Fat Charleys

Last year I experimented with preparing venison  in several different ways and one of the favorites was venison snack sticks. Of course mine were thicker and tastier than the commercial options so rather than calling them snack sticks I decided to call them Fat Charleys because they were more filling and better for you than the ones named after some skinny guy named James! The kids were especially fond of them and Alex and I took them as our regular snack when we headed out to the hockey games which was always appreciated by most everyone around us because we were more than willing to share.

I took out a couple of packages of meat this week and when I saw the last one was ground venison I decided that I would whip up a batch tonight when I got home from work. After I finished mixing in the spices Rebecca assisted me with cranking as I fed the meat into collagen casings. I started them in the oven and finished them off in the smoker with some chucked maple. I'm sure this first batch wont last more than a day or two but thankfully we have plenty of fresh venison in the freezer so I have a feeling they will be a staple in our house once again throughout the upcoming year!