Snack sticks, with a twist

[RAF128]

Not lemon ;).  Saturday I decided I needed some more snack sticks.   Planned 10 lbs.   So I took out 7 lbs of deer burger and headed for the butcher shop for 3 lbs of pork.   Used 2 lbs of pork shoulder and 1 lb of 50/50 meat and fat.    Sunday ground it all and mixed in spices.   Here's the twist.  Usually use collagen casings but since I had some natural sheep casings left over I decided to give them a try.    I bought a new stuffer this past winters.   The 5 lb LEM wasn't big enough, IMO, so I sold it and bought the 11 lb stuffer from Cabelas.  What I liked about the stuffer was the quick gear to bring up the plunger faster.   What I don't like are the following 2 things.  It worked fine with the larger tubes but not so good with the small tube for the sticks.   Needs a lot of pressure to keep meat flowing.   The other problem is the amount of meat left in the tube and stuffer.   The amount in the stuffer is the design of how the plunger is attached with the big wing nut.   Also, cleaning out the stuffing tube is a pain.  The package didn't include anything for cleaning.
The sausage went into the Bradley this morning and the smoke is now over.  It's just a matter of bringing it up to temperature.   I can tell you that there was a smaller piece that was thinner and it's done but it disappeared ;).   Sausage seems to have a nice snap to it ;D

[Saber 4]

Sounds like some tasty sticks. As for the leftovers in the tube I sometimes use a ball of paper towel and a chopstick to push it into the last casing before I tie off the last link, then I fry up the bit in the bottom of the stuffer for a treat.

[Habanero Smoker]

I have different size dowels that I use; depending on the size of the tube. I wrap either plastic wrap or aluminum foil around the dowel and use that to push the sausage through. You can often find an assortment package of 2' dowels in most craft shops, or in the Wal-Mart craft section. Often a wooden spoon handle is just the right size for this.

Sausage Maker sells cleaning brushes for plates and tubes, but I'm sure you can find something similar in other places.

Cleaning Brushes

[cobra6223]

I agree with Habs about the dowels, they work great to push leftover meat out. Also about the pressure, it's just the smaller the hole your trying to push it through the more pressure it takes to get through. I almost broke my arm off trying to get it through a slim Jim size tube vs my bigger tubes.

[RAF128]

I understand about the pressure to push it through the small tube, but the 5 lb LEM I had didn't have that problem.   The tubes for the LEM were a different design and worked slick.   

[cobra6223]

Interesting!! metal vs. plastic horns? different gear ratio?