This is my second batch of sticks and the first smoke with the fan mod. I mixed up 8 lbs of meat about 60% lean ground beef and 40% pork butt (ground at home). For half the meat I mixed in some smoked cheddar cheese that has been in the fridge for 4 months (the cheese was not very popular because the smoke taste was too strong (1hr 20 min of hickory). But since I was doing the sticks with hickory I thought this would be a good place to use some of the cheese. I used the HM Hickory sticks kit for this.
Here's a before pic. You can see that some of the meat was sticking out of the ends of the casings. I read on another thread that it wasn't necessary to tie the ends - just cut them to length. So I did and that was lot more convenient than tying up both ends of the lengths. They looked fine when I put them into the fridge for the overnight rest but in the morning the casings seemed to have shrunk back ( or the meat was trying to escape ). :) I was a little concerned at first but after the smoke it was obvious that this was nothing to worry about.
(http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t310/JZ-bucket/Smoker/e060.jpg)
Here's a pic of the sticks in the smoker showing the location of the PID probe.
(http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t310/JZ-bucket/Smoker/e061.jpg)
Pulling a rack after the smoke and it was a long one - 11 hrs.
(http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t310/JZ-bucket/Smoker/e062.jpg)
And of course the $$$$
(http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t310/JZ-bucket/Smoker/e063.jpg)
I should have used more of the cheese these things were super good, especially if there was some of that cheese in the piece I ate. The only drawback was that they were a little too salty for my taste but the wife likes it. This is the last of the HM kit and the next batch I do will be a recipe from this site.
nice job.
Very nice pics! Nice sticks.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
JZ,
How did the fan mod work for you? Did you have to rotate the racks? I got my PID Friday and I have all the parts to do the 2nd heating element. My fan mod should arrive on Monday so I can put it all together. I'm really curious to know how your fan mod worked on your first smoke as I have been reading the recent fan mod threads with some concern.
Thanks, Tim
GOOD Looking,sticks.Great Idea for using up the old cheese.
Sticks look awesome!!! nice job
Thanks for the compliments guys,
Tater here is the run down of how the fan worked for me http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=27549.0 (http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=27549.0)
Very nice JZ! I like adding cheese to mine. Those look like they turned out super. Thanks for sharing!
Nice job JZ. I started using cheese in my sticks recently and will continue to do so. I like the added flavor and texture it gives.
Once again, excellent sticks!