fisherman43
Thanks fisherman! I saw a video of one of those being used, that’s got me making a huge mess!

I ended up getting Walton’s 7lb vertical stuffer and you certainly have some leftover meat in the 90* bend area.
It’s a decent machine though, and I think there’s got to be a trick way to push that meat through. I usually do about 5lbs of meatsicks at a time, and I weighed what was in the machine, including the stuff tube, and it was about 0.8lbs. So if I want 5lbs of sausage I account for it.
Eric

Syrup, from where?! Do you live near syrup trees?

I think I’m going to have to plan a little better before I start putting canned food in sticks. My buddy lived near Hatch, NM and I can’t bring myself to giving him any of these sticks. Lol

I kind of think that’s the case, and thats also why I make small 5# batches. I get pretty close and getting something right, then another thing pops up!
The flavor is close, but it was Willies’ mix and then I added all the extra stuff, I wonder if I buy some jalapeno mix would be more better.

So I’m starting to venture out a little more with snack sticks, and thought I would do a Garlic + Hatch chilis mix, with high temp Cheddar.
The only Hatch chili anything I found was in a can and wasn’t just chilis. Sort of a salsa or something maybe? Anyway, the taste was terrific so my thinking it would be awesome.

Small five pound portion of 60/40 Pork/Beef ratio and since I added #1 cure, I put it in the fridge overnight. Did a small patty and was ok, but the cheese might have been slightly watered…
After it was cooked in the smoker for 7 hours (IT 150ish) the texture of the meat is slightly broken, and it has a lighter coloration, into the grey range.

I didn’t add any ECA or anything to quicken the cure so I put it in the fridge for like 12 hours. This is the first time I’ve put the meat in the fridge because I typically use ECA as an accelerator.

Any thoughts? Always learning!
Eric

Man, that’s another disease nobody needs, and I love the way you’re trying to help.

Im not going to be very helpful myself, but my short time on this site has been met with a terrific response from many folks.

Here a link that might be helpful in the meantime. If it works…
https://meatgistics.waltonsinc.com/topic/2517/lone-tick-disease?_=1612354516113

Midwest_kc Yep, me as well found them on the Tubes.
And I’ve found within this place an active group of decent people that remember when they too didn’t know chit. I’m in the stage of trying to figure out if processing meats could be a hobby of mine, and I know who I’ll be trading money for equipment and tools is.

Man, Jonathon, you are so fast to respond on this site helping people! Awesome, thank you!

I thought of the saltiness right after posting that.

I made two 5# batches of pork/beef sticks yesterday.
Fresh Garlic / canned Hatch chilis, and those were pretty good, I did add about 5% more seasoning though.
The other one was Bacon/Cheddar Cheese. This one I used shredded Sharp Cheddar, and I think next time I’ll be getting some hightemp cheese… a little funky at first, but the cheddar ends well. You can see a little of the cheese in a cross section, but it sort of melted around, and sort of didn’t.

Jonathon A horizontal probably doesn’t have a real benefit over a vertical, and I’ve Never used either one of them. Been looking at buying one, so I’ve been doing some keyboard research and hoping to get some feedback and pros/cons of the two different designs.

Just looking at the design of the two, the base of the vertical has to turn 90* meaning it has to have a route for it, or a little trough or something. The horizontal version doesn’t have to turn, and it looks like it just runs the meat directly into the tube (like a jerky cannon) instead of another chamber, if you would.

All in all for me anyways, it comes down to how often I’ll use it and then how easy it is to clean and to get the right parts for it if things go a little awry.

And I think the vast majority of people are using vertical stuffers, and Waltons seem to be a super solid company that has been super helpful!
Just looking for input mostly at this point, but I’m intrigued in opinions of users of both models.

raider2119 Hi, even though this is an old post, I see it still relevant.
Did you ever get a new horizontal stuffer? I think I would gravitate towards a 8# one also.

mdseaside yep, I’m only using a cannon for snack sticks, really a pain having to reload it after each pound!
I’ve done a couple rounds of sausage with the grinder attachment which wasn’t the end of the world, but it seems like that’s really not the way.
Seems to me that having a horizontal stuffer would be a huge benefit, I wish Walton’s sold them.

Thanks for the input guys! Is it not an airtight seal so you can back out the plunger and then push air forcing the remaining meat out?
I do like a patty though and saving it for eggs or pizza a good idea too!

So I’ve never used a stuffer other than that grinder attachment for the mixer, and my jerky gun (overzealous calking gun).
I need to up my game for sure!

How much meat stays in the 90* bend at the bottom of the stuffers? Is that basically full and can’t be pushed into a sausage?
Thanks in advance for any replies.

Jonathon said in No flavor in my snack sticks:

Elsos What seasoning did you use?

It was Willies, and I used at another time an LEM snack sticks seasoning. I think my conversion math was right (doing 5lbs at a time). It’s more than likely my expectations, but today I’m adding about a 15% additional of season.
It will be fine, just learning my way around these things… and adding some hatch chilis.

twilliams Hi. I did use ECA at the end of mixing. Now I am not complaining at all with these (it looks like I am …hmm) , except my expectations was they were going to be a tad more spicy like the fried patties were. Maybe its because of the portion you eat with a bite of a stick is smaller vs a bite of the patty. I’ll just add a little more spice, watching the salt flavor.

I’m actually super excited that the casing was excellent vs the first time I did these, I think I had some old LEM casings from days of past, and those were not so bueno.

I made snack sticks last weekend, my second ever batch. About a 25% fat ratio of pork and beef.
I also was surprised at how unspicy they turned out.
A pan cooked sample patty before stuffing them was spot on for spice. But when the sticks were done they too seemed bland. Maybe they needed a night in the fridge before the smoker?
I hope to try again this weekend, but add more than ratio says. I’ve been doing 5# tests until I can get a good system. People at work don’t complain, and they think I’m trying for a mild summer sausage or something.

Amazon has it, that’s what I use. Is this different than what Walton’s sells?

https://www.amazon.com/Curing-Premium-Prague-SPQR-Seasonings/dp/B084KZG9CM

Jonathon said in Willie's snack sticks:

Brian Schneider If you don’t mind MSG I would order that one that has MSG in the name Willies MSG I like MSG because I dont have any reactions to it. However, 99% of the time I use the one that doesn’t have it in the name because people who are eating it might have a reaction.

MSG is just a flavor adder that makes things taste better. In New York they had a HUGE thing where they made Chinese restaurants stop using it and the taste of the food went way down, at least in my opinion. Great, now I want Chinese food!

My wife lived in NYC in the late 80’s-90’s and when she saw that Chinese restaurants’ signs said “No MSG” she thought that they didn’t deliver to Madison Square Garden.
I know of a few people that say they have reactions to MSG but can’t seem to say that after they unknowingly eat MSG. I honestly think its a headgame.

twilliams said in Snack Stick - Cure time w/ or w/o ECA and Cure taste:

Salty ice bathing is kind of a unique result. For snack sticks it helps the collagen casing tighten up and bind to the meat so it doesnt slip off while taking a bite. For the summer sausage it is kind of the opposite, the casing should remain tight to the meat but easily peels off and should leave the meat intact not pulling the meat with it

So regarding an Ice Bath, I wonder if anyone has done some experimenting to see how much it does change the casing on snack sticks? I’ve done the bath part now, but I’m very inexperienced with snack sticks and casings in general.

I suppose there’s been some digging into the effects of ice bathing just because of the nature of this group of people.

Awesome questions and I’m making my second batch of snack sticks right now, so I also have the same questions.
One thing I’ve noticed after making a lot of jerky though, is next day when the jerky has had time hanging out with each other, they are much better, and have uniform moisture.

The pink salt thing I’ve never noticed and have been using it for a long time.
Pics?

brandekm dude, from my point of view, those look awesome! I don’t see the hassle when someone else did that work