent kinds. I have even seen snake biltong but didn't try that particular treasure.

I heard of a game rancher who got tired of people always asking him for free biltong so if it was somebody he didn't like he gave them "sitbok" (sitting buck) biltong which was actually made from baboon. Could just be an urban legend.

[tradtusker]

Thanks brian you covered it    

ya the stuff is great with a good beverage, the more you eat the more you drink  

[LV2HUNT]

Originally posted by tradtusker:
cool man! we have the same thing in South Africa called Droewors basicaly means "dried sausage"

and is great with venison! mostly it is air dried, if you only want a slight smokey flavour try dry it for one day the put it in the smoker for a short while take it out and then let it finish drying!                  

Even though I called it meat sticks you are correct in that it is dried sausage. I figured the smoker would be better but just had to satisfy my curiosity about the oven method. I am sure I remember the term "Droewors" from all the African hunting books I have read.

Years ago I tried to make biltong and had all these meat strips hung up in a cabin I lived in. While I was at work my dog jumped up and pulled them all down and had a feast    ! Smart dog, dumb owner.

[LV2HUNT]

Okay, here is the final product. I dried it for about 5 hours at 170 degrees (that is fahrenheit, Wild Bill  :D ) but then needed to go up to 200 for a half hour or so to hit the recommended 152 degrees.

Turned out pretty good but does not have quite enough smokey flavor. Will do the smoker version next.

 

 

[bentpole]

Yum Yum give me some! Well done and it looks like you did a great job.