Make Upland Bird Meat Sticks for an Easy, Wild Snack
Turn a pound of left over upland game bird meat in the freezer for these mouth watering snack sticks.
Equipment
- Dehydrator or Smoker
Ingredients
- 11 oz upland bird, ground
- 5 oz pork shoulder, ground
- ¼ tsp insta cure #1
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp paprika
- ¼ tsp ground white pepper
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp kosher salt
Instructions
- Freeze thawed pork shoulder and upland bird meat for one hour prior to grinding.
- Grind the pork shoulder and upland game together and set back in freezer while you mix all spices together, including insta cure.
- Once the spices and insta cure are thoroughly mixed, combine the ground meat and spices in a meat mixer or a large mixing bowl. If using a large mixing bowl, it helps to wear gloves to reduce the amount of heat transfer from your hands to the meat–mushy meat is not ideal here.
- Cover meat and let sit in the fridge to cure overnight (12-18 hours is ideal).
- When ready to dehydrate, load the jerky gun by rolling meat into very thin, small football shapes and sliding them down the tube of the jerky gun.
- Put cap on the jerky gun and “shoot” meat onto mesh trays. Pinch off meat upon reaching the edge of the tray. Reload jerky gun as necessary.
- Once all the meat is used and is sitting as strips or sticks on mesh trays, put the mesh trays in the dehydrator (or smoker) and dehydrate (or smoke) at 160F for 4 to 4 1/2 hours, depending on desired texture.
- When 10 minutes remain for dehydrator (or smoker), fill a baking dish or tub with ice and water, large enough to fit all snack strips.
- Once the meat has finished dehydrating, remove the strips from trays and toss in the ice-water bath for a one-minute shock to help settle the fat and shrink the outer casing that formed.
- Seal any snack sticks that you aren’t going to eat immediately. If sealed airtight and stored in a cool, dark, dry place, these snack sticks will stay good for upwards of 2 months. If refrigerated, they’ll last for several months. If frozen, they’ll stay fresh for 2-3 years. Once the airtight seal is broken, or if stored in a non-airtight bag, the jerky will only last 1 to 2 weeks. If jerky ever smells funny, trust your nose and discard.
Nutrition
Calories: 320kcal
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