Any thoughts or advice would be helpful.
Venison sticks, Loose casings.
I use willies seasoning and love it.
I mix 70% venison to 30% pork I add seasoning, Excalibur sure gel binder, encapsulated citric acid, cure and water. I am using good fresh 21 mm smoke collagen casings
I mix in my manual meat mixer for 8 to 10 minutes for protein extraction then stuff in casings.
I place in smoker until it reaches the correct internal temp. Remove and place in a lug full of ice water.

My wife and I end up having to remove the casings because they are loose and rubbery or chewy.

Casings are chewy and loose
1 - Am I doing somethin

wrong.
2 - is the finished internal temp wrong.
3 - is it letting them cool in a bath of ice water.
4 - I like a round uniform stick not wrinkled up. They turn out with only a very slight wrinkle.
ANY THOUGHTS OR IDEAS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!

Drake said in Chewy loose stick casings:

Any thoughts or advice would be helpful.
Venison sticks, Loose casings.
I use willies seasoning and love it.
I mix 70% venison to 30% pork I add seasoning, Excalibur sure gel binder, encapsulated citric acid, cure and recommended amount of water. I am using good fresh 21 mm smoke collagen casings
I mix in my manual meat mixer for 8 to 10 minutes for protein extraction then stuff in casings. I start out in smoker at 140 degrees and bring up to 180 degrees to reach internal temp.

I place in smoker until it reaches the correct internal temp. Remove and place in a lug full of ice water.

My wife and I end up having to remove the casings because they are loose and rubbery or chewy.

Casings are chewy and loose
1 - Am I doing something wrong.
2 - is the finished internal temp wrong.
3 - is it letting them cool in a bath of ice water.
4 - I like a round uniform stick not wrinkled up. They turn out with only a very slight wrinkle if any at all. They look like the packages from a meat market , and the flavor is fantastic. ( but casings are loose and chewy)

ANY THOUGHTS OR IDEAS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!

Thank you!

Thank you for the advice.
So keeping to cabinet temperature lower and extending the process until you reach the internal target temp.
That makes sense.

When we remove the casings from the sticks , they are dry and do not feel oily wet or have a oily sheen to them.

My smoker consists of a double upright stainless freezer that I dismantled and built into a smoker.
But my heat source is propane, a turkey cooker burner and I use the regulator on the tank to adjust the heat.
I have a temp gauge in the cabinet for that shows internal temp of cabinet.
I also use my digital meat thermometer with probes that I stick in the meat so I can see in real time the internal temp of the product.

Thank you!

Austin

Hi Austin,

I posted in meatgistics as well under 911. My profile is Drake.

Venison sticks,
I’m doing everything correctly, but I end up with loose chewy casings.
I have to pull casings off the sticks before packaging. Like I stated I’ve posted a full explanation under 911.
Any ideas would be very helpful