That’s a great observation about the sausages tasting better the next day. The same thing happens when I make stew, soup, or chili. It always tastes better the next day. I agree with you that spices give a great flavor and aroma immediately when cooked but have more to offer as they have a chance to sit longer.

In reply to the one question about how long the sausage sits in the fridge…I follow the same procedures as most - from smoker or oven to the ice bath, air dry, then to the fridge for a few hours.
My procedure from here will probably differ from others. After the sausage has sat in the fridge, I vacuum pack the sausage and put it back in the fridge for a few more days to a week before freezing.

That looks awesome!!!

PapaSop,
The best way I can describe the texture is equivalent to a ground meat jerky ribbon/strip that you press out of a jerky gun. Still chewy like jerky and you can bite off pieces the same way.

chippewa,

Well, I guess I should call them jerky sticks instead of snack sticks - since I dry them through just like jerky, as opposed to keeping them plump and juicy like the snack sticks.
I always do it with the 16mm casings so they can dry through like jerky. Have eaten several batches made with and without a little cure. So far, as long as the sticks dry like jerky, It’s been my experience that there’s enough salt in the Walton’s seasoning to cure the sticks for a 3 hour dehydration. Never got sick. I will try to include a picture to show the end result. Obviously the one on the left is the dehydrated one (jerky stick) and the one on the right is the juicy one (snack stick). Hope this helps. I guess it depends what end result we are after.

That looks delicious!!

Well, I didn’t think to use binder with the notion that this was going to be a batch of jerky sticks. I think I’ll experiment with some binder next time. Thanks for the idea.
I guess the binder will pull it all together like it does and maybe bond the collagen 100%. As far as the binder retaining moisture, I’m guessing it’ll have to give up the moisture eventually when being dehydrated.I will have to experiment more with it.
Dehydrator temp: I can’t tell you what temp I used because I’m embarrassed to say I still have one of those old “set it and forget it” dehydrators. A good dehydrator is next in my list.

I used the 16mm casings from Walton’s. The only thing that I experienced was that the collagen didn’t bond to the meat quite as well as it does for the snack sticks. I’ll have to keep working on it.
The flavor was great and the texture was good too.

The only kind of dehydrator I’ve used for snack sticks is a jerky dehydrator. The snack sticks will shrivel just like jerky but maintain the flavor.
I’ll try to upload a pic. The ones on the left are the dehydrated sticks and the ones on the right were slow cooked in an oven.

JohninPa
I’ve used the Willy’s Snack Stick mixture, habanero/lime, and the Pepperoni Snack Stick mixture, all purchased from Walton’s. They have wonderful flavors. I did use, both, the Sure Gel Binder and the encapsulated citric acid as well. They were wonderful. Try them all!

Ok, so I’m thinking of trying my luck at dry sausage. Any one have any input on which I should use? Natural casing or collagen?