ok i mixed the meat and stuffed the casings. my question is this. when i smoke tomorrow. i have a 2 probe therm. should i place one in the smoker and thread one into the center of a stick?
Yes but don't get your cabinet temp over 180,I usually go to 170 max and the probe in your sticks should hit 152-155 then pull and either let air cool or you can put them in an ice bath to drop temp and help prevent shrinking.
ok one more question. when can i eat them? do i need to let them cool or is it just preference?
You can sample anytime that you want. I never can wait for the bloom to finish. I pull and cut one to sample. ;D
Dawgs,
On my last snack stix i went One hour with no smoke at 120 deg.F, then 2-1/2 hours at 165 with 6 pucks of Hickory. Then i cranked it up to 180 deg until the internal temp reached 165 deg f. It was very cold outside so i did have to adjust temps alot. Total time in the smoker was six hours. Good luck ;D I have a bradley digital six.
all i have is apple pucks so i hope that will do
Apple will work, Hickory or Pecan would be better but thats personal preference. Be careful with those temps I quoted you. My instructions called for 175 deg for the smoker at the end but my bradley goes up in 10 deg increments thats why I went to 180 deg and it was so cold out. if they get to hot you could have a fat out. My last batch was 5 pounds.
Personally I would not take the cabinet temp pasted 175. I also pull my stix at 152. I find that if they stay longer then an IT of 152 they tend to get dry. I like a little moistness in mine. Some people like them dryer. Guess it is a personal preference.
Lots of ways to pull.
I pull at 148-149 to hang and cool. They come to IT