BRADLEY SMOKER | "Taste the Great Outdoors"

Smoking Techniques => Sausage Making => Topic started by: Klondikesmoker on March 13, 2010, 09:11:37 AM

Title: 1st crack at snack sticks
Post by: Klondikesmoker on March 13, 2010, 09:11:37 AM
Finally got everything together to try some snack sticks.  This was the real reason for buying the Bradley.  I could not find anyone to make up suasage for me locally.  I used to have friends of the family do them for me but they decided it was too busy and closed the business.  I tried 4 different outfits and none were up to my standard so I bought a Bradley.  I have been playing around with pulled pork (my favorite) boink balls, jerky,wings, fatties (mmmm), almonds, pistachios, and what ever else I feel like throwing in.  

Now it is time for the snack sticks.  I got the friends secret  :) recepie.  This was way easier mixing and stuffing than I thought it would be.  I have a LEM 5lb stuffer and did up 10 lbs of meat. 7lbs moose and 3lbs pork butt.  The only casings I could get were sheep casings but they worked great, only had 1 blow out and that was because I didn't get all the air out of the stuffer.  

1.5 hours to start, then 2 hours smoke of hickory and apple, 4 more hours to get IT of 162*, 4 hours to cool.
They turned out GREAT.  Just like I remember. 

The only problem I have is there is only 10 lbs of ground moose left in the freezer.  Not sure if I want to grind up the steak I have for snack sticks.   

(http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j158/gordonschmok/Bradley%20Smoker/IMG_2157.jpg)

(http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j158/gordonschmok/Bradley%20Smoker/IMG_2159.jpg)

Title: Re: 1st crack at snack sticks
Post by: lumpy on March 13, 2010, 09:57:39 AM
That looks great there Klondike!
Its been years since my moose hunting days. Too bad that I was not into sausage making at that time.

I can just imagine the moose sticks that I would have made.

Lumpy
Title: Re: 1st crack at snack sticks
Post by: pensrock on March 13, 2010, 10:42:08 AM
Looks great, I have never had any moose but I'm sure its great.
Title: Re: 1st crack at snack sticks
Post by: smokeNcanuck on March 13, 2010, 10:48:33 AM
OH man I am soooo jealous right now.  I too really want to make some snack sticks.
Only have a few more weeks till I get all my supplies(stuffer mainly).
I hope to get my hands on some venison but moose would be nice as well.
Your sticks look great!  Any chance you wanna share that "secret recipe"?? :D
Title: Re: 1st crack at snack sticks
Post by: watchdog56 on March 13, 2010, 03:22:53 PM
Looks like a very good job there. Care to share that secret recipe? I would like to do some more venison.
Title: Re: 1st crack at snack sticks
Post by: Captainslug on March 13, 2010, 07:54:19 PM
Yes.  Looks Great!  I'd like the recipe too if you are willing to share.
Title: Re: 1st crack at snack sticks
Post by: Klondikesmoker on March 13, 2010, 08:17:21 PM
I haven't forgot you guys.  I will get the recipe later.  I am in the middle of doing a pork butt and having problems with the PID.  Also just got called into work for tomorrow morning.  So a butt I have to keep an eye on, hockey game on and work tomorrow with a time change tonight.

Klondikesmoker
Title: Re: 1st crack at snack sticks
Post by: Tenpoint5 on March 14, 2010, 08:40:21 AM
Snack sticks look great. I see you have the hand crank old ugly #32. I have the same one except I motorized mine with a pulley.
Title: Re: 1st crack at snack sticks
Post by: Klondikesmoker on March 14, 2010, 01:33:31 PM
Tenpoint

what did you use for a reduction gear and how did you set it up?  do you have pictures?  I was looking at trying that but the parts are about 1/2 the price of a new "plastic" grinder.  not sure which way to go.

Klondikesmoker
Title: Re: 1st crack at snack sticks
Post by: watchdog56 on March 15, 2010, 01:03:37 PM
Hey Klondike-are you ready to give up that recipe yet??? ??? ;D
Title: Re: 1st crack at snack sticks
Post by: Klondikesmoker on March 15, 2010, 01:24:50 PM
okay okay
been real busy packing for a holiday.  just finished another butt took another 24 hours but quicker than the last one as I now have the second heat element added.  Sure makes recovery when changing water etc a LOT faster.

I am not to fussy about all the heat most of you add to your sausage etc, so I knew I would have to find something a little milder.  here is what I use it suits ME just fine.

not sure why it is in grams but that is what I have

this is for a 10 pound batch of meat. 

either

6.0 pounds game or beef
2.5 pounds pork butt
1.5 pounds pork fat

Or

8 pounds game or beef
2 pounds pork fat

************************************************************
907 grams water (work out to 900 ml)
110.4 grams salt
22.7 grams red pepper
11.4 grams white pepper
5.6 grams allspice
5.6 grams anise seed
1.2 grams garlic
34.0 grams sugar
124.5 grams binder
            (I used powder skim milk) found out binder is not absolutely necessary
11.4 grams cure mix

Enjoy

Klondikesmoker
Title: Re: 1st crack at snack sticks
Post by: watchdog56 on March 15, 2010, 03:26:54 PM
Thank You.
Title: Re: 1st crack at snack sticks
Post by: Tenpoint5 on March 15, 2010, 03:30:59 PM
Quote from: Klondikesmoker on March 14, 2010, 01:33:31 PM
Tenpoint

what did you use for a reduction gear and how did you set it up?  do you have pictures?  I was looking at trying that but the parts are about 1/2 the price of a new "plastic" grinder.  not sure which way to go.

Klondikesmoker


I don't have a reduction gear on mine just pulley to pulley. There is enough slippage that if I get too much in there, it will stop and I have to start cranking by hand to get it going again. I am heading out to work right now or I would look for a picture. I know I have posted one somewhere on here.
Title: Re: 1st crack at snack sticks
Post by: NePaSmoKer on March 15, 2010, 03:49:23 PM
Very nice sticks Klondike  ;D
Title: Re: 1st crack at snack sticks
Post by: watchdog56 on March 15, 2010, 05:19:04 PM
OK let me see if I got this right Klondike. These are some figures I found from an online conversion chart program.

3 3/4 cup water ( Is this distilled water?)
1/2 cup salt (Is this kosher salt?)
1 1/2 tablespoons of red pepper
3/4 tablespoons white pepper
1/2 tablespoon allspice
1/2 tablespoon anise seed
1/4 teaspoon of garlic ( Is this granulated garlic,garlic salt or garlic powder?)
2 1/2 tablespoons of sugar
1/2 cup powder skim milk
3/4 tablespoons of cure

Is that the right amount of water? It seems like a lot for a 10lb mix. I usually use 2-3 cups for a 25 lb mix with Cabela's seasoning mix kits.

Do I mix,stuff and let sit overnight in frig?

Thanks for your info.
Title: Re: 1st crack at snack sticks
Post by: slider on March 17, 2010, 05:57:52 AM
1/4 tsp garlic for 10lbs ?
Title: Re: 1st crack at snack sticks
Post by: Klondikesmoker on March 18, 2010, 07:46:09 AM
Watchdog

Thanks for the conversion.  I just used tap water and table salt.  I thought that was to much water also, but this was my first time making sticks so followed the recipe faithfully.  that is the right amount of water and the sticks came out great.  Also it came out of the stuffer real smooth and for a newbie making sausage (1st time) it was easy with no problems.  Only had one blow out and that was because of an air pocket.  So I would stick with the recommened amount of water. 
I mixed it all up and stuffed right away then set in fridge overnight before smoking to let the cure work.

Slider

1/4 tsp for garlic does sound like very little and I would add more next time.  Actually I forgot to add the garlic this time as I had fresh ground garlic and it was wet so didn't want to add it to the dry ingredient right away so put it aside until late and then completely for got it.  but 1/4 tsp does sound like very little for 10 lbs.   

Klondikesmoker
Title: Re: 1st crack at snack sticks
Post by: OU812 on March 18, 2010, 11:29:26 AM
Nice job with your first shot of makin snack sticks, they dont get any better than that.
Title: Re: 1st crack at snack sticks
Post by: watchdog56 on March 19, 2010, 08:04:04 AM
Thanks, I will have to try this recipe next time I do more sausage.
Title: Re: 1st crack at snack sticks
Post by: slider on March 23, 2010, 06:57:42 PM
I did not mean any harm by my comment I just like garlic....I also am going to try it .
Title: Re: 1st crack at snack sticks
Post by: NewfieSmoker on March 23, 2010, 08:29:25 PM
Those snack sticks look excellent!  I'm willing to bet that you have half of them eaten since you took that picture!

I also use Moose as my primary ingredient in my sausages, usually cut with pork butts, belly, and now I have a significant amount of beef fat. Here in Newfoundland, the moose are plentyful, and I draw a bull only tag every year, my wife gets an either sex every second year, as does my father, so we have plenty of moose meat kicking around.  Usually loads of snack sticks and Jerky. I just built my own walk in cooler in my garage and this year we aged the meat 4 weeks.  It was a tremendous improvement over taking your animal to the butcher shortly after harvesting it.  This fall, I am going to hang 1 quarter for 2-3 months and see what happens.  It will either result in a bad case of the S#$% or an incredible piece of meat!

Either way, Moose is great, and your snack sticks got me thinkin!
Title: Re: 1st crack at snack sticks
Post by: slider on March 24, 2010, 04:06:37 AM
It would be nice to be able to harvest an animal that supplied so much meat for the freezer. I would have to harvest 10 whitetail deer to produce that much meat. We can harvest 4 Whitetail per year.
Title: Re: 1st crack at snack sticks
Post by: squirtthecat on March 24, 2010, 04:39:52 AM
Quote from: NewfieSmoker on March 23, 2010, 08:29:25 PM
I just built my own walk in cooler in my garage

:o

Not to hijack, but could you let us know how you did that??  Maybe a pictorial in a new thread?

Title: Re: 1st crack at snack sticks
Post by: slider on March 24, 2010, 04:48:18 AM
Great idea !
Title: Re: 1st crack at snack sticks
Post by: OU812 on March 24, 2010, 05:07:13 AM
Quote from: squirtthecat on March 24, 2010, 04:39:52 AM
Quote from: NewfieSmoker on March 23, 2010, 08:29:25 PM
I just built my own walk in cooler in my garage

:o

Not to hijack, but could you let us know how you did that??  Maybe a pictorial in a new thread?



I would be interested in your cooler also.
Title: Re: 1st crack at snack sticks
Post by: NewfieSmoker on March 24, 2010, 07:39:45 PM
Sure, I will start a new thread of our cooler.  Hopefully I can get some pics uploaded. 

Newfie