I have experimented with a bunch of recipes but now I just use kits from Con Yeager spice for all my jerky, summer sausage and snack sticks. I used 7.5 lbs lean venison, 2 lbs pork fat and 1 lb hi-temp cheddar. Clear collagen casings, and smoked as follows:
100 dF 1 hr 130 dF 2 hr 150 dF 2 hr 170 dF 2 hr
Quenched in a cold water rinse and hanged outside at 70 dF for a couple hours to dry. Grind all my meat and fat through a 1/4" plate and mix the spices with 2 cups water in a LEM meat mixer.
How is using the meat mixer? Worth the cost and space to store it?
I've resisted getting a meat mixer so far, but I wonder if it would not only make the process faster and save my hands from getting painfully cold, but maybe even result in a better product, by keeping it colder and mixing more thoroughly.
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