How To Make Homemade Snack Sticks
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problems with hydration in making snack sticks using excalibur maple-bacon mix. I’m working with aged Akaushi beef. age can be up to 60 to 70 days. I’m using 16mm smoked casings. in the directions for the mix no water is added. the first ingredient in the mix is brown sugar. Sugar is hygroscopic I added water to loosen (1# H2O/25# protein) it a bit and to make up for the dehydration during the aging. After cooking the next day the water leached out and the flavors were very weak. The next batch i made without water it set up like cement. I had to add some water to loosen it (to stuff). My electric stuffers won’t handle the load. I used my cured sausage stuffer (it has gears on it like a 59 ford 9 inch rear end, it is a beast) it did the job but it was a workout. The standard summer sausage mix i use calls for 3#of water per 25# of meat. It’s not excalibur brand and it works great. I know i have an issue with the age, and casing size. But i work as the butcher for a shop that raises the Beef. So it’s the product i use. I have 30 years experience in charcuterie and have always used my own seasonings I mixed myself. The water i added will effect the PH level and shy of doing an emulsification and with the marbling of the meat I think that will be a lost cause. I’m lost here. Any suggestions? Thanks
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toby-wall I usually don’t smoke for the first hour as smoke won’t adhere then anyway. I then usually leave it on the rest of the time as the smoke from the wood chips usually burns out of my pan in about 2 hours which is as long as I want to apply smoke anyway. If you are working with a commercial smoker where you can constantly pump in smoke then I would say do it from 140° until you jump the temp to 175°.
Some people like a lighter smoke and some like a heavier smoke but I usually recommend changing the type of smoke you are using for that instead of the amount of smoke. For example I tend to like a light smoke on things like chicken so I use Pecan or Apple which have a little lighter smoke flavor than Mesquite or Hickory.
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Tomg Get a good probe thermometer that will let you measure ambient temps accurately. The Grill Eye Pro Plus is what we have been using, (the recent firmware update allows you to connect through wifi more consistently and from “anywhere”) and then experiment with propping the lid.
We’ve done this recently with our oven and were able to stabilize the top rack at almost exactly 120°. We didnt have to prop the door open too much either, just a little bit to let the heat escape was all that was required.
So, prop the lid with your ambient temp thermometer and move it around a few places to find hot/cold spots. After the 125° phase you can either try to get to 140° by increasing the temp or closing the lid more OR go right to 150°, the 10° difference isn’t going to make or break the snack stick though if it were me I would try for the 140°.
Get more help with your processing questions and learn more about processing meat by subscribing to our waltonsinc.com youtube page at https://wltns.link/waltonstv I am a Gorilla, love yourself
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Tomg Get a good probe thermometer that will let you measure ambient temps accurately. The Grill Eye Pro Plus is what we have been using, (the recent firmware update allows you to connect through wifi more consistently and from “anywhere”) and then experiment with propping the lid.
We’ve done this recently with our oven and were able to stabilize the top rack at almost exactly 120°. We didnt have to prop the door open too much either, just a little bit to let the heat escape was all that was required.
So, prop the lid with your ambient temp thermometer and move it around a few places to find hot/cold spots. After the 125° phase you can either try to get to 140° by increasing the temp or closing the lid more OR go right to 150°, the 10° difference isn’t going to make or break the snack stick though if it were me I would try for the 140°.
Jonathon
Speaking of hot and cold spots. Never realized how much outside air temp comes into play until this last snack stick smoke. Being that I use LP and drawing air through there was a wide variance in temps. My smoker is thermostatically controlled. Early morning outside temp was 60 deg. No problem getting down to 122 for drying. Three hours later when the sun came out and the temps rose, had to keep adjusting it down because of temp spikes.The older MB 30 I had to prop lower door open even on lowest setting. The wind also comes into play.
Wow…This is fun stuff!
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PapaSop Outside temp and air flow sometimes absolutely comes into play! With a well-insulated smoker (Parksider is going to appreciate his PK100 in the cold cold upstate NY winters) it’s not as big of a deal but it certainly still comes into play!
These are the things we have to deal with when home processing, and when you take all of that into account and realize we are making a product at least 90% as good as a commercial processor it’s pretty amazing!
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Tomg Get a good probe thermometer that will let you measure ambient temps accurately. The Grill Eye Pro Plus is what we have been using, (the recent firmware update allows you to connect through wifi more consistently and from “anywhere”) and then experiment with propping the lid.
We’ve done this recently with our oven and were able to stabilize the top rack at almost exactly 120°. We didnt have to prop the door open too much either, just a little bit to let the heat escape was all that was required.
So, prop the lid with your ambient temp thermometer and move it around a few places to find hot/cold spots. After the 125° phase you can either try to get to 140° by increasing the temp or closing the lid more OR go right to 150°, the 10° difference isn’t going to make or break the snack stick though if it were me I would try for the 140°.
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Hi Guys, tried my 1st SS. Made a 1/4 batch (6.25 lbs.) Willies and followed all the directions and the correct ratios. 4 my taste buds a little too spicy for me. Salt and heat is OK. Where or what do I change in the recipe to cut the spices a bit? Stay with me, I’ma learning. Tommy
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Ode -Tom First thing I would try is using more meat per amount of seasoning. So, if you were going to use an entire bag that makes 25 lb, try using 30 lb of meat top distribute the seasoning amongst more meat. It is going to take some testing to get exactly what you want but that’s generally the best way to tone down a seasoning.
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Fblemler I’d recommend taking an already sweet blend like BBQ Snack stick or Honey BBQ and then adding sugar as opposed to trying t create your own. It’s difficult to get the correct ratio, especially for salt content when making a seasoning mix at home.
You will have to play around with how much sugar to add per lb and it might change if you were to switch between seasonings.
Get more help with your processing questions and learn more about processing meat by subscribing to our waltonsinc.com youtube page at https://wltns.link/waltonstv I am a Gorilla, love yourself
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Fblemler I’d recommend taking an already sweet blend like BBQ Snack stick or Honey BBQ and then adding sugar as opposed to trying t create your own. It’s difficult to get the correct ratio, especially for salt content when making a seasoning mix at home.
You will have to play around with how much sugar to add per lb and it might change if you were to switch between seasonings.
Jonathon Instead of the sugar you have at home couldn’t you use Dextrose to add some sweetness? That’s what I do when making Sweet Italian, I use the Mild Italian seasoning and add Dextrose to it and it works out great, in my opinion anyway. Just wondering if it makes a difference on the source of sweetener you use. I know Dextrose is just a simple sugar that is similar to the sugar most people have at home.
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AdamCA Actually a lot of people use dextrose instead of sugar in making sausage and it has about 75% the sweetness of sugar so if you switch back and forth be sure to remember that. It is often used as a fermentation aid though.
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Hi Guys, my latest question how do I make Snack Sticks.
Any and all members that can help or have experienced this problem, please chime in…
My first 5 lb batches have been adjusted to a level of heat and salt that I like. That’s good for me.
Now my next concern. I’m using 19mm Smoke Collagen Casing. I have a problem with the cooked casing being very tough to bite thru and/or the casing comes off inside my mouth as I chew the SS. To me It appears the casing is not binding or adhering well to the meat of the SS. I can actually pull the cooked casing from the meat with ease.
OK guys, your thoughts and suggestions needed. We’re headed in the right direction.
Best Regards
Tommy -
Ode -Tom Does this happen right out of the smoker or is it after they have been ice bathed and packaged? Im going to guess that it’s after everything has cooled down? Most likely you have too much moisture in the package. Once you’ve ran them through the ice bath let them sit out at room temperature (un stacked, so single layer) for an hour then move them uncovered to a fridge overnight. Then vac pack them. If your problem is right out of the smoker then you might need either a longer dry schedule or add less water to your sticks.
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bpschuebel Yes it is, this was the first version of this stuffer that we got and it was before we determined that the motor was just not sturdy enough to do snack sticks. This is before I was in this department but I am willing to bet that that stuffer had to either be reconditioned or had the motor replaced after.
We might shortly have a change in the electric stuffers that would allow future ones to handle stuffing snack sticks but for now, we still absolutely do not recommend it.
Thanks!
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revid Most people want a fairly smooth casing with maybe some wrinkling, so I would say you ARE doing something right even if you aren’t trying to do it! I would always recommend you go with a prepackaged seasoning and sure cure (same thing as prague powder) and with snack sticks I like to use a binder like Super Bind or Carrot Fiber. If you really want a wrinkle appearance though I would probably up your water content and NOT use a binder and then cook it at something around 190° during your last stage. If that doesn’t work then toss them in the dehydrator for a few hours as I said.
Your fat content is probably pretty close to spot on! If you have any pics of the moose you get then I am sure the Bragging Board section would love to see them!
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BrianB Yeah all those things will work but probably what will you the best-finished product with a very wrinkly stick is to still use a binder but understyuff your casings a little bit to a lot depending on how wrinkly you want it. This is probably the easiest variable to manipulate without effecting the taste of the finished product too much!
I’m going to do a video here shortly on the difference in appearance of an overstuffed, properly stuffed and understuffed snack stick.
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