Beginner Sticks

[nasels]

I have been lurking on the forum for a while, reading all I could find and asking a few simpleton questions getting ready to try my first sticks. I hope this post may help a few others that may be lurking and reading as I was if they are thinking of giving it a stab:

Well I read on here somewhere if you don't post pics you didn't do it -- so with that said:



I started with a LEM cracked pepper garlic stick kit.  Venison 4% fat 3.5lbs- I wanted to added some pork butt but the market would not grind them for me. So I went with 1.5 lbs of 80-20 burger. I am sure the pork would have been much better but I had what I had. I added just over a half pound of diced cheddar and about 3oz of jalapeños. I hope the pepper seasoning and jalapeños will not be too much pepper.



Here you can see the lean venison and the 80-20.

Well right from the get go I realized the casing were larger than I desired. They looked more like link sausage casings, the size of the casing was not listed anywhere in the literature. I definitely found out if I continue to do this I will purchase the 5lb LEM stuffer. Loading the cannon was the most time consuming and tedious of the process. I want even tell you how long it took to run this little five lb batch. I need to talk to LEM the cannon kept leaking around the bottom of the gun, squirting out small amounts of meat when under pressure while stuffing casings. I don't think it would have happened just shooting jerky.  Is it suppose to bleed off pressure this way or maybe I just had meat in the sealing area?

At the end I began to have blow outs and realized I needed to add a little more water to the mix as it had begun to set up and was dragging in the casings. After beginning to get the hang of handling the gun things began to flow a little smoother.



Here you have the stuffed sticks. As I said above, way larger than I expected or wanted unless they shrink a heck of a lot. Also some stuffed a little loose. As you see I didn't know weather to stuff long lengths and cut after cooking or stuff shorter lengths and tie. Twisting links was not working and I could not find any butcher string today. Your feed back on the best method of stuffing and sectioning the links would be appreciated ;)

Man what a mess I had to clean up. Glad I went with a small batch and I really prefer some pork to go in them later. Also glad the wife was no where around to complain about the mess :-*

They go in the oven tomorrow on a slow 170 degree cook with a meat thermometer inserted till they reach 160. Does this sound about right?

[cobra6223]

well very nice looking sticks!! they look to be about 19mm which is what I use in a collagen casing
the length is fine as you Can cut them into pieces later,170*sounds to high to much heat and bad things happen to good eats, they could fat out and the cheese could melt, also 160* IT sounds high, I stop at 152*-155*, the other thing I do to speed up the process is smoke for two hours or so and then throw them into 160* water till they reach IT, I have a stuffer but we shoot long ropes and hang them, I know nepas will tie some and lay them in baskets, oh and they don't shrink much if they do at all, sorry about the mess, I must be a lucky guy as my wife does the majority of our clean up! ;D, well have fun  and enjoy the sticks they sure look good.

Tim

[nasels]

170*sounds to high to much heat and bad things happen to good eats, they could fat out and the cheese could melt,
Tim

no smoker oven is all I have this go around - 170* is as low as the oven will go.

[watchdog56]

I agree you usually want to bring your temps up slowly to 170. I have the LEM 5# stuffer and it works great. As far as string I just use regular string have not had any problems at all with it.

[nasels]

Well not pretty but dang they are good!!! They are a bit larger in diameter than a dime. I prefer a smaller stick just to make them seem to go further. I need to find out the size of the casing LEM ships with the kit and go down a size or so.

Thanks to all for your patience and help ;D

[mikecorn.1]

Those look good


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cobra6223]

they turned out looking very tasty, as far as the oven block the door open a littile and watch your oven temp, I think sheep casing is smaller in diameter and I do believe I have heard Rick talking about a 17mm casing, also with your oven temp, a dual probe maverick thermometer would help monitor oven temp and the IT, I don't have a PID yet and that's what I use for BDS.
Tim

[nasels]

I blocked the door open on the oven a little and run them at 170* for about 2hrs. Seems the IT was stuck around 147* or so. I close the door and jacked them up a little to get the IT finished.

I read alot of different opinions on IT-- anywhere from 145* to 16O*. I did use cure in the sticks. The raise in temp did harden the case a little. But I kind of like the case texture a little snappy.

[Piker]

Nasels I do not know what kind of stove you have but on mine I hold the bake button for 30 secs. and 2 zeros show up on the heat indicator window so using the up or down arrow I can adjust my oven temp. by 30 degrees f. That is up or down. Works great for any sausage when the weather is nasty. But if you do use it dont forget to reset it as my wife had a little trouble cooking a roast later. Piker

[NePaSmoKer]

You did good for the oven. I found most electric ovens only go low between 150-170.

17mm casings are a special order and most the time by the caddy which is 90 lengths of 50' which is about 4500' of stuffing.

[nasels]

Nasels I do not know what kind of stove you have but on mine I hold the bake button for 30 secs. and 2 zeros show up on the heat indicator window so using the up or down arrow I can adjust my oven temp. by 30 degrees f. That is up or down. Works great for any sausage when the weather is nasty. But if you do use it dont forget to reset it as my wife had a little trouble cooking a roast later. Piker

I saw that in the manual piker. I quit messing with it because the temp display never showed anything but 170* but I could do up to +/- 30* entry. Are you saying the temp will change but not the readout. I was a little confused by the manual on the display issue. I played with it a while and took it back to zero due to what you said about your wife. However, they seemed to cook good with the door propped on 170*

Nepa maybe my deer processor special orders 19mm casings. If my casing is indeed 19 mm, I prefer the smaller but don't think I will stuff a caddy full no time soon ;D

[Piker]

yes the readout on the stove stays at 170. I usually start at 170 [-20] and when it stalls I go to 180[-20] and usually end up at 190[-20] until I reach the final I.T.. I make my summer sausage in 6 in. casings 20 in. long so it takes a long time. Piker

[carnie1]

Here is a link for 15mm casings, but beware they will be very hard to stuff with a hand crank http://www.midwesternresearch.com/iw_products.m4p.pvx?;products_no_tree?company=INC?cat=11020

[pensrock]

Looks like you did a pretty good job. I agree the pork would have been better to mix in. Also did you stuff right after mixing the spices and cure in or let it sit over night then stuff? The reason I ask is because if you let it sit overnight with the cure in it, it will firm up and make it harded to stuff. If you decide to try 17mm or 15mm casings, make sure you have a tube they will fit on or you will not be able to use them. I'm like the others, I do not like to go above 160 F when doing sticks. Since you were not going to smoke them you could have added a little liquid smoke for the flavor. Also a little more water added to the meat before stuffing will help. Bu8t they do look good, nice job.  :)

[nasels]

yes the readout on the stove stays at 170. I usually start at 170 [-20] and when it stalls I go to 180[-20] and usually end up at 190[-20] until I reach the final I.T.. I make my summer sausage in 6 in. casings 20 in. long so it takes a long time. Piker

Thanks