Second batch of sticks

nasels · February 09, 2012, 08:18:56 PM

Did my second batch of venison cheese sticks. This time all low fat venison no burger. Last time I added some 80-20 burger, I thought the sticks I removed from the freezer from last batch had alot of outside fat on them. Used Hi-Mountain kit and reduced the cure by 3-4 tsp.
The sticks were a little dryer and alot firmer but still good.
I did 7.5 lbs in the oven. I reset the thermostat on oven and bumped it down 20* as was suggested and lowered the starting temp to 150*. I bumped it up ten* about every 1-1 1/2 hrs until an IT of 155* was reached.
The hardest part was stuffing with the LEM Cannon and tying. Also the mixing was rough. Will be PM'ing Kirby about a 2.5 gallon mixer.

pikeman_95 · February 09, 2012, 08:29:45 PM

The sticks look very good. I got your pm. Have fun and keep at it.
KC

wyrman · February 09, 2012, 09:09:05 PM

Those do indeed look very good nasels.

Sam3 · February 10, 2012, 03:13:37 AM

Very nice. High temp cheese or regular?

mikecorn.1 · February 10, 2012, 05:42:35 AM

So it's a no go on cheese using the 3/8 tube on the cannon? PITA?

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Keymaster · February 10, 2012, 05:59:56 AM

Good looking Sticks! Thats a lot of stuffing with a Lem Cannon :)

nasels · February 10, 2012, 08:11:36 AM

Regular cheese Sam based on recommendations from these guys. Just as hard as you can find. That is just a Craft extra sharp. The cheese has worked out fine as long as you start with low temps.

Mike the cannon handles the cheese fine just slow. I imagine I spent three hrs at least on this batch. As you well know the cooking the easy part :)

Sam3 · February 10, 2012, 08:29:48 AM

Quote from: nasels on February 10, 2012, 08:11:36 AM
Regular cheese Sam based on recommendations from these guys. Just as hard as you can find. That is just a Craft extra sharp. The cheese has worked out fine as long as you start with low temps.

Mike the cannon handles the cheese fine just slow. I imagine I spent three hrs at least on this batch. As you well know the cooking the easy part :)

Nice. Thanks for that info.

OU812 · February 10, 2012, 08:43:03 AM

Those sticks look great and that money shot sent them over the edge.

pmmpete · February 10, 2012, 10:42:54 AM

You said "Used Hi-Mountain kit and reduced the cure by 3-4 tsp." Why did you reduce the cure? Is it safe to reduce the cure below recommended levels?

nasels · February 10, 2012, 04:05:48 PM

I have had the same question about reducing the cure but they don't stay around long enough to worry about it. Plus I refrigerate or freeze them right away.

But I have had the same question about the cure.

I reduced it because it made the first sticks way to salty. I still put 12 tsp in 7.5 pounds of meat. I think it called for 15-16 tsp. My understanding is the cure has salt in it and so does the spice mix. Some say don't use the cure and use #1 pink salt (I think I got that right).

I actually e-mailed Hi-mountain a link to a discussion on here. Got a very polite response thanking me and saying they have been making the mixes for so many years and it was a tried recipe for their company. I guess they feel on their end if it ain't broke don't fix it. They know how many kits they sale I have no idea. They were at least polite enough to reply and seemed interested in the feedback.

pmmpete · February 11, 2012, 05:39:48 AM

Whoa! That is a lot of cure! In Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing, 4th Edition, Rytek Kutas says on page 36, "This is a good time to mention that it only takes 4 ounces of Insta Cure No. 1 to cure 100 pounds of sausage, 3 ounces for 50 pounds, and only one ounce for 25 pounds. When curing 10 pounds of meat, it takes a little less than 1/2 ounce of Insta Cure. Put another way, 6 level teaspoons equal about 1 ounce of Insta Cure, or 2 level teaspoons will cure 10 lbs of sausage." You used 12 teaspoons of cure in 7.5 lbs of meat (.625 of a teaspoon per pound of meat), but Kutas recommends 2 teaspoons of cure in 10 pounds of sausage (.2 of a teaspoon per pound of meat), which is over three times as much. If the recipe called for 16 teaspoons of cure in 7.5 pounds of meat, that would be 2.13 teaspoons per pound of meat, which is over 10 times as much as Kutas recommends.

SouthernSmoked · February 11, 2012, 08:47:04 AM

Awesome looking sticks!

Salmonsmoker · February 11, 2012, 09:51:46 AM

Hi mountain cures have other spices/flavorings etc. in their mix. That's why it seems to be such a large amount. The actual amount of cure #1 is proportional to amount recommended per pound.

nasels · February 12, 2012, 04:41:17 AM

Quote from: Salmonsmoker on February 11, 2012, 09:51:46 AM
Hi mountain cures have other spices/flavorings etc. in their mix. That's why it seems to be such a large amount. The actual amount of cure #1 is proportional to amount recommended per pound.

My cure was in a separate pack than the spice mix ---- I think the cure is just different from #1 pink etc., based on what I have read, Maybe more like Morton Tender Quick or whatever Morton calls theirs??

Second batch of sticks

Keymaster