Snack sticks ?
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Thank you to everyone who chipped in with knowledge and advice here! Nice to see Meatgistics members helping each other, it’s what we always wanted it to be and as it continues to grow it will hopefully continue!
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Didn’t upload Larry, if you want to email it to me at jonathon@waltonsinc.com I will get it posted!
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Didn’t upload Larry, if you want to email it to me at jonathon@waltonsinc.com I will get it posted!
Jonathon I sent you a pic of the finished snack sticks…this was a 10lb batch, Willies w/pepper jack cheese…60/40 beef & pork…turned out absolutely awesome, especially once the spice mixture and smoke had an opportunity to shake hands…reminded me the pepperoni sticks I used to get at my local neighborhood grocery back in the 60’s…I thought I might have smoked them just a tad too much when they first came out but the smoke must have penetrated and dissipated as the bitterness was not as pronounced but I will reduce it the next go-around…all in all I couldn’t be happier…texture and bite was spot on!
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Larry Eck Sorry, this week is basically a mess for me, WAY out of my comfortable routine and I missed those emails. I will get it uploaded right after this!
Looks awesome! I personally think a change was made a few years ago at Excalibur becuase, to be honest, I used to not care for their pepperoni but the last 2 times I have made it I have thought it was excellent. I am going to do some more here fairly soon and I am might just do a 60/40 beef and pork mix!
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Larry Eck Sorry, this week is basically a mess for me, WAY out of my comfortable routine and I missed those emails. I will get it uploaded right after this!
Looks awesome! I personally think a change was made a few years ago at Excalibur becuase, to be honest, I used to not care for their pepperoni but the last 2 times I have made it I have thought it was excellent. I am going to do some more here fairly soon and I am might just do a 60/40 beef and pork mix!
Jonathon Taste is such a subjective thing but certain spice combinations do well together to build layers of flavor…what hits one’s pallet first doesn’t always hold true for the next and so on but one things fo show, Willies has a winner in my book…not sure exactly what the MSG would do but typically intensifies the flavors and that might change the flavor profile somewhat? Anyway thank you for the kind words but always room for improvement…isn’t that what drives us all anyway? Lol I think I’m going to use some Jalapeno snack stick w/HT cheddar and make a summer sausage with it, add a little mustard seed, cracked black pepper…and roasted garlic/olive oil…what are you’re thoughts on the use of snack stick mix for summer sausage…again 60/40 ? Oh, by the by…no apologies necessary, this is no doubt a very busy time for you folks…I would imagine one of the busiest times of the year, then you have to balance a personal life in there somewhere too! Lol Hope you had a great Christmas…now get back to work!
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Larry Eck Snack Stick Seasonings work well for Summer Sausage and Vice Versa. They are VERY similar processes, you are looking for almost the exact same functions from the seasonings, the only real difference is casings size, smoke schedule and particle definition. Other than that very similar so they work well with eachother. As for the JalapenoSnack Stick vs the Jalapeno Summer Sausage that is up to the individual, like you said, it is subjective. The big difference is that the snack sticks has some flakes in it while the summer sausage does not, all the jalapeno is ground down in that one. Seems backwards to me but I assume they have a reason for it.
And thank you for understanding about this time of year, hope you had a great Christmas too!
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I generally do between 75 and 200lbs of snacks sticks at a time. Maybe couple times a month.
what is your favorite size collagen casing for snack sticks and any tricks for easy stuffing??
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what is your favorite size collagen casing for snack sticks and any tricks for easy stuffing??
akdave so ive tryed smaller and larger casings over the years and theres pros and cons to different sizes which can be a personal prefrence. Smaller casings give a better snap, bigger ones are just like eating a larger chunk of meat no real snap. So for my customers i wanted one size for all, sort of a best fit for the majority and i found the 21mm worked the best for everyone. So all i ever do is 21mm.
So water really is your best bet for stuffing. Add more water but just be careful how much and youll have to adjust cooking times to account for the added moisture. I use 8oz of water per 10lbs of meat and it works great. I also have a pneumatic stuffer. Hand stuffers you might want to add a bit more. Make sure the moment your done mixing you go straight to stuffing. The meat can setup quick and make stuffing much harder. -
akdave Everything lamurscrappy said and keep everything cold as you can without freezing it and it will stuff easier.
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akdave so ive tryed smaller and larger casings over the years and theres pros and cons to different sizes which can be a personal prefrence. Smaller casings give a better snap, bigger ones are just like eating a larger chunk of meat no real snap. So for my customers i wanted one size for all, sort of a best fit for the majority and i found the 21mm worked the best for everyone. So all i ever do is 21mm.
So water really is your best bet for stuffing. Add more water but just be careful how much and youll have to adjust cooking times to account for the added moisture. I use 8oz of water per 10lbs of meat and it works great. I also have a pneumatic stuffer. Hand stuffers you might want to add a bit more. Make sure the moment your done mixing you go straight to stuffing. The meat can setup quick and make stuffing much harder.lamurscrappy
As soon as I get my order with casings and seasonings and new stuffer tubes I am going to make up a batch of snack sticks and try for myself the different sizes casings, I have a feeling that even though the smaller diameter sticks are more work, that the extra snap and the smaller bite will make them taste better and since I am now retired the extra time and effort doesn’t really matter -
akdave so ive tryed smaller and larger casings over the years and theres pros and cons to different sizes which can be a personal prefrence. Smaller casings give a better snap, bigger ones are just like eating a larger chunk of meat no real snap. So for my customers i wanted one size for all, sort of a best fit for the majority and i found the 21mm worked the best for everyone. So all i ever do is 21mm.
So water really is your best bet for stuffing. Add more water but just be careful how much and youll have to adjust cooking times to account for the added moisture. I use 8oz of water per 10lbs of meat and it works great. I also have a pneumatic stuffer. Hand stuffers you might want to add a bit more. Make sure the moment your done mixing you go straight to stuffing. The meat can setup quick and make stuffing much harder.Almost forgot Thanks for the tip on water, it is very important to have enough or it just won’t stuff, I have been using 2 quarts for a 25lb batch of 73mm summer sausage and may have to add more for the smaller snack sticks can’t wait to try
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Almost forgot Thanks for the tip on water, it is very important to have enough or it just won’t stuff, I have been using 2 quarts for a 25lb batch of 73mm summer sausage and may have to add more for the smaller snack sticks can’t wait to try
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Almost forgot Thanks for the tip on water, it is very important to have enough or it just won’t stuff, I have been using 2 quarts for a 25lb batch of 73mm summer sausage and may have to add more for the smaller snack sticks can’t wait to try
akdave your welcome about water. And another little tip. If youve added water and its not stuffing very well, mix a small amount of vegtable oil in your meat. It dont take much at all but it will make more meat stuff easier without really affecting flavor. Thats another option if the waters not enough. Ya you might like tbe 17mm casings for that extra snap! Ive said before but i really like adding red pepper flakes to most all snack sticks i make. Really highlights the flavors!
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twilliams agreed! That should be more then enough water to stuff easily.
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akdave your welcome about water. And another little tip. If youve added water and its not stuffing very well, mix a small amount of vegtable oil in your meat. It dont take much at all but it will make more meat stuff easier without really affecting flavor. Thats another option if the waters not enough. Ya you might like tbe 17mm casings for that extra snap! Ive said before but i really like adding red pepper flakes to most all snack sticks i make. Really highlights the flavors!
lamurscrappy
I just rebuilt an 50-80 year old Atlas 9 liter stuffer and have never tried the 10mm tube on it and will find out if it puts too much back pressure on it as it uses a leather gasket for a seal, will try 12mm tube if it does, ordered16, 19, and 21 mm casings so I have room to experiment. How much vegetable oil, and red pepper would you add for a 25 lb batch if I need it?? -
lamurscrappy
I just rebuilt an 50-80 year old Atlas 9 liter stuffer and have never tried the 10mm tube on it and will find out if it puts too much back pressure on it as it uses a leather gasket for a seal, will try 12mm tube if it does, ordered16, 19, and 21 mm casings so I have room to experiment. How much vegetable oil, and red pepper would you add for a 25 lb batch if I need it??akdave like i say you shouldnt need vegtable oil with all the water your putting in, its just an option if your out of options! Not much, i would start with about 1 TBS vegtable oil and mix it real good. You will see how slippery it gets right off the bat. If you think you need more then just add a little more. But it dont take much!
If you got fresh red pepper flakes id probably just do 1 TBS as well of them for 25 lbs. Your getting the pepper stick seasoning from waltons so that should be about enough to really bring out the flavor without excessive heat. -
going to make another batch of pepper sticks again and last time I made up them up I used Excaliber pepper stick mix and felt that it was a little short on pepper flavor and was wondering how much and what kind of Extra pepper should I add to to give a 25lb batch some extra flavor, definitely don’t want to go overboard on the pepper and make them tooo hot.
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akdave I’d guess you’d need to do some testing and the problem is pepper is so light that even adding 1/2% by weight could really change things. Austin or do you have input?
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