Slim Jims can be made from any type of lean meat using a ratio of 80% lean meat to 20% fat. You may use a Polish Kielbasa sausage seasoning or Slim Jim seasoning of your choice or follow the recipe below.
2 cups ice water
5 tablespoons salt
1 heaping teaspoon marjoram
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons Insta-cure No. 1 (modern Cure)
1 tablespoon black pepper coarse
2 cups soy protein concentrate or non-fat dry milk
10 lbs. boneless pork butts
2 large cloves fresh garlic or 2 heaping tablespoons garlic powder
Optional
Add Red Pepper To Taste
Add Garlic Powder To Taste
GRINDING and TRIMMING:
Trim off excess fat, remove all blood clots, bone, sinews, cords, etc. and throw out. Grind all the lean meat through a 3/8″ grinder plate and all the fat meat through 3/16″ plate. Place in mixing tub, adding all the ingredients and mixing until evenly distributed.
STUFFING:
Slim Jims should be stuffed into smaller-size casing, preferably 18-22 mm. These are available in natural sheep or manmade collagen. Sausage then is placed on smokehouse sticks and spaced properly. Dry the sausage as follows:
When stuffing the sausage, it normally is hung on the sausage sticks in the room where you are working. By the time you are finished stuffing the sausage, much of it already is dry. You may put it in a preheated smokehouse at 130 °F with dampers wide open for about 1 hour or until casings are dry and starting to take on a brown color. Or, you may place sausage in a cooler and leave until the casings are dry.