Beef Stick Thoughts?

[Smoked]

OK, gang- I'm getting ready to try some beef sticks on the smoker and I'm checking with the "experts" here to see if I've forgotten anything...  I'll get more adventuresome as far as grinding my own meat and blending my own seasonings & cure down the road--  wanted something easy to start with.  So....Taking bits & pieces of various recipes from the Forum, I have some 19mm collagen casings and some Hi-Mountain Pepper/Garlic jerky cure mix from Cabela's, and will be picking up around 10 lbs of ground chuck from the market.

My questions are...
1) Typical ground chuck etc is approx 75% lean but "extra lean" is available. What's the ideal lean/fat mix for a fully cooked beef stick?
2) Do you guys let the ground meat, seasonings & cure "rest" after blending, or after stuffing? (or doesn't it matter?)
3) Since these are to be the fully cooked type, do I need to rinse them in cold water after smoking like it says for the "fresh" type?
4) Do I put water in the bowl for my DBS or leave empty-- and what should the damper/vent be set at-- 100% open, half, etc?
5) I plan to smoke for 4 hours--all Hickory-- and take the sticks to 160 degrees F. (verified by my Maverick of course). Look right?

Any input, corrections, or additions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks-

Ed

[Mr Walleye]

Hi Ed

No expert here but I have been getting into sausage for sure. I have done snack sticks as well so I'll give you my take on it.

1. I would probably stick with the 75% lean. If you get too lean you will have binding problems (sausage will crumble).
2. No, in most cases you would mix then stuff. There are some recipes that say to mix, then store in the fridge over nite before stuffing but they usually tell you to re-grind before stuffing.
3. Yes, the reason you do this is to stop the cooking. Once they have reached the desired temp, shower them with cold water until they are down to 100 degrees or so.
4. Yes, you want to have water in the water bowl for the pucks to drop into. Usually you run the damper wide open for at least the first hour to hour and a half with no smoke at about 120 or 130 degrees to dry the sausage casings and allow for better smoke penatration. After this drying stage you can increase the temp to 170 degrees, apply your smoke and close your vent dowm to 1/3 or 1/4.
5. Four hours is a fair bit of smoke, which is ok if that's what you like. I usually do mine for about 2 to 2.5 hours. You should only need to take them to an internal temp of 152 degrees. This temp will also help to not render too much fat out of them.

The only thing I added to mine was skim milk powder for a binder. I'm not experienced enough yet to know if you should add that in yours or not.

Mike

[Smoked]

Mike- thanks for the pointers.  Regarding the milk powder, I'd like to add some to my mix--how much do you typically add per pound of meat (by tablespoon, cup, etc.???)-

Ed

[Mr Walleye]

Ed

I just checked my recipe and I didn't add any to my sticks. I have added it to every other sausage I have made before. I looked through and it ranges from 1 to 2 cups in 10 lbs. I guess it depends if you want them to be a dryer stick or not. The powdered milk will keep it more moist.

Mike