How To Make Homemade Snack Sticks

[YooperDog]

Randyman but then again who could say no to a newer smoker

[RJ Adventures]

I’d love to have about 10 smokers, all going at once in a circle with my lawn chair in the middle and a cooler full of ice cold beer haha

[Chef]

RJ Adventures That’s called Heaven

[RJ Adventures]

Chef Absolutely! Guess you could throw that beautiful woman in there too, just for company

[caryfr5]

Randyman look at the bradleys. seperate heating element…meat can only take so much smoke. save $ on pellets after 2 or 3 hrs!

[rjsenk]

I use a cold smoke generator and a few inexpensive electric burners to get the lower temperatures with smoke. There are a bunch of cold smoke generators out there, but I use one called the Big Kahuna from smokedaddyinc. Oftentimes, I don’t even bother with the pellets and just vacuum seal the snack sticks and throw them in a sous vide bath at 155 degrees for about 60 minutes to finish them off.

[twilliams]

keoni02 like McCormick artificail bacon flavored bits or real bacon cut up into bits pieces?

[keoni02]

twilliams said in How To Make Homemade Snack Sticks:

keoni02 like McCormick artificail bacon flavored bits or real bacon cut up into bits pieces?

Two pounds of bacon fried up then put through the food processor to make my own bacon bits.

Not a fan of prepackaged bacon bits. And, I buy the “irregular slices” so it’s cheaper too

[keoni02]

I have a question as far as curing and shelf life. Aside from sure cure, what else can be used aside from the encapsulated citric acid to help with the curing and having the snack sticks last longer? I honestly don’t like the tang that the citric acid produces.

[processhead]

This post is deleted!

[processhead]

keoni02 said in How To Make Homemade Snack Sticks:

I have a question as far as curing and shelf life. Aside from sure cure, what else can be used aside from the encapsulated citric acid to help with the curing and having the snack sticks last longer? I honestly don’t like the tang that the citric acid produces.

We see a lot of questions about ingredients that will extend shelf life and probably not enough discussion about general cleanliness of equipment, work surfaces, hands, and ingredients. This, and proper thermal processing is where you need to start.

If you start with clean ingredients that have been properly stored at cold temperatures, then the goal is to keep them that way through thermal processing.
This will take you a long way towards extending the shelf life. Commercial processors live and breath sanitation at their facilities for this exact reason.

[keoni02]

Never thought about that. I mean I wash my equipment before use and lay parchment paper down on my counter top as well for an extra barrier while stuffing. But didn’t really think about it in helping with shelf life

[twilliams]

keoni02 that would be sodium erythorbate or smoked meat stabilizer. The sodium erythorbate will not impart any flavor change but you must have a very accurate measuring device as the recommended amount is 7/8ths of an ounce for 100 lbs of product. The smoked meat stabilizer will give a slight tang but not as much as ECA. However, without the equipment to measure water activity and ph levels you still should not treat it as a shelf stable product. I’d still freeze til ready to consume then thaw and refrigerate for no longer than a week

[Midwest_kc]

Making my first snack sticks soon, going to be ordering a couple things I need, so want to make sure I have it all. I am making pork sticks, with the maple bacon seasoning. I will also be using bacon booster, and sure gel…but trying to decide if I want the tang from ECA. Would smoked meat stabilizer work as well in this set up, so that we can have maple-y, bacon-y goodness?

[Jonathon]

Midwest_kc Yes, smoked meat stabilizer is something you could use instead of the Encapsulated Citric Acid for sure. It will still impart somewhat of a tang but not as much as the ECA would. Another option is sodium erythorbate but you need a very accurate scale for that that can read fractions of grams. I love that you are using the booster, have you tried it before? We used to tell people not to use it even if they were making imitation bacon…now I tell people to feel free to toss it into anything bacony!

[Midwest_kc]

Jonathon I haven’t. I had just seen multiple people on here recommend to use it with this particular seasoning. How much should I use on a 25 lb batch?

[Jonathon]

Midwest_kc I use it at about full strength, so if you bought this one https://www.waltonsinc.com/bacon-taste-booster then it is 1.25 oz per 25 lb, if you bought this one https://www.waltonsinc.com/bacon-taste-booster-msg then it is 2 oz per 25 lb.

However, anytime I add a new ingredient I always add small amounts while I am mixing and then I pan fry a little to see where I am at in regards to taste, so I would say use 1/2 what I recommended above and then stop there if you are happy but add more if you think it can take it. Good luck!

[Midwest_kc]

Jonathon Thanks! I went with the regular one. Normally, I would be full in on the MSG version, but being my first time, I didn’t want to buy such a big bag.

[Sincitylv]

I will be making my second batch of snack sticks with all of your products. The first batch was very successful and the best I have ever done. My question is this, I smoke the sticks on my Camp Chef 36" woodwind pellet grill so last time last time I just bent the long strands back and forth on my racks and then cut to size after cooling and letting air dry and sit in the fridge until that evening. Would it be better to cut at least to the length of the jerky racks so I could keep consistancy in spacing the sticks or does it not really make a difference? Also, I didn’t place any water in the unit but kept the lid propped open to keep the temp down until I elevated up the temp scale so would the water make much of a difference in your opinion. I am in the desert of Nevada so not a lot of natural humidity. Love the site and products! Thanks.

[Jonathon]

Sincitylv It all makes a difference, might not be a huge difference but as we try to say often, its when you add up all the little tips and tricks that yous ee real improvement. I would recommend cutting them and laying them out so it is just a straight run from side to side. Even spacing throughout willlet the air flow more evenly around and give you a little more even of a cook.

Most important thing when doing it on the woodwind is to start your smoker with the product already in the smoker. This will give the meat a small conditioning phase to start with.