Well last Friday night i injected all 150lbs of pork butts for the wedding reception. My neighbor insisted i use his big smoker and i was not going to turn that down. I got all 150lbs on that one smoker and then i did 1 for myself on the smoking brothers.
My wife made her self sick on pulled pork Saturday helping too shred and pack it!


I definitely failed in the picture department but every time i wanted a picture my hands were gross with pork or seasonings!

Ok Here is the Finished Product. It was Amazing 10/10 would recommend!
about 24 hours in the Pa’s Black bull, Seasoned Stuffed and Netted then Smoked at 325 for about 2 hours.

Got to do a little home processing this weekend. Made some deer sticks 70% deer 30% pork fat and some Deer brats same ratio.
The brats i used a Custom blend recipe and i have to say i dont think i could get a deer brat any closer to a traditional brat flavor. they where great!
The Sticks Started with Pepper Stick and added a few other spices along with Sodium erythorbate, sure gel, and sure cure. I opted out of citric acid just for something different. The Sticks come on slow with a smoky flavor ending with just the right amount of kick! I stuffed into 19mm casings and smoked on the green mountain. I was surprised it only took 2 hours to smoke the sticks.

waltp ECA is a cure accelerator. What your seeing is uncured spots. Next time add just enough water to carry the cure and spread as evenly as you can. Mix until proper protein extraction with all your seasonings except ECA then mix in the ECA and Stuff.
With The ECA you want to cook soon but you have an hour or 2 to hold it and let the cure work no issues.

Id Like to add that it has also been noted that the virus can not survive temperature and that cooking to 160 should kill it.

processhead To elaborate on my first answer. I don’t think its so much the sugar in the brine as the dryness of a dry brine bacon vs a wet brine. My thoughts is the extra moisture picked up in a wet brine helps dissolve the sugars and keep them from caramelizing. I think having that extra moisture also helps with cooking.

Jonathon I never would have guessed it would pair so well with Chicken But its quite amazing I will be trying some other things with it for Sure!

@tmeiners82 Ive interchanged Snack Stick and Summer sausage with good success. Ive also Made quite a bit of summer sausage with Jalapenos and ECA with no issues It would just come down to your Preference.

hazelwood I would use Something like the blue ribbon Bratwurst seasoning. I would use this at 5-10% more than the recommended usage on Venison as the strong taste can take a bit more seasoning to get the flavors to pull through.
I would also add Carrot fiber and the appropriate amount of water & 10% high temp cheddar. I prefer to use canned jalapenos in my stuff but be sure to drain all the juice you can as it will denature the meat and make it crumbly.

Grimpuppy I use it as an injection. Im not sure how to describe the flavor as it is subtle and not overpowering at all. However it adds another level and seems to pair great with any rub a guy would use!

Jonathon We do Not here except for a few pet treat recipes. Otherwise meat block dictates how much water seasonings ect. All of our Recipes are in Excel forms where you enter the meat block weight and it calculates how much ingredients you add by weight. If there is a way to attach a file Id be glad to share our Base Sheet that anyone could use and modify.

The Best thing For Snack Sticks is a Poly board Jig. You Take 3 Pieces and Screw them together in a U with Slots for a 12" Knife Every X amount of inches. Fill in with Sticks and Cut in the Slots.

Jonathon This is Good! 99% of the issues we have seen over tens of thousands of lbs of cured sausage Protein Extraction is #1 with Meat Temp #2. No two batches are the same. You have to learn to get the feel for proper protein extraction!

Parksider Her you go! I have not built one but it is big on my list to do!

PapaSop If you can wait Prices are starting to come down. Cattle carcass prices are falling and boxed shouldn’t be to far behind. In fact most items we ordered this week had fallen slightly.

ClaytonD I think Departing Contestant is Right it’s BHA and BHT It helps keep them from going rancid helps keep color ect. Any big name Brat maker will use it like Johnsonville for example.
Waltons has a Product called Originox that is a oregano extract that is supposed to do the same thing and is all natural. We just started playing with it last week and so far the color test show that it does help. I however have not tried it yet for Flavor.
Its a little pricey at 4.5 cents per lb and i think only available in 5lb or greater bags but that will do 8k lbs.

TexLaw I should clarify we use 'Heat Treated not fully cooked" Per our Haccap Plan to make USDA happy but it has been smoked to 132. so not totally cooked.

39Buick You dont need Sodium Erythorbate and ECA in the same batch. I dont think that would hurt anything though. With sodium erythorbate i think if the product is stuffed into casings you should be ok holding overnight to smoke. With ECA i have had a few ruined batches due to holding. The encapsulation can and most times will break if holding usually turning the product to mush. In the future i would use one or the other. Sodium erythorbate as a cure accelerator or ECA as a cure accelerator that will also lower the PH giving some tang.
Back to the original Issue, I have seen over mixing give the issues you describe. I would be inclined to lean towards that first.

PapaSop Its good but man the public land was crowded this year! ended up 2miles in just to get away but it worked out good!

metlman501 With collagen casings I think that is how i would approach it. With natural hog casings they hold the twist much better so you could stuff, link, cut And Lightly freeze before packing or just pack and Freeze. If you choose to pack and freeze they will flatten out like mentioned before.
I feel like if you get the pre tubed hog casings then they are just as easy to work with as the collagen and i prefer the end product better.