Tender Salt Sticks Recipes

Steps:

• In a large bowl, mix together the ground beef, pork sausage, mustard seed, liquid smoke, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, curing salt, black pepper, caraway seed, cayenne pepper, paprika, chili powder and red pepper flakes. Cover, and refrigerate overnight.
• For the next three days, knead the meat for 5 minutes, then return to the refrigerator. On the fourth day, knead, then form into 6 equal logs. Wrap each log in aluminum foil, and poke a few holes in the foil.
• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F (95 degrees C). Place the logs onto a broiler pan to catch the grease. Bake for 6 hours in the preheated oven. Turn off the oven, and leave the logs in for another 3 hours after baking. Refrigerate until chilled, then slice and serve.

Steps:

• Make dough:
• In a food processor pulse together flour, sugar, and table salt several times to combine well. In a small bowl whisk together water, yeast, and butter or oil. Add yeast mixture to flour mixture and pulse until dough forms a ball, 8 to 10 times. Process dough continuously 30 seconds.
• Put dough in a lightly greased bowl, turning to coat, and let rise, covered tightly with plastic wrap, until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
• Line 2 jelly-roll pans or large baking sheets with parchment paper or foil.
• Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and punch down. Shape dough into a 12- by 3-inch rectangle and cut crosswise into twelve 3- by 1-inch strips. Roll each strip with palms of hands until 6 inches long and in pans arrange 2 inches apart. Cover pans loosely with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let sticks rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Brush sticks with egg wash and sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake sticks in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching positions of pans halfway through baking, until well risen and golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool sticks in pans on racks.