My first smoke -Snack Stick results and questions

[hvhunter]

Hello to everyone this evening. I did my first smoke two nights ago, and here
are my results and questions. Any advice or pointers would be greatly appreciated.


Equipment:
  - OBS
  - Aubins two probe pid
     * Wall mount sensor in the rear as per the directions, under
       the top pan.
     * Direct sense probe was placed in a front row sausage, close to the
       door, about equal height of the wall mount sensor.

          NOTE: Maybe should place in the rear row of sausage, since the
               rear is warmer than the front?

     * Wired the Aubins so it controlled the smoker.

Recipe:

   - Eldon's Snack kit for 10 lbs, 26mm casing. I followed the
     directions that came with the kit very closely as you will see.

      * Used 9lbs of venison to 1lb pork back fat.
      * 3/4 cup of water (recipe called for 1/2 to 1c)
      * Stuffed the sausage the prior evening, and put into the
        smoker the next afternoon.

Smoking:

   - Cycle 1: 135 for 1.5 hrs, chamber only
   - Cycle 2: 145 for 1 hr, smoker also, and put in three pucks knowing
              they burn for approx 20 min. Hickory pucks.

              ** I realize I messed up, and should have queued up two pucks
                 on the ramp leading to the heated smoke shelf, since the
                 smoke shelf didn't get a puck until the 40 min mark.

   - Cycle 3: 170 until the internal temp reached 154.

Results and questions:

   - The total cycle time was 15.1 hrs.

     * WOW, I thought this time was very long, considering I did only 10 lbs, and the
       casing was only 26mm. Some folks that I know that do their own sausage,
       thought the time was excessive considering it was 90 deg.
       I can understand 32F or lower. Why so long? Because my meat was so
       dry (see below)?

         I just read this post, about this guy making kielbasa in 7 hrs?
         http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=17512.0

   - The meat could have been more smokier. I realize I messed up with the pucks.

   - The sausage in my opinion was dry.

         ** More fat next time, 8/2? 7/3??

         ** More water in the meat meat mixture when I mix everything?

         ** Set the direct internal temp shut off lower (153, 152?)

         ** Move the direct sense probe to a rear sausage vs a front sausage?

         ** Should I raise the main cook cycle to 180, 190?

Other:

     - Should I program to run the smoker, even if I am not smoking, during
       the duration of the main heat cycle?

         ** Last night, I smoked some jerky strips for two hrs before putting
             in the dehydrator. I noticed the Aubins had difficult time dialing
            in the temp with the smoker on.

A big thanks to all that chime in.

[NePaSmoKer]

Hello to everyone this evening. I did my first smoke two nights ago, and here
are my results and questions. Any advice or pointers would be greatly appreciated.


Equipment:
  - OBS
  - Aubins two probe pid
     * Wall mount sensor in the rear as per the directions, under
       the top pan.
     * Direct sense probe was placed in a front row sausage, close to the
       door, about equal height of the wall mount sensor.

          NOTE: Maybe should place in the rear row of sausage, since the
               rear is warmer than the front?

     * Wired the Aubins so it controlled the smoker.

Recipe:

   - Eldon's Snack kit for 10 lbs, 26mm casing. I followed the
     directions that came with the kit very closely as you will see.

      * Used 9lbs of venison to 1lb pork back fat.
      * 3/4 cup of water (recipe called for 1/2 to 1c)
      * Stuffed the sausage the prior evening, and put into the
        smoker the next afternoon.

Smoking:

   - Cycle 1: 135 for 1.5 hrs, chamber only
   - Cycle 2: 145 for 1 hr, smoker also, and put in three pucks knowing
              they burn for approx 20 min. Hickory pucks.

              ** I realize I messed up, and should have queued up two pucks
                 on the ramp leading to the heated smoke shelf, since the
                 smoke shelf didn't get a puck until the 40 min mark.

   - Cycle 3: 170 until the internal temp reached 154.

Results and questions:

   - The total cycle time was 15.1 hrs.

     * WOW, I thought this time was very long, considering I did only 10 lbs, and the
       casing was only 26mm. Some folks that I know that do their own sausage,
       thought the time was excessive considering it was 90 deg.
       I can understand 32F or lower. Why so long? Because my meat was so
       dry (see below)?

         I just read this post, about this guy making kielbasa in 7 hrs?
         http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=17512.0

   - The meat could have been more smokier. I realize I messed up with the pucks.

   - The sausage in my opinion was dry.

         ** More fat next time, 8/2? 7/3??

         ** More water in the meat meat mixture when I mix everything?

         ** Set the direct internal temp shut off lower (153, 152?)

         ** Move the direct sense probe to a rear sausage vs a front sausage?

         ** Should I raise the main cook cycle to 180, 190?

Other:

     - Should I program to run the smoker, even if I am not smoking, during
       the duration of the main heat cycle?

         ** Last night, I smoked some jerky strips for two hrs before putting
             in the dehydrator. I noticed the Aubins had difficult time dialing
            in the temp with the smoker on.

A big thanks to all that chime in.

I think here is your slight problem.

Smoking:

   - Cycle 1: 135 for 1.5 hrs, chamber only
   - Cycle 2: 145 for 1 hr, smoker also, and put in three pucks knowing
              they burn for approx 20 min. Hickory pucks.

              ** I realize I messed up, and should have queued up two pucks
                 on the ramp leading to the heated smoke shelf, since the
                 smoke shelf didn't get a puck until the 40 min mark.

   - Cycle 3: 170 until the internal temp reached 154.

You jumped from 145 right to 170.

Ramp in increments of 10*

IE 135/145/155/165 and 175 being the final.. Note dont go above 180* if you do your just cooking it. You will encounter whats called a stall temp where the meat will stall around 130-140 which can be several hours. If someone says they did 10/15 or 20 pounds in 8-9 hours??? YYSSW

BTW

Eldon & Karen Cutlip are top notch sausage makers and have good kits.

Here is how i do sticks.

130 no smoke
140 smoke
150 NS
160 smoke opt
170
175-180 being final

Hope this helps some.

[KevinG]

I can't really help with your smoker mod, I don't own the auber, so maybe one of the others will chime in here.

As far as the snack sticks go, when I think of a snack stick, I think of a slim jim. They are dry tough and chewy. If you're looking for sausage quality, you will need to increase the casing size, and increase the fat. For sausage I go with an 80/20 blend, some do more, that will help with the moistness. The temperature ramp is another area of concern. You should ramp up slow, you might want to add another ramp after the 145 to 160, but it may not be necessary. If you go hotter, your fat in the sausage will drip out and make it even drier. 10 pounds is a pretty good load, where did you have your vent set? If it was closed or near closed that can make it tougher to maintain temps. How many times did you open the door? If you're looking you ain't cooking! Remember the Bradley is a slow cooker, not a kitchen oven or BBQ grill, relax and be patient, it will come out great. I've made many awesome sausages in my Bradley 6 rack digital.

[hvhunter]

My vent was open full for probably the first nine hrs. And I did not peek one time during the cooking cycle.

[RAF128]

I did some snack sticks last weekend.   There was only 10lbs and it took longer than I expected.    The next day I did 10lbs of salami and it took about the same time.   I can't explain when the sticks took so long.   I guess that's the way it goes sometimes.
I start mine off at 120 for a couple hours.   No smoke.  Then 140 for 3 hours with smoke, and then 180 until finished.   IMO you don't want to go much higher or the fat might start to melt.   I use the 7/16 tube to stuff and the collegen casing that size.   Don't know the mm size but think it's small than what you used.  I take mine to 152, then take them out and put them in an ice bath to cool and stop the cooking.   Then hang them to bloom.   I think the last 2 steps are important when you're make snack sticks.