So I stuffed 75 lbs of brats today and overestimated the amount of hog casing I would need. I have one full strand (is that the right terminology?) that was soaked in water for an hour that won’t be used. Is this strand wasted? or can I put it right back in the salt solution it was packed in and back into the fridge for future use?

Is it possible and safe to cook the snack sticks sous vide the entire way without a “dry” cooking phase in a smoker? I’m curious because I want to use the dill pickle seasoning, but I don’t want to add smoke flavor to it. I plan on using sure gel, surecure, ECA, etc…

Joe Hell so after this whole process today, I DID NOT like how the jerky turned out using the added brown sugar and water. The brown sugar just overpowered the batch of pepper garlic and sweet chipotle, and it was way too tender (as crazy as that sounds) for my liking. If I just add water next time but no sugar, would I still want to use 20% of the starting weight added water or maybe cut it down some since not adding any sugar? Also, sorry for hijacking this post lol.

Joe Hell well, lesson learned. I tumbled my jerky with the added percentage of water and brown sugar as suggested in one of the videos. I then loaded it onto the dehydrator racks and put it in the oven at 400 to get to 160. Of course dumb me didn’t even think about how much drippings there would be and now the bottom of my nice brand new convection oven is coated with a nice layer of burnt sugar . Moral of the story: foil is your friend!

Jonathon thank you for the response! I figured it would probably be pretty intensely seasoned if I used the same ratio as recommended for jerky. I’ll experiment with a little less seasoning and maybe cut in some dark brown sugar to balance it out!

I’m curious, has anyone ever used any of the Excalibur jerky or snack stick/sausage seasonings to cure a pork belly to make bacon? I make a lot of bacon but am wanting to expand to some different flavors.

Joe Hell what temps and how long do you go in the dehydrator after the oven cycle? I’ll be trying this process soon!