Ground beef snack sticks

[NePaSmoKer]

Looks great ice. You do what i do by mixing the dry with the water and then mixing into the meat. I bet Boomer loves em too  ;D

nepas

[iceman]

Looks great ice. You do what i do by mixing the dry with the water and then mixing into the meat. I bet Boomer loves em too  ;D

nepas

Heck nepas if I didn't have fast reflexes that dude would have given me the nick name "Stumpy" Man they like jerky. Can't give em to much or we pay for it at night. Wew weeeeee!!!  :o :D

[iceman]

Ice,
once these are vac packed do they need to be frozen?
if not what kinda shelf life do they have? i mean short of
getting eaten during testing ??

I rarely have to freeze mine but if you have some for more than a few days I would vacuum seal them then toss in the freezer.

[pfowl01]

Hab,

Was wondering what recipe in Rytek Kutas book you used? Was it the slim jim recipe?

[Habanero Smoker]

Hab,

Was wondering what recipe in Rytek Kutas book you used? Was it the slim jim recipe?

Yes! It was the Slim Jim recipe. I smoked at 90°F - 100°F and held it at that temperature for a total of 8 hours to increase the tang from the fermento, before finishing it off. It turned out real good, especially when I substituted the Tabasco Habanero sauce in place of the cayenne pepper. I used 22 mm sheepskin casing because I had them on hand. It would have been easier with collagen, because I remove the casings on beef sticks anyway.

[pfowl01]

Hab,

Thanks for the feedback ;D I have another question if you don't mind and anyone else could chime in if they want to..........I've noticed that there seems to be quite a few different ways to make sausage, in the aspect of curing times, cooking temps, and finished IT's. Why such a difference between recipes/sausage kits?
For example in some of Mr. Kutas's recipes he doesn't mention putting the sausage in the frig to cure after stuffing it. Where as in some kits you buy they say it has to sit in the frig overnight to cure.Then there is the temp......some have you hit different temps throughout the cooking time and some just have one set temp? Finish IT's vary from 145-165.
So with some of this conflicting info it leaves me guessing on wether to follow directions of a kit or follow a more traditional manor? ( In traditional manor I mean...grind your meat, mix with seasonings and cure, stuff and refrigerate overnight ) I'm going to try some LEM summer sausage this weekend and there directions are pretty traditional, except they call for 170 deg throughout the cooking time to a IT of 165 deg. Wouldn't going above 155 deg render some of the fat out? Sorry I got rambling......any advice is greatly appreciated :)

[Mr Walleye]

Pfowl01

I know what you mean regarding some instructions are kinda all over the place. The following comments are just my opinion.

The whole curing time in the fridge thing, I think, not only allows the cure a little time to distribute equally in the sausage but also allows the spices time to blend in. I know in some recipes such as Ryteks snack stixs they go from stuffing directly into the smoker at approximately 90 degrees for 8 to 20 hours with no smoke to develop the acidic "tang" flavor and works very well. But, for the most part, I prefer to allow the cure and spices time (over night) to distribute.

Once they have sat over night in the fridge I hang mine in the smoker at 130 degrees for 1 to 2 hours without smoke before cranking the temp up to 170 or 175 and starting the smoke. This allows the surface of the sausage (casings) to dry somewhat and allow the smoke to better penetrate. If the smoke is applied while the sausage is still wet it will addhere to the outside and have more of a bitter taste.

As far as the temp of the smoker cabinet goes in my experience I find 170 to 175 degrees is as high as I can go without potentially having problems like tougher casings or rendering fat out of the sausage. I've tried going at 180 but I usually wish that I hadn't.

The internal temps some people list seem very high to me. In everything I've read 152 degrees seems to be the magic number for safety and certainly what I use. If you take a sausage to 165 degrees it would have to render some of the fat out in my opinion, which is not what you want.

Again, this is just my thoughts and opinions on this.

Mike

[pfowl01]

Mike,

Hey thanks for the info ;D I think I'll follow your advice and shoot for a lower IT maybe 152-155 deg and cook around 170 deg. ;)

[Mr Walleye]

It does take some time (up to 10 hours for a full load) to get to the 152 IT when the smoker is at 170 to 175 but it's worth the wait.  ;)

Mike

[NePaSmoKer]

Mike is right here, it does take some time unless you use another means of doing them  ;D

nepas

[Habanero Smoker]

There is a wide variety of styles when it comes to sausage making. Like you, I also am beginning to see 145°F as a final IT for beef sausage. I agree with Mike; though I mix my seasonings and cure with the meat and refrigerate overnight prior to grinding.

For cabinet temperature I used to go to 185°F, but I now use the recommended temperatures Mike posted. To avoid tough casings, I gradually bring the cabinet temperature up to 175°F

[Bugnut]

Fellow smokers this is the best forum on the net in my opinion!!! I was just thinking of making some hot sticks and had a few questions on how others go about making them but a fellow smoker did a fine job to already ask my question's. This is just such a great place to gain knowledge and all the folks on here are all so willing to share!!!!!!!!!! I will be making 15lbs with Lem kits tonight and smoking tomorrow, will post pictures when done. THANKS TO ALL!!!!!!!!


Tom

[Mr Walleye]

Look forward to your pictures Tom!

Mike

[nascarbbq]

looked at this and I had to try it. I used deer meat and sheep casing 20mm just put it on the Bradley

[Mr Walleye]

Keep us posted on the results NasCar.

Mike