Beef sticks w/ pics

drano · December 31, 2008, 09:15:41 PM

Well, I haven't done beef sticks in several years. So I brewed up a 12.5 lb batch yesterday, and put half of it on the smoker about noon today.
They got 1 hour of maple and 1 hour of hickory.
Wow, they taste great. Family approves too.
But my fan kept the door side of the smoker hotter than the back, so I pulled the front two sticks of them, and gave the back stick another hour. (once again, Thermopen made it REAL easy to test the internal temp).

Total time in smoker was about 6 hours--140 @ 2 hours to dry, then 170 to cook, and 180 to finish off the last stick. the last 6 lb of it will most likely get 175 deg and see if they get done sooner.

Yep, got pics. Here are the 3 oak rods with the beef sticks hanging, almost done.

Door and middle stick done first

All done, cooled on ice and ready for vacuum pack

At this rate, beef sticks have become my favorite, and most likely won't stay in the freezer long. Summer Sausage, at least with 2.5" casings, just takes too long to smoke. The beef sticks were easy.
drano

FLBentRider · December 31, 2008, 09:18:28 PM

Looks great drano!

drano · December 31, 2008, 09:26:05 PM

FLBentRider
Thanks!
I was surprized how well they turned out. Several years ago, the first batch didn't work out so good which is why I didn't make any since then. I'll be making them as often as I have time now!
I also need to experiemnt with some recipies out of the book I have so I can customize the flavor. This one is a little heavy on the black pepper for my liking.
Its Pepper Stick mix from here: http://www.friscospices.com/sausageseasoningmixes.asp
drano

deb415611 · January 01, 2009, 04:00:31 AM

Those look great Drano

hillbillysmoker · January 01, 2009, 05:19:29 AM

Looks great..thanks for sharing.

Tenpoint5 · January 01, 2009, 08:39:11 AM

Quote from: drano on December 31, 2008, 09:26:05 PM

I also need to experiment with some recipies out of the book I have so I can customize the flavor.
drano

There you go, now your talking. Love the experimental stage even when you mess up they still taste good. Looks good so far Drano keep us posted with your recipes and experiments.

pensrock · January 01, 2009, 08:47:49 AM

QuoteThere you go, now your talking. Love the experimental stage even when you mess up they still taste good. Looks good so far Drano keep us posted with your recipes and experiments.

Drano,

While experimenting, you can send all your failures to me at....... ;D ;D ;D
pens

lumpy · January 03, 2009, 08:17:02 AM

Any chance you would like to share your beef recipe with the rest of us?
They look great!

Lumpy

drano · January 05, 2009, 05:55:21 PM

Lumpy,
For this batch I used Frisco brand pepper stick, and 21mm collagen casings.
http://www.friscospices.com/sausageseasoningmixes.asp
A clear black pepper flavor, but not overpowering.
get smokin
drano

NePaSmoKer · January 08, 2009, 06:27:40 AM

The stix look great drano..........gotta love em

nepas

sherlock · January 08, 2009, 06:43:26 AM

Looks great. I must try some soon. Santa brought me a camera and as soon as I figure it out I will document my smoke.
;D

smokeitall · January 08, 2009, 05:05:57 PM

Looks great Drano..My batch of 25lbs is just about gone. They were awesome and I have requests to make a lot more....And so far they have been my favorite to make.

drano · January 08, 2009, 05:29:34 PM

Thanks everyone.
These have become my favorite also. They're just so easy, and don't take as long as 3 lb summer sausage to get up to temp.
I gave some to the boss today, and he really liked them too.
get smokin
drano

Beef sticks w/ pics

lumpy

NePaSmoKer