Pepper Sticks/Slim Jims

[Hot Smokin Gal]

Hi. I'm a newbie.  Bought one of those Big Chief smokers last year.  Found it pretty useless unless temp outside perfect & not windy. Upgraded to the SS Bradley for temp control and more experimentation. Have made some venison sausage and smoked salmon.MMM-MMM

What I'm looking for is a GREAT snack stick/pepper stick/slm jim recipe.  I tried one I found on the net, but just tastes like sausage.  Doesn't have that bite that the professionally processed hot sticks we had made past couple years.  Would like to start doing all of our own processing/smoking now that I got the Bradley.  Can anyone recommend a really good cookbook on the smoking?[:D]

[ruffinit]

hello hot smokin gal!welcome to the forum.i've not done the snack sticks[slim jims] but have done much beef jerky with [cabelas]jerky mix.turns out great every time.on the instructions there's a recipe for snak sticks.looks good.just add your own ground dried peppers for a little kick.their hot flavor is good ,just not hot enough,so i'll add a little of my own ground  peppers for a kick.the cookbooks i have are [smoke and spice] and [sublime smoke] by cheryl and bill jamison.great read and very useful.worth getting.got mine at barnes and noble.have got alot of favorite recipes from smoke and spice,only tried a couple from sublime.well good luck ,hope this helps.

mike

[Hot Smokin Gal]

Thanks Mike.  I'll be sure to check those out.

Kris

[jaeger]

Hi Gal,
You could also look into using a starter culture to add to your seasoning to give it a tang. If you think a tang is what you want to add, check into encapsulated citric acid.
http://www.butcher-packer.com/pg_sausage_citric.htm

P.S. This works great for summer sausage also!!![:D]

[Cold Smoke]

Hi HSG- I located a Slim Jim recipe in the Great Sausage Making Recipes book- here it is

Recipe for 10 pound batch

2 tsp instacure
4 Tbsp paprika
1/3 cup ground mustard
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground white pepper
1 tsp ground celery
1 Tbsp mace
1 tsp granulated garlic
5 Tbsp salt
4 1/2 Tbsp powdered dextrose
1 1/2 cups fermento (dairy based fermentation product)

8 lbs ground chuck
2 lbs ground pork (butt is usually called for)

My wife is picking up my stuffer today- (hooray) and I will try this recipe soon. Have not yet tried it though. It's the fermento that apparently gives this recipe the "bite" you are looking for.

The book?

http://www.yourdelight.com/the_s_maker_book.htm

Great book- tons of recipes if you want to make your own sausage.

Good luck!

Cold Smoke

[Hot Smokin Gal]

Thanks Cold Smoke.  Ive been trying to find the book reasonably priced.  Would you believe on Amazon.com the cheapest copy last time I looked was over $50???  I'll be sure to place an order through the link.[:D]

[nsxbill]

I bought both of mine at Jessicasbiscuit.com.  Good prices on all your books. They ship quickly and are very efficient.

Bill

[Hot Smokin Gal]

Thanks guys.  I'll be sure to try Cold Smoke's recipe as soon as the pork belly and hams are done curing.  They're pretty much taking up my whole fridge right now.  Just have room for some butter, milk, and soda in there.  Good thing I don't have to keep much food on hand right now with hubby gone working across state.

[Cold Smoke]

I just made 10 lbs of that Slim Jim recipe this past weekend. I had been looking forward to it for some time now. I used that encapsulated citric acid stuff and followed the recipe to the letter in that great sausages recipe book. It states that you can leave your sticks sit an extra while if you want more tang- well I left it for about 8 hrs and then finished smoking them. They actually looked pretty good. Took a big bite and spit out the foulest tasting thing I've tried since my early Tequila Dare Days. [xx(][xx(][xx(][xx(] There goes $40 and a several hours of work/baysitting down the tubes.[:(!]

I might try this again some day but will not leave he sausage gain any extra tang. Now I have to find the address for Fear Factor and ship them this stuff. I'm sure the taste of this stuff puts huge Madagascar cockroaches and pig uterus to shame...[:(]

Cold Smoke

[mikey8]

i just mixed up a 25 lb batch of hot stick/ slim jim with beef and venison and i asked a buddy of mine that does alot of smoking and he thought that you dry this meat after you put it in the casing and you dont actually smoke it.  im not new to smoking, but i am to these fine treats.  can anyone here help me out?  and im happy to be part of this group, i can see already that im going to learn alot of things and find some great recipes....
thanks
  mikey[8]

[jaeger]

Hi mikey!
I would smoke these and fully cook them to an internal temp. of 165-170 degrees. You will not kill any germs without fully cooking this product. I'm sure you can find where centuries ago people dried meat without cooking but they also got sick or died from things that they didn't know the cause of. Plus the smoke flavor is the best part![:D][8D][:D]

[Cold Smoke]

Mikey8, are you using a premixed seasoning for this? My recipe called for smoke- perhaps others don't. Let me know how that works out- I love those little babies with a cold one! 25 lbs...hope that works out- looks like you like them more than me.[:)]

Cold Smoke

[mikey8]

I'm using a premix by a local company (Con Yeager in Zelienople, PA...Highly recommended)here in western pa that has great spices and seasons..  it's not a smoke seasoning, but more of a hot stick.  but i like the smoke flavoring too much to not want to smoke them.  i think ill try smoking them and just watch them closely.  i was concerned over just drying them and think cooking them would be better.
thanks for the advise
mikey[8]

[Chez Bubba]

Mikey,

The beauty of the Bradley is you can cook/dry your product regardless of the amount of smoke you apply. They are controlled by two seperate units. Your friend was probably only familiar with smokers that required the same fuel source to provide both the heat & the smoke.

Kirk

http://www.chezbubba.com
Ya think next time I check into a hotel & they ask "Smoking or Non?" they would mind?

[Bad Flynch]

I know that this not much help as-is, but you could use recipes for Landjäger/Landjaeger, as it is a prototype for this class.

B.F.