Snack sticks?
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This was my process. Ground the meat, added the seasoning, cure , sure gel binder and water. Mixed it until I had good protein extraction. Then I stuffed it and let it set overnight for the cure to work.
The next day I started them at 125* in the smoker for 1 hour with vent fully open. After that hour I bump temp up to 140* close vent and added smoke for 1 hour. After this hour I bumped temp up to 155* for 2 hours and added a pan of hot water and closed vent completely. When these two hours were up I bumped temp up to 175* until IT reached 160. Then I pulled them out and did an ice bath .JohninPa your smoke and cook process is good except im not sure on the pan of hot water. I never use it but i dont have a problem with stall.
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JohninPa your smoke and cook process is good except im not sure on the pan of hot water. I never use it but i dont have a problem with stall.
twilliams said in Snack sticks?:
JohninPa your smoke and cook process is good except im not sure on the pan of hot water. I never use it but i dont have a problem with stall.
Well do you think I should try without a pan of water this time ? When the last ones were done you could see alot of moisture on the sticks and inside my smoker.
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twilliams said in Snack sticks?:
JohninPa your smoke and cook process is good except im not sure on the pan of hot water. I never use it but i dont have a problem with stall.
Well do you think I should try without a pan of water this time ? When the last ones were done you could see alot of moisture on the sticks and inside my smoker.
JohninPa wouldnt hurt to try not using the pan of water to see if that is what your looking for. If you are comparing to the snap that a big manufacturing commercial processor gets from their snack sticks im not sure a home processor will achieve that. They have a much more controlled environment. I prefer my sticks over and processor, snap or no snap.
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Ok. Thanks
I liked the taste and texture just felt the sticks weren’t dry enough. I don’t know if that was because of the water pan or another reason. More than likely I will be trying another batch on Tuesday. -
Anyone have a suggestion if I should use a pan of water or not? I am using a masterbuilt smoker. I keep going back and forth on this.
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after the drying cycle i always use a water pan it aids in preventing case hardening meaning that the outside cooks and not the inside, more of a problem with larger products than sticks
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This is just me but after reading about finishing in water that’s what I do for everything from snack sticks,ring sausage to summer sausage…smoke till internal temp of 140° then I throw them in my electric roaster with 170° water til they reach 160° internal… then ice bath til cool and let them bloom overnight in a cooler in the garage or fridge. Next day cut to your size and vacuum pack.
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This is just me but after reading about finishing in water that’s what I do for everything from snack sticks,ring sausage to summer sausage…smoke till internal temp of 140° then I throw them in my electric roaster with 170° water til they reach 160° internal… then ice bath til cool and let them bloom overnight in a cooler in the garage or fridge. Next day cut to your size and vacuum pack.
blackbetty61 said in Snack sticks?:
This is just me but after reading about finishing in water that’s what I do for everything from snack sticks,ring sausage to summer sausage…smoke till internal temp of 140° then I throw them in my electric roaster with 170° water til they reach 160° internal… then ice bath til cool and let them bloom overnight in a cooler in the garage or fridge. Next day cut to your size and vacuum pack.
Curious about the way you finish them. Do you put the sticks themselves directly in the water? Also any idea how many pounds you can fit in an electric roaster? This might be something to consider if I could fit 12.5 pounds in the roaster.
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blackbetty61 said in Snack sticks?:
This is just me but after reading about finishing in water that’s what I do for everything from snack sticks,ring sausage to summer sausage…smoke till internal temp of 140° then I throw them in my electric roaster with 170° water til they reach 160° internal… then ice bath til cool and let them bloom overnight in a cooler in the garage or fridge. Next day cut to your size and vacuum pack.
Curious about the way you finish them. Do you put the sticks themselves directly in the water? Also any idea how many pounds you can fit in an electric roaster? This might be something to consider if I could fit 12.5 pounds in the roaster.
JohninPa yep put the sticks right in the water… they might look wrinkly when you take them out but they should tighten up after you bloom them. I wanna say you could fit 12.5 lbs in a roaster…that’s usually how much I do when I do a batch by myself… I have a 26qt roaster…I believe…also if you search finish in water on the search page there’s a whole thread worth reading
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JohninPa yep put the sticks right in the water… they might look wrinkly when you take them out but they should tighten up after you bloom them. I wanna say you could fit 12.5 lbs in a roaster…that’s usually how much I do when I do a batch by myself… I have a 26qt roaster…I believe…also if you search finish in water on the search page there’s a whole thread worth reading
blackbetty61 said in Snack sticks?:
JohninPa yep put the sticks right in the water… they might look wrinkly when you take them out but they should tighten up after you bloom them. I wanna say you could fit 12.5 lbs in a roaster…that’s usually how much I do when I do a batch by myself… I have a 26qt roaster…I believe…also if you search finish in water on the search page there’s a whole thread worth reading
Thanks. Might be a dumb question but I take it you just heat the water right in the electric roaster? Seems like this would make the process go quicker .
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blackbetty61 said in Snack sticks?:
JohninPa yep put the sticks right in the water… they might look wrinkly when you take them out but they should tighten up after you bloom them. I wanna say you could fit 12.5 lbs in a roaster…that’s usually how much I do when I do a batch by myself… I have a 26qt roaster…I believe…also if you search finish in water on the search page there’s a whole thread worth reading
Thanks. Might be a dumb question but I take it you just heat the water right in the electric roaster? Seems like this would make the process go quicker .
JohninPa yep just use your meat thermometer to check temp of the water
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JohninPa yep just use your meat thermometer to check temp of the water
blackbetty61 said in Snack sticks?:
JohninPa yep just use your meat thermometer to check temp of the water
I got a 12.5# batch mixed up and stuffed. I think I am going to try this method tomorrow. Any idea how long it takes to get the water up to temp ?
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JohninPa yep just use your meat thermometer to check temp of the water
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blackbetty61 said in Snack sticks?:
JohninPa yep just use your meat thermometer to check temp of the water
I got a 12.5# batch mixed up and stuffed. I think I am going to try this method tomorrow. Any idea how long it takes to get the water up to temp ?
JohninPa well I usually keep an eye on it while my sticks are in the smoker…maybe 45min to an hour guess I’ve never timed how long it takes for the water to come up to temp…once the sticks are in the water shouldn’t take more than 15 to 20 minutes for them to be done… don’t forget you’ll have to smoke them till they get to around 140° then put them in the water to finish your cooking process
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JohninPa well I usually keep an eye on it while my sticks are in the smoker…maybe 45min to an hour guess I’ve never timed how long it takes for the water to come up to temp…once the sticks are in the water shouldn’t take more than 15 to 20 minutes for them to be done… don’t forget you’ll have to smoke them till they get to around 140° then put them in the water to finish your cooking process
blackbetty61 said in Snack sticks?:
JohninPa well I usually keep an eye on it while my sticks are in the smoker…maybe 45min to an hour guess I’ve never timed how long it takes for the water to come up to temp…once the sticks are in the water shouldn’t take more than 15 to 20 minutes for them to be done… don’t forget you’ll have to smoke them till they get to around 140° then put them in the water to finish your cooking process
Ok. Thanks
Yes , I will start my usual smoking process until I get them to around 140. Then I will pull them from the smoker and put in the water. -
when you put water in your water pan it should be to the temp of the smoker @ the time not cold or to hot that will slow the heating cycle
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when you put water in your water pan it should be to the temp of the smoker @ the time not cold or to hot that will slow the heating cycle
craigrice said in Snack sticks?:
when you put water in your water pan it should be to the temp of the smoker @ the time not cold or to hot that will slow the heating cycle
Thanks for the tip. I was planning on heating the water some first. I will try to get it right around the same temp as my smoker.
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finishing in a water bath is almost the go to anymore watch the videos and look at the chats it saves a lot of time finishing
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So I made the snack sticks yesterday. Everything went pretty good for me. Ground the meat , 50/50 mix of venison and pork butt. Added the seasoning, cure and binder along with some water. Meat was mixed with mixer attached to my grinder so had good protein extraction. Casings were stuffed nice and full and held overnight . Started smoking them yesterday at 125 for 1 hour vent open , then 140 for 1 hour with smoke and vent 1/4 open and then bumped up to 155 with a water pan and vent closed until the sticks reached 140 and then into electric roaster with 170* water until sticks reached 160* . Pulled sticks off and into ice water and then let them set out for about an hour or so . Then into fridge to cool and packed up today. Taste was very good just didn’t have a snap to them. Any suggestions
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I am using a masterbuilt smoker , I can see under the smoker when I get to a certain point in the cooking cycle where the ground is wet from moisture. My only other thought is am I trying to fit too many in the smoker at a time? I may try a smaller batch next time to see if that helps. I did a 12.5# batch , next time I may split it up into 2 batches. Otherwise I don’t know what else to try.
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