Snack Sticks

Honey Smoke Trail Sticks

Honey BBQ Style Snack Sticks

Honey Smoke Trail Sticks is a snack stick built on a 50% lean meat / 50% pork blend, using lean wild game or lean beef. Smoke at 130-175°F (54-79°C) and finish at an internal 152°F (67°C), stuff into 19-21 mm all natural sheep casings, grind at 1/8". Exact amounts scale to any batch weight in the DeepWoodz Smokehouse app for iPhone and Android.

Sweet sticks are easy to get wrong and most end up tasting like candy. Here the honey is backed by smoked paprika, cumin and chili so it lands closer to a barbecue glaze than a dessert. Watch the smoker on this one — sugar takes on color a lot faster than you expect.

• Sweet
• BBQ
• Smoky

Internal temp

152°F (67°C)

Smoker temp

130-175°F (54-79°C)

Casing size

19-21 mm

Casing

All Natural Sheep Casings

Bloom

1-2 hours

What goes in it

• Kosher Salt
• Cure #1
• Coarse Black Pepper
• Garlic Powder
• Onion Powder
• Cayenne Pepper
• Paprika
• Brown Sugar
• Honey Powder
• Smoked Paprika
• Cumin
• Mustard Powder
• Chili Powder
• Ice Cold Water

Amounts are calculated for your batch weight in the app — including the cure, which is held at a fixed, food-safe rate.

The meat

Lean Wild Game · Lean Beef · Pork Butt · Pork Shoulder

Bear or wild hog: take it to 160°F and hold 3 minutes. Freezing, smoking and curing do not kill trichinella — only heat does.

How it's made

1. Grind meat through a 1/8" plate.
2. Add dry seasonings to ground meat and mix to distribute evenly. This blend layers sweet (honey powder, brown sugar), smoky (smoked paprika), and tangy (mustard powder, chili powder) — that's what makes it BBQ.
3. Dissolve cure in ice cold water, then add to meat. Mix until tacky — the meat should feel sticky and cling to your hand.
4. Stuff into 19-21mm all natural sheep casings.
5. Hang at room temperature for 1-2 hours to bloom. The casings should feel dry to the touch.
6. Place in smoker and dry at 130°F for 1 hour with damper open.
7. Raise to 150°F and apply heavy smoke for 2-3 hours. The BBQ spice profile can handle heavier smoke — don't be shy with the wood.
8. Raise to 175°F until internal temp reaches 152°F. Important: Do not let your smoker exceed 175°F. Even if your smoker is set at or below 175°F, the actual temperature can spike higher — monitor closely.
9. Cold shower to stop cooking. The honey and brown sugar flavors intensify after resting overnight in the fridge. (Optional — an ice bath is not required. It is personal preference; many just let them cool at room temp, or outside in cold weather. Just cool them down promptly.)
10. If snack sticks are softer than you prefer, hang them in the fridge or a cool dry area for a few days to firm up and dry out to your liking.

Wood

Hickory · Cherry · Oak

Before you start

• How much Cure #1 per pound
• Venison to pork fat ratio