Snack sticks
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mrobisr wat do u mean finish in water bath 130-135
Arnie Hofer samspade is spot on with the explanations.
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Arnie Hofer yes, you will go through the stall where the sticks sweat water. And, like a person sweats to cool down, the sticks do the same. By using water after 140 cooking temp, you increase the humidity inside the smoker. Like on a hot humid day the sweat cant evaporate and cool you, you do the same to the sticks. Since they cant cool off the IT goes up. It’s just slower and you have to be patient to get through that stall. And it happens on almost all slow cooks.
samspade do are u saying leave The water out till 140 IT
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Most snack sticks are wrinkled because of drying, but if you don’t want that then cook/smoke until 135f IT give or take and then finish in a water bath set at 170f until you reach your desired IT, than shock in ice water for 20 minutes.
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Most snack sticks are wrinkled because of drying, but if you don’t want that then cook/smoke until 135f IT give or take and then finish in a water bath set at 170f until you reach your desired IT, than shock in ice water for 20 minutes.
mrobisr said in Snack sticks:
Most snack sticks are wrinkled because of drying, but if you don’t want that then cook/smoke until 135f IT give or take and then finish in a water bath set at 170f until you reach your desired IT, than shock in ice water for 20 minutes.
Is Waltons doing that in the videos I see their casings are perfect
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mrobisr said in Snack sticks:
Most snack sticks are wrinkled because of drying, but if you don’t want that then cook/smoke until 135f IT give or take and then finish in a water bath set at 170f until you reach your desired IT, than shock in ice water for 20 minutes.
Is Waltons doing that in the videos I see their casings are perfect
Arnie Hofer it is personal preference, it is what you want your product to look like.
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Arnie Hofer it is personal preference, it is what you want your product to look like.
mrobisr I want them to be smooth is there any way to achieve that just in the smoker
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Yes very slow and low temps.
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mrobisr I want them to be smooth is there any way to achieve that just in the smoker
Arnie Hofer there is a chart floating around here some where that show microbe lethality as a function of time and temp. Most want to be safe a take products to 160. However there lower temps that kill everything but the holding at temp time is greater. Example (not accurate) it is instantly lethal at 160. But at 150 lethality may take 5 minutes. At 140 it would be even longer. I think it’s an USDA chart.
Also less fat, binder and firm stuffing may help. The ice bath at the end sets the casings so dont skip that step. -
Arnie Hofer there is a chart floating around here some where that show microbe lethality as a function of time and temp. Most want to be safe a take products to 160. However there lower temps that kill everything but the holding at temp time is greater. Example (not accurate) it is instantly lethal at 160. But at 150 lethality may take 5 minutes. At 140 it would be even longer. I think it’s an USDA chart.
Also less fat, binder and firm stuffing may help. The ice bath at the end sets the casings so dont skip that step.samspade Arnie Hofer here is the chart.

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samspade Arnie Hofer here is the chart.

YooperDog TY. I knew I wasn’t right on the times.
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mrobisr I want them to be smooth is there any way to achieve that just in the smoker
Arnie Hofer I was the exact same way as you when I started making sticks. I just cringed at the sight of wrinkled sticks. My conclusion and opinion, don’t sweat the small stuff. Us as home processors will most likely not get a perfect looking stick unless you push the time and do the hot water cooking method like others are suggesting, and then with that you are sacrificing texture. Big full time processors have much better equipment and processes than we do, but I see some full time big processors that have wrinkled casings as well. Not to sound big on myself just confident, I would put my sticks up for comparison to any big processor any day. So what I suggest is get your meat block ingredient amounts and texture how you like it first then work on appearance after that if you wish.
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Agree, that wrinkles are just aesthetics and have no bearing on flavor or texture of the finished product. I prefer drier stick which almost guarantees some shrinkage and wrinkles. Few of us have the setup in our homes to get perfect looking commercial sticks but we can certainly match commercial in flavor and quality ingredients.
Focus on the the quality ingredients in the correct quantities, getting a good smoke on sticks, and avoiding cook-out from overtemperature in the smoker and you will have some great sticks. -
For me I rate that chart I found as one of my biggest revelations in finishing meat products
That knowledge along with the precise control of sous vide you are safe and don’t have to cook everything to death -
For me I rate that chart I found as one of my biggest revelations in finishing meat products
That knowledge along with the precise control of sous vide you are safe and don’t have to cook everything to deathglen said in Snack sticks:
For me I rate that chart I found as one of my biggest revelations in finishing meat products
That knowledge along with the precise control of sous vide you are safe and don’t have to cook everything to deathTotally agree glen.
I understand the reason for the conservative internal finishing temperatures, but with good time and temperature monitoring, I prefer to go with the science. -
glen said in Snack sticks:
For me I rate that chart I found as one of my biggest revelations in finishing meat products
That knowledge along with the precise control of sous vide you are safe and don’t have to cook everything to deathTotally agree glen.
I understand the reason for the conservative internal finishing temperatures, but with good time and temperature monitoring, I prefer to go with the science.processhead you are so right about home vs. Commercial. All you really have to do is look at the ingredients list on those “perfect” snack sticks and remember why your making your own. The wrinkles wont matter as much.
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Just got Bradley smoker wat biscuettes is everyone using
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Just got Bradley smoker wat biscuettes is everyone using
Arnie Hofer Just used mine last night for kielbasa. I used maple. I have used hickory before also
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Arnie Hofer Just used mine last night for kielbasa. I used maple. I have used hickory before also
RON PARRISH I got the special blend 1s would u recommend mixing hi country and hi mountain seasoning
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RON PARRISH I got the special blend 1s would u recommend mixing hi country and hi mountain seasoning
Arnie Hofer I am not very familiar with those. I have used the high mt jerky kits but was a long time ago. I would think you could mix the seasonings as long as the cure wasnt already in it. pretty sure the cure comes seperate though. If not it would be a problem. I am sure there is someone here that might be able to answer your question a little better and the nice thing about this community is they will help you out
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