Beef Pepperone (Pepperoni) - IT? Where to Put Probe?

[anderson5420]

OK, last effort tasted great but was a bit overcooked and too dry, although I thought it only went to an IT of 145 degrees F. Ate it anyway of course!

Going to take another run at it today, one 5 lb batch to smoke and cook, another 5 lb batch to hang to dry cure. 

So, for the smoked and cooked batch, what internal temp do folks shoot for with beef pepperone or other small diameter sticks?  And where do you put the probe?  They are so skinny!  Is there a picture somewhere of how people monitor of the temp of these little guys?

Thanks!

[lumpy]

I try and stick the probe in the middle of sticks and every hour check them with a thermopen.


Lumpy

[anderson5420]

Thanks, Lumpy - that looks about right.  I however had them as 10" sticks on the racks, not ropes over the smoke stick.  Guess I will aim for ropes today! I'll ramp it up slowly, max of 165, aim for IT of 145 and see what happens!

[jcohan]

OK, last effort tasted great but was a bit overcooked and too dry, although I thought it only went to an IT of 145 degrees F. Ate it anyway of course!

Going to take another run at it today, one 5 lb batch to smoke and cook, another 5 lb batch to hang to dry cure. 

So, for the smoked and cooked batch, what internal temp do folks shoot for with beef pepperone or other small diameter sticks?  And where do you put the probe?  They are so skinny!  Is there a picture somewhere of how people monitor of the temp of these little guys?

Thanks!

I've run mine up to 155 and they have come out fine.  Is your meat possibly too lean?

One thing I've noticed with the probe is that the sticks are so small the metal of the temperature probe will conduct the heat into the stick you are measuring faster than the others.  I've had the IT of the stick I was measuring up to 155, but the others in the smoker were below 140.  Periodic checks with a thermopen are worthwhile.

Jim

[NePaSmoKer]

I only use the Thermapen for IT

[anderson5420]

OK, success!  Still did sticks on racks instead of ropes on smoke stick, but all came out perfectly.

The spice mixture: salt, cure #1, paprika, cayenne, chili flakes, allspice, white pepper.



Dry milk solids.



Wine.



The finished product.



Smoking and cooking took 5 hours, 1 hour at 120 to dry, 2 hours at 140 with smoke, and 2 hours at 155 to hit internal temp of 145.  Cold water shower, patted dry, let them sit for a while, and then vacuum packed.  Texture is just right, flavor is great!

[azamuner73]

Damn those look good!

[OU812]

Damn nice lookin sticks anderson

I do all my sticks on the racks, much easier to rotate and get cooked evenly.