It was snack stick day and the girls were happy.

During the Michigan deer season, I usually get 2-3 does to fill the freezer. When this happens, I have a lot of venison to use. When I have a lot of venison to use, I get creative. One of the favorite things I make from all that venison is snack sticks. I don't have a fancy recipe or anything, I use the directions on the package of LEM seasoning. I use a LEM sausage stuffer (best unitasker in the kitchen) and make them 5lbs at a time. My daughter and wife love them as do I. A 5lb batch will last maybe 2 weeks before I am making more.

The last couple deer seasons I haven't been able to spend as much time hunting, which means I haven't had as much venison in the freezer. With not much venison, I am more careful what I use it for. That means no snack sticks. That makes the family sad. The deer I was able to get in 2022 was pretty small which didn't help the situation. However, the deer I got this year (2023) was a big doe. It was probably the 2nd biggest I've even shot. That meant that snack sticks were back on the table.

This last weekend, after a lot of requests from my family, I finally made a batch. Since it has been a while, I didn't have the supplies I thought I did, so I warned them that they may not be to usual high standard. I didn't have any of the smaller casings that I usually do. For snack sticks I like either a 17mm or 19mm collogen casing. All I had on hand was 22mm, which is still fine for snack sticks but bigger than I would have liked.

I ground a 5lb batch of venison and pork fat, added the seasoning and let it all sit in the fridge overnight. Early the next morning, I cased them all up and put them in my smoker with some apple wood. About 4 hours later, they were done and the girls were again happy with me, for now.

I forgot how much I like snack sticks and I'm glad I made them. I think I will make another batch soon and use a different seasoning mix to see if I like it better than the typical LEM mix I've been using. Let me know what mixes you like or if you have recipe for homemade snack sticks that is even better than store bought.