Blue Cheese Bacon Venison Snack Sticks
on Aug 04, 2026
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These Blue Cheese Bacon Venison Snack Sticks are smoky, rich, and packed with the kind of bold flavor that will make you want to go back to the fridge for more! This batch blends venison with pork and pork back fat, then folds in bacon bits and cold gorgonzola for a savory, tangy bite that makes these snack sticks unlike any you have had before!
This is a 5-pound batch, so it is easy to manage, but it still gives you enough snack sticks to stock up before a hunting trip or a large gathering.
Why These Smoked Snack Sticks Work
Blue cheese and bacon can take over the flavor if the balance is off, but this recipe is balanced. The gorgonzola adds that sharp, tangy blue cheese bite without overwhelming the sticks, while the bacon brings that salty, smoky goodness.
The venison gives the sticks their lean wild-game character, and the pork back fat keeps them from drying out. Fermento adds the familiar tang of a snack stick, and milk powder helps the mixture bind so the finished texture is firm.
Pro Tips for the Best Blue Cheese Bacon Snack Sticks
Keep everything cold: Keep the meat, fat, bacon, cheese, grinder parts, and mixing bowls cold from start to finish. Cold fat grinds cleaner, cold gorgonzola folds in better, and a chilled meat mixture is less likely to smear while you are stuffing the casings.
Make sure it is tacky: Mix the meat with the cure, binder, water, and seasonings until it turns sticky and tacky before you fold in the bacon and gorgonzola. That tacky texture is what helps the snack sticks bind. Once the bacon and cheese go in, mix just enough to distribute them so the cheese stays in small pockets instead of disappearing into the meat.
Cook according to internal temp: Smoke these low and steady instead of treating them like grilled sausage. Start with a drying stage, gradually build the smoker temperature, and finish when the snack sticks reach a safe internal temperature, about 160°F. After smoking, cool them quickly, let them bloom, then chill completely before slicing and packaging.
Chill and bloom: Once you pull the snack sticks from the smoker, dunk them in an ice water bath to stop the cooking process. Then let them sit at room temperature for about 2 hours to bloom. Blooming lets the snack sticks develop a deep red color and dry out the casing so you get that crisp snap with every bite.
Substitutions and Variations
Cheese: Gorgonzola gives this recipe a bold blue cheese flavor, but you can use a milder blue cheese if you want the bacon and smoke to lead. You can also use other high-temp cheeses like cheddar, pepper jack, or Swiss. For this recipe, I found the ratio of roughly ¾ to 1 ounce of blue cheese per pound of meat is ideal. Otherwise, increasing the amount of cheese may overpower the flavor of the snack stick or change the texture too much.
Bacon: Cooked bacon bits work best because they bring concentrated bacon flavor without adding too much raw fat to the meat mixture. Use bacon that has been cooked, drained, cooled, and chilled before mixing. If you use larger chopped bacon pieces, keep them small enough to pass cleanly through the stuffer and casing.
Casings: You can make these in slightly larger snack-stick casings, but the cook time may change. You can use 19mm or 21mm casings as well.
Check out our other recipe for smoked jalapeño cheddar venison snack sticks for a change-up that brings bold flavors and a punch of heat.
Ingredients
This recipe uses a balanced meat block with venison, pork, and pork back fat. The cure, Fermento, nonfat dry milk powder, salt, and seasonings should be measured carefully because they affect flavor, texture, and how the snack sticks bind.
The bacon and gorgonzola are the ingredients that make this batch stand out. Keep both well chilled before mixing. The bacon adds smoky, salty flavor, while the gorgonzola melts into small tangy pockets throughout the sticks.
Storing and Serving Suggestions
Let the snack sticks cool completely and store them in the fridge for 1 day before packaging. This lets the flavor develop and the moisture settle.
Vacuum pack the snack sticks when they are cold so that steam does not get trapped in the bag. Once they are fully chilled, divide them into smaller portions based on how quickly you plan to eat them and seal them up.
Fridge: If they are not vacuum sealed, store the snack sticks in an airtight container or Ziploc bag in the refrigerator for about 1 week. Vacuum-sealed packs can usually be refrigerated for about 2 to 3 weeks.
Freezer: For longer storage, freeze tightly wrapped snack sticks for about 2 to 3 months, or freeze vacuum-sealed packs for about 6 months. Once a vacuum-sealed pack is opened, treat it like regular refrigerated snack sticks and eat them within about 1 week.
These are great cold from the fridge, sliced onto a snack board, packed for hunting trips, or served with crackers, pickles, and sharp cheese.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Blue cheese works well in venison snack sticks. Be sure it is kept very cold and folded in after the meat mixture has already become tacky.
Collagen casings are the easiest choice for homemade snack sticks because they are uniform, easy to stuff, and do not need soaking. This recipe uses 17mm collagen snack stick casings, but you can use 19mm or 21mm casings as well.
Yes. Use cooked bacon bits that have been drained and chilled before mixing. Raw bacon can release too much fat during the smoke and make the texture harder to control.
Cook the snack sticks until they reach 160°F internal temperature. Smoke them low and slow, gradually increasing the smoker temperature. This allows the fat and cheese to stay in the sticks and not leak out.
An ice bath helps stop the cooking quickly and keeps the casing from pulling away from the meat. After the ice bath, pat the sticks dry and let them bloom before refrigerating.
Yes. Cool them completely, vacuum seal them tightly, and freeze them in smaller packs so you can thaw small batches.
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Blue Cheese Bacon Venison Snack Sticks
Ingredients
- 2 lb venison, well chilled
- 1¾ lb pork, well chilled
- 1¼ lb pork back fat, well chilled or partially frozen
- ⅞ oz Eco Cure #1, use the amount listed for your favorite cure product
- 2½ oz Fermento
- 1 oz nonfat milk powder
- ⅔ cup ice cold water
- 1⅓ oz kosher salt, about 8 tsp Morton kosher salt or 13 tsp Diamond Crystal
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 2½ tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp chipotle powder
- 4½ tsp spicy pepper flakes
- 1 tsp mustard powder
- 1¼ tsp granulated sugar
- 4 oz bacon bits, cooked, drained, and well chilled
- 4 oz gorgonzola, crumbled and very cold
- 1 full collagen casing, 17mm; have extra casing ready just in case
Instructions
- If you are grinding your own meat, keep the venison, pork, pork back fat, grinder parts, and mixing bowl very cold before starting. Freeze the meat for about an hour before grinding.
- Grind the chilled venison, pork, and pork back fat through a coarse plate for the first grind, then grind again through a fine plate. Keep the meat cold between grinds so the fat stays firm.
- Combine the Eco Cure #1, Fermento, nonfat milk powder, salt, and seasonings. Sprinkle the mixture over the ground meat, then add the ice cold water.
- Mix until the meat becomes tacky and well bound. The mixture should feel sticky before you add the bacon and cheese.
- Fold in the chilled bacon bits and very cold gorgonzola just until evenly distributed. Do not overmix, or the gorgonzola can smear into the meat instead of staying in small pockets.
- Stuff the mixture into 17mm collagen snack stick casings, taking care not to overstuff or leave large air pockets.
- Let the stuffed sticks rest while the smoker preheats to 120°F.
Smoke the Snack Sticks
- Smoke for 1 hour at 120°F. Then increase the smoker temperature in stages to 140°F, 150°F, and 160°F, smoking for another hour at each stage.
- Increase the smoker to 170°F and cook until the snack sticks reach an internal temperature of 160°F, about 2 to 3 more hours.
- Cool the snack sticks quickly in an ice water bath to stop the cooking process.
- Bloom the snack sticks by letting them rest at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours.
- Chill in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours before slicing and vacuum sealing.
Notes
For the Meat
This version uses venison, pork, and pork back fat. The pork rounds out the lean venison, and the back fat helps keep the snack sticks juicy through the smoke. If you grind your own meat, keep everything cold. Chill the meat, fat, grinder parts, and mixing tub before you start, and put the meat back in the freezer for a short rest if it starts to soften.Bacon and Gorgonzola
Use cooked bacon bits that are drained and well chilled before mixing. Warm bacon fat can smear into the meat and make the texture greasy. Keep the gorgonzola very cold and fold it in gently after the meat mixture is tacky. This keeps the blue cheese in small pockets instead of blending completely into the meat.For the Casings
This recipe uses 17mm collagen casings. Collagen casings do not need to be soaked, and they give the sticks a slim, classic snack-stick shape. You can use 19mm or 21mm casings as well, and they will be easier to fill with the chunky add-ins. Do not overstuff the casings. If they are packed too tightly, they are more likely to split while loading, hanging, or smoking.Mixing
Mix the meat, water, cure, binder, and seasonings until the meat becomes tacky. That sticky texture helps the snack sticks bind so they are firm instead of crumbly.Cooling and Blooming
Use an ice water bath after smoking to cool the sticks quickly and stop the cooking. This also helps keep the casing tight against the meat so that the casing doesn’t delaminate from the meat. After the ice bath, pat the sticks dry and let them bloom at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours. Chill them completely before slicing and packaging.Timing
Cook snack sticks by internal temperature, not just time. Around the 4-hour mark, start checking the internal temperature every 30 minutes and pull the sticks once they reach 160°F.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
