Snack Stick Questions

[Piker]

When I make snack stix I leave enough casing at each end so I can tie them together and then just loop them over the dowel. I cut them so they each are about 20 ins. long. I also leave them stored this way until time to eat as they seem to stay more moist. Thks Dave

[drano]

smokeitall
I guess I lied to you--my last beef stick batch was 12.5 lb (made 1/2 of the 25 lb seasoning pack).
I did it in 2 smokes, so 6-7 lb each time, same as what you're doing. 
Here's a link w/ pics. 
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=8840.0
I used 21 mm collagen casings. 
I made some smoked sausage with 30mm casings that were not stuffed real full, and I got 10 lb in the smoker w/ a little room to spare. 
I leave the stuffed casings long, and loop/spiral them around the dowel rods.  I try to layer them between each other as I put the dowel rods on the hanging boards. 
Snack sticks are a balance between small casings creating lots of smoke batches, or larger diameter casings for less batches. 
Of course, if we had one of these, we'd be set!  http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=7616.0
Walleye has a nice setup there for sure.

get smokin
drano

[AggieBQ72]

There was NO cure included in the Hi-Mountain breakfast sausage kit.  There was cure packaged with the snack sticks.

[smokeitall]

Drano...After I posted that I got to thinking that maybe you had a 6 rack Bradley, and then I bet you could put 10 lbs in.  I am working on a smoker as big as Mr. Walleye's, I can't wait until its done.

Smokin Pros....If there was no cure included with the hi-mountain breakfast sausage kit, can you still smoke it?  I thought you had to have cure for that low of temps???

[AggieBQ72]

I had wondered what the purpose of the cure was.  My breakfast sausage smoked fine....but then I wonder what can happen since there was no cure used......maybe one of the gurus will have an answer.

[Habanero Smoker]

Smoking ground meat (especially sausage in casings) at low temperatures gives botulism an ideal environment to grow. Though cases are rare why take the chance. Sodium nitrite kills and prevents this bacteria from growing, salt also helps but is required in higher quantities. So if you are using the Hi Mt. kits and the cure packet is separate, if smoking it is safer to use the cure. If you are making fresh sausage, then many may choose to leave the cure out, since the cure does alter the taste of the sausage.

Generally a temperature of 225°F or higher is safe for most ground meat products, because that ensures you get the internal temperature to 140°F in a safe period. Snack sticks are thinner so the internal temperature will reach 140°F sooner then thicker sausage, but the rule of thumb is if you are smoking sausage or any ground meat product at low temperatures you should at a cure. Cure #1 use at 1/4 teaspoon per pound in small quantities (4 pounds or less), or 1 teaspoon for each 5 pounds in larger quantities. There are exceptions; such as cold smoking hamburger patties for 40 minutes or so, and immediately transferring to a grill to finish.