Sous vide snack sticks

[kyle]

glen thank you for your response. Do you put your meat in bags when finishing in water? I have been making sausage for many years, but this sous vide thing is all new to me. just want to learn a bit before investing in another “tool”

[johnsbrewhouse]

glen The Weston unit is really a good unit, it has a slight learning curve with the digital controls, but they are fairly easy to learn. The unit likes to default to certain things is what I found. You can’t go wrong with the price and quality of the Weston unit.

[glen]

kyle I vacuum bag but many here swear by "naked " Which I haven’t tried
I generally remove the product after short a heavy smoke then use the graduated step up heat method in the sous vide.
Also remember the direct heat conductivity of souse vide heats the internals relatively quickly and in my humble opinion at temps higher than 160 you can quickly over heat the product if not careful.
Monitor internals with your thermometer.
Don’t be intimidated, it’s much easier to learn than smoking

There are souse vide diameter/heat/time/pasteurization charts on line that are very helpful.
Kind of hard to find and it just occurred to me to print them out next time I need them LOL

[lkrfletcher]

No bags are necessary

[cdavis]

glen I’d like to see a picture of that if it’s not too much trouble. Thanks

[cdavis]

glen I was asking for a picture of the cooler setup you use.

[kyle]

thanks to all for your input.

[glen]

I used a PVC slip connector to make the hole solid and glued it in with expanding foam
The black marks are from the drawing used to saw the hole, learned later they were permanent!
If you are lucky you may find a hole saw the right size for yours

[lkrfletcher]

glen
That is perfect. I got to do it now too.

[Jonathon]

glen that thing is awesome! kyle you don’t need an expensive unit unless you want to do large amounts of water. Honestly you could buy 2 of the weston ones and do the same/more water and still get out cheaper!

[glen]

Inside is 11"x8.5"x 13.5" deep
It holds the heat so well I could have gone bigger but it is just the right size for my needs

[cdavis]

glen Thanks for the pictures. I see this in near future. Awesome

[PapaSop]

glen
Great idea.

[PapaSop]

kyle

A couple pics. May have some more if I can find them.

[blackbetty61]

I use a electric roaster works great get my water to 160-165 while meat is in the smoker pull it when it’s 140° into the water no vac bags I do everything that way now saves so much time I can get 12# snack sticks or 4 summer sausage logs 2.9x20

[smokinbubba]

kyle no difference in flavor or texture. Seemed to be less dry which was expected

[smokinbubba]

Also, I run an elcheapo yissvic unit from Amazon and use a 40qt plastic storage tote for a vessel. Took a while to get up to 175 but was worth the wait!! Easily held 7 2.5x24 logs of trail.

[kyle]

Thanks everyone. Cooler idea is great

[burgetdk]

glen
Can you please explain, What is your “graduated step up heat method in the sous vide?”.

I vac sealed my sticks in 21 CM casing and set sous vide to 155 for 2 hours. Then ice bathed. Appreciate if you could explain your process using the sous Vide.

Also, can you point me to the charts you referenced below…
“There are souse vide diameter/heat/time/pasteurization charts on line that are very helpful”.

Thank you!

[glen]

burgetdk If I am smoking the sticks I usually give them about 1/2 hr at 110 with vents wide open to dry, then heavy smoke at 120F for an hour, then SV at 135F for 1/2 hr. increase to 150 - 155F in SV for around 45 min, then Ice bath, then air drying. I should note I use cure #1 in my sticks.
In other words I basically use the same product temp graduation as the smoker schedule just much shorter times are needed and because of the temperature transfer speed I don’t need the higher temps associated with finishing in the smoker.
If I don’t want smoke in my product I use the same schedule starting at 110F totally in SV

This chart when used in the context of the whole article (especially the paragraph below the chart) is a great guide
https://stefangourmet.com/2018/04/01/how-to-choose-time-and-temperature-to-cook-meat-sous-vide/

The next article with charts explains the time/temp lethality explaining you don’t necessarily need to go to 160F to be safe
https://www.food-safety.com/articles/4722-the-danger-zone-reevaluated

Some will never fell safe not taking temps to 160 and that is fine, do what you are comfortable with
For instance I do not want to eat pink pork even it is OK now