SLIM JIMS

Slim Jims (10 pound recipe)

2 level tsp. Prague Powder #1 (read about cures)
4 tbsp. paprika
6 tbsp. ground mustard
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. ground white pepper
1 tsp. ground celery
1 tbsp. mace 1 tsp. granulated garlic 3 1/2 ozs. kosher salt
1 1/2 ozs. powdered dextrose
6 ozs. Fermento (available from The Sausage Maker)
10 pounds lean ground beef

The last two ingredients are for fermentation and may be omitted if you don't want the tang. After you stuff the beef sticks, I recommend smoking at 90-110 F for 8 hours and letting it go at this temperature for another 12 if you want the tang to fully develop. Then you raise the smokehouse temperature until the meat reaches 145F internally. If you wish to modify your current recipe for the dehydrator, or use this one in it (I highly recommend it) just follow the temperature guidelines - keep the temperature under 110 for 8 to 20 hours, then crank it up to cook the sausage at the very end. What you've probably been doing is following the same procedure as for jerky, at 145 until dry, and have been ending up with jerky in a casing. Beef sticks will not be as dry as jerky, hence the lower temperature. I use the Prague Powder #1 and make jerky at 120 and it is much more flavorful than the stuff dried at 145 like most recipes call for. Under 140, the curing powder is absolutely necessary to prevent the growth of botulism.

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