I bought some pepper/garlic snack sticks from Hi Mountain. A couple of questions for the gurus here.
1. What do you use to tie the casings before filling and at the end?
2. How long to smoke/dehydrate using a DBS4R
3. Any other ideas that might help before doing my first batch?????
AggieBQ72
I made a batch over Christmas break, but used a different brand mix.
1. What do you use to tie the casings before filling and at the end?
- I used twist ties every time I started stuffing a new casing. The other end was left open--the meat will not fall out.
2. How long to smoke/dehydrate using a DBS4R
Here's notes from my log
1 Jan 09 60 deg no wind
21mm snack stick casings
9 Maple pucks (would have used hickory, but ran out)
Time: Smoker:
1115 140 meat on for drying
1200 140 smoke on
1300 170
1400 175
1630 done Door sticks done first, and were about 160 deg at 1600
Big picture, mix and stuff, let them sit in the fridge over nite. Set them on the counter for an hour or so to start warming up. Put in 130-140 deg smoker until dry, then start smoke and eventually raise the temp to 175-180 until the meat is 152 deg. Throw in ice water for a few minutes, and package.
Good luck, but be carefull, they're addicting.
get smokin
drano
Thanks Drano.
What did you use to check the temp of 152?
you can use butchers twine to tye the ends off, also hog rings.
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(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o290/stlthy1/snst.jpg)
chorizo bbq links
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Alot of members do different ways. I been doing this for years, i never ice the sticks.
nepas
AggieBQ72
I have a High Accuracy version of the Super-Fast Thermopen from Thermoworks.
http://www.thermoworks.com/ (http://www.thermoworks.com/)
The high accuracy model reads to .1 deg (instead of whole digits), and accuracy is slightly better than the Original Super-Fast Thermapen. $90-100 is a lot of money for a meat thermometer, but they sure are nice, especially for sausage. The model MTC is slightly cheaper, and you can plug various K-type thermocouples into it.
http://www.thermoworks.com/products/handheld/mtc.html (http://www.thermoworks.com/products/handheld/mtc.html)
If you take the plunge for one of these, and decide on the MTC model, get a thermocouple that is thin for the fast response time--model 113-159 is the same probe for the MTC as is mounted on the Thermopens.
Of course a thin probe meat thermometer will work for about 10% of the Thermopen cost.
***Edit to add: a low cost meat thermometer will take longer than a few seconds to get an accurate reading. The Superfast Thermopens, which have a small tip, give a reading in 4 seconds.
Also, as NePa shows you above, you can hang the sticks, or lay them on racks. I've done both. My last batch I hung, and really liked that. I spiraled them around the dowel rod, then cut them afterwords.
Here's a link to my post of my last batch. http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=8840.0 (http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=8840.0)
good luck
drano
I always tie mine and have never had a problem. I liked hanging them on wooden dowels, I haven't tried laying them on the racks yet. Drano is right, they are addicting, Out of anything I think I enjoy making snack sticks the most.....so far.
Well here is my first batch of Snack Sticks! I know....I only used 1.2# of very lean hamburger meat for this first batch. I took the instructions on the Hi-Mountain box that said to start with a small batch first! It is not any harder to make 5# thant o make 1.2# but this will have to do for the first batch.
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I had a 1# of Jimmy Dean sausage so I added some Maple Seasoning from Hi-Mountain and made a batch of Breakfast Sausages.
(http://i452.photobucket.com/albums/qq249/AggieBQ72/DSC_1974.jpg)
Is there a such thing as overfilling the casings????
Hey, Drano, I bought one of the Hi-Accuracy thermometers.....what IT temp should I go to on the breakfast sausages?
These will go on the DBS about 8:30 tonight using Maple seasoning. I am getting ready to leave so I don't want them smoking while I am gone.
Nice looking sausage. Yes! you can over stuff sausage. Over stuffing can cause them to burst when you either tie or twist to make links. Sausage also expand when cooked, so over stuffing can cause them to burst while cooking.
For meat I generally take the sausage to 152°F. For poultry I generally take it a little higher, closer to 160°F.
Maybe a good idea I only made a small batch of each.....just to make sure of the amount to fill before ruining a huge batch!
About the thermapen, I realize that 90 bucks is way too much for any instant read thermometer. But I am very happy with mine, as sausage batches are perfect now. I do not think it is a neccesity for anyone who does not do sausage, but it is great for everything. I have never seen another instant read with such a non-intrusive probe. Even my wings would not be the same without it!
AggieBQ72
Those look great! Now that you know what works, the bigger batches will get you even more great sticks w/out much more time to make them. I found that 10 lb of sticks looped around 3 dowel rods worked well in the OBS, so I'll be making either 10 or 20 lb batches.
I do the same as Habs, 152 internal for pork/beef/venison sausage.
Yep, Thermapens are great for sausage. Not required, but very nice. Since I've had it, I've found out I've been way over cooking burgers, brats, etc on the grill. Now I cook to recommended USDA temps, and its amazing how much more juicy they are. Before I've always been concerned about undercooking them. Now I know, w/in about 3 seconds.
I noticed you tied the ends off--sure looks nice. As you make bigger batches, you don't need to tie them off--the meat wont fall out. I use a bread bag twist tie (don't have any string) to hold the end closed to start stuffing, but leave the other end open. But if you still want to tie them, you'll have some real nice looking sausage.
get smokin
drano
And now the finished product! Drano, I used your time and temps exactly. I used 8 maple briquettes and during the smoking time I had a bowl of water to catch and extinguish the burned ashes. After the smoking was finished I removed the water bowl. It took at total of 4 hours to reach a IT of 152F. (The Thermoworks was well worth the $98!!!!!). The snack sticks are cut into 5" sections. The breakfast sausages are on the right. I can't wait for breakfast!!!! Next time will be a 10# load of snack sticks!
(http://i452.photobucket.com/albums/qq249/AggieBQ72/Smoking/DSC_1977.jpg)
I read my post and it seems confusing. So I'll try it again.
For meat sausage I use 152°F; and for poultry sausage I will go up to 160°F.
AggieBQ72
Those turned out great--bet they are gone by now. No problem--just make a bigger batch!
If you don't have it, I recommend buying the book Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing by Rytek Kutas.
That's where I got my smoker temp settings from. And its got lots of great recipes, and general sausage making info. Well worth $30.
get smokin
drano
Aggie....Those look great....it makes me want to start a batch today.
One question, On the breakfast sausage seasoning was there a cure included in that seasoning box?
Also one more question for Drano, do you have a picture of your smoker with a 10lb load of snack sticks in it? I put wooden dowels in mine also and could not get over 7lbs in the smoker, any more and they were touching. I would love a tip on how to do more at once before my big smoker is done. The smallest seasoning packet they have is for 25lbs, so after the meat, water, jalepenos, etc, + weight of seasoning I end up with over 28lbs before smoking. Took me four separate smokes at 7 hours each.
When I make snack stix I leave enough casing at each end so I can tie them together and then just loop them over the dowel. I cut them so they each are about 20 ins. long. I also leave them stored this way until time to eat as they seem to stay more moist. Thks Dave
smokeitall
I guess I lied to you--my last beef stick batch was 12.5 lb (made 1/2 of the 25 lb seasoning pack).
I did it in 2 smokes, so 6-7 lb each time, same as what you're doing.
Here's a link w/ pics.
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=8840.0
I used 21 mm collagen casings.
I made some smoked sausage with 30mm casings that were not stuffed real full, and I got 10 lb in the smoker w/ a little room to spare.
I leave the stuffed casings long, and loop/spiral them around the dowel rods. I try to layer them between each other as I put the dowel rods on the hanging boards.
Snack sticks are a balance between small casings creating lots of smoke batches, or larger diameter casings for less batches.
Of course, if we had one of these, we'd be set! http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=7616.0
Walleye has a nice setup there for sure.
get smokin
drano
There was NO cure included in the Hi-Mountain breakfast sausage kit. There was cure packaged with the snack sticks.
Drano...After I posted that I got to thinking that maybe you had a 6 rack Bradley, and then I bet you could put 10 lbs in. I am working on a smoker as big as Mr. Walleye's, I can't wait until its done.
Smokin Pros....If there was no cure included with the hi-mountain breakfast sausage kit, can you still smoke it? I thought you had to have cure for that low of temps???
I had wondered what the purpose of the cure was. My breakfast sausage smoked fine....but then I wonder what can happen since there was no cure used......maybe one of the gurus will have an answer.
Smoking ground meat (especially sausage in casings) at low temperatures gives botulism an ideal environment to grow. Though cases are rare why take the chance. Sodium nitrite kills and prevents this bacteria from growing, salt also helps but is required in higher quantities. So if you are using the Hi Mt. kits and the cure packet is separate, if smoking it is safer to use the cure. If you are making fresh sausage, then many may choose to leave the cure out, since the cure does alter the taste of the sausage.
Generally a temperature of 225°F or higher is safe for most ground meat products, because that ensures you get the internal temperature to 140°F in a safe period. Snack sticks are thinner so the internal temperature will reach 140°F sooner then thicker sausage, but the rule of thumb is if you are smoking sausage or any ground meat product at low temperatures you should at a cure. Cure #1 use at 1/4 teaspoon per pound in small quantities (4 pounds or less), or 1 teaspoon for each 5 pounds in larger quantities. There are exceptions; such as cold smoking hamburger patties for 40 minutes or so, and immediately transferring to a grill to finish.