Snack stick questions?

[AdamCA]

armyguy I leave the fat cap on the butts and I like a 50-50% ration of butts to venison. Pork shoulders/butts are a relatively lean cut without the fat cap so I leave it on mine. I have a local butcher I can get straight pork fat from and if I do then I shoot for a 70-30 lean to fat ratio when making stuff like snack sticks, summer sausage and salami. When I make fresh sausage I like an 80-20 lean to fat ratio, and I usually use a little carrot fiber binder, although I don’t think that it absolutely necessary. I hope this helps, it works for me.

[twilliams]

armyguy are you using straight pork butts for you snack sticks or mixing with another protein? Keep in mind the butts at best are 70/30 and could be 80/20. So if you are mixing with a lean protein like venison your ratio would be lean. If that is the case i would recommend going to a local butcher shop for staight pork fat. Get the fat from the back and not the belly

[armyguy]

Thanks guys! Right now I’m just using 100% boneless pork butts from Costco. It came in a two pack from Swift premium. I’m just experimenting with this batch. I’m doing 15lbs.

This is what the label said:

Serving size 4oz(117g)
Calories from fat 170
Total fat 18g per serving
Protein 19g per serving

How do I know if I’m getting the 70/30 that I’m looking for based on those numbers? If I need to add more fat I have to pounds of pork fat from my butcher leftover.

[blackbetty61]

This post is deleted!

[twilliams]

armyguy you should be fine with just the pork butts.

[armyguy]

Alright one last question. These things have been on the PK100 forever. I can’t get them to reach the 160° mark. Temp is at 175 and has been since about 7am PST.

How long do they usually take to get there?

[twilliams]

armyguy is that the highets the pk100 goes? What is the internal meat temp right now?

[armyguy]

I believe it’ll go to 250°. They were at about 150 earlier but Everytime I open the door(every two hours) to check temp they drop. I thought about bumping the temp up but I don’t want to cook them.

[craigrice]

armyguy if they are at 160 they have reached a safe temp to be fully cooked that is what I cook all mine to

[craigrice]

armyguy you can always simmer them in water that is on the stove that is holding about 175 and they will finish in a short time

[twilliams]

armyguy i take mine to 156° internal meat temp per recipe from the manufacturer of my smoker. You really need to invest in a thermometer that you can leave in the meat with digital read out on the outside. Opening the door kills it. I believe if you maintain a minimum of 140° for 4 hours it is considered safe. I would not be afraid to bump it up to 185° to get over the stall period

[armyguy]

I actually went ahead and bumped the smoker temp up to 185° and it raised the IT to 160° pretty quick. Got them into an ice bath for 25-30 minutes and now they are drying on the counter. I tried one and they definitely got a lot of smoke. Good flavor but a little drier than I’d like.

I do have the Thermoworks Smoke but the meat probe is tweaking out. I was able to get it to work so I knew when I was at the IT. Need to get a new probe but I’d like to get something that can take like 6 probes. That way I can have two for grate temps and a few for different snack sticks.

Here’s a video of a toy that sure made things a lot easier than my hand mixer. Obviously comparing apples to oranges but it’s nice. Except for the cleaning because it doesn’t come apart so that’s a PITA.

https://youtu.be/nMm-PM9SJmI

[Jonathon]

armyguy Oh heck yeah, nice pick up on that Talsa Mixer! Those things are awesome! You can really get great protein extraction without smearing any fat in those. The first time I used one I thought it wasnt working because the meat just looking like ground meat that had been mixed a few times, and didnt have the look it gets when mixed in retail mixers. But sure enough, I picked it up and it was stretchy and sticky but still have great particle definition!