Cabelas90 said in Snack sticks?:

JohninPa Are you using ECA?

No I am not.

PapaSop said in Snack sticks?:

JohninPa
I also use a Masterbuilt but the LP version. I’m thinking it’s not your process or a smoker issue. I’ve actually let these hang overnite to dry. Vacuumed sealed and frozen. I’m munching on a stick right now that still has moisture on the outside after being thawed and in the fridge for a few days. I actually prefer them that way now. Not dry at all but moist and delicious. Much better than the dry sticks I was making years ago.

Thanks. I prefer them to have a snap to them. Everything else is good with them . Maybe someday I will get over them not having a snap to them.

Electric smoker , using the 19mm smoke collagen casings from waltons, also have some 21mm smoke collagen casings on hand. The casings or outside of the sticks feel damp or kind of slick like they aren’t dry enough. I just don’t know what else to try. I will be making another attempt friday.

I am using a masterbuilt smoker , I can see under the smoker when I get to a certain point in the cooking cycle where the ground is wet from moisture. My only other thought is am I trying to fit too many in the smoker at a time? I may try a smaller batch next time to see if that helps. I did a 12.5# batch , next time I may split it up into 2 batches. Otherwise I don’t know what else to try.

So I made the snack sticks yesterday. Everything went pretty good for me. Ground the meat , 50/50 mix of venison and pork butt. Added the seasoning, cure and binder along with some water. Meat was mixed with mixer attached to my grinder so had good protein extraction. Casings were stuffed nice and full and held overnight . Started smoking them yesterday at 125 for 1 hour vent open , then 140 for 1 hour with smoke and vent 1/4 open and then bumped up to 155 with a water pan and vent closed until the sticks reached 140 and then into electric roaster with 170* water until sticks reached 160* . Pulled sticks off and into ice water and then let them set out for about an hour or so . Then into fridge to cool and packed up today. Taste was very good just didn’t have a snap to them. Any suggestions

craigrice said in Snack sticks?:

when you put water in your water pan it should be to the temp of the smoker @ the time not cold or to hot that will slow the heating cycle

Thanks for the tip. I was planning on heating the water some first. I will try to get it right around the same temp as my smoker.

blackbetty61 said in Snack sticks?:

JohninPa well I usually keep an eye on it while my sticks are in the smoker…maybe 45min to an hour guess I’ve never timed how long it takes for the water to come up to temp…once the sticks are in the water shouldn’t take more than 15 to 20 minutes for them to be done… don’t forget you’ll have to smoke them till they get to around 140° then put them in the water to finish your cooking process

Ok. Thanks
Yes , I will start my usual smoking process until I get them to around 140. Then I will pull them from the smoker and put in the water.

blackbetty61 said in Snack sticks?:

JohninPa yep just use your meat thermometer to check temp of the water

I got a 12.5# batch mixed up and stuffed. I think I am going to try this method tomorrow. Any idea how long it takes to get the water up to temp ?

blackbetty61 said in Snack sticks?:

JohninPa yep put the sticks right in the water… they might look wrinkly when you take them out but they should tighten up after you bloom them. I wanna say you could fit 12.5 lbs in a roaster…that’s usually how much I do when I do a batch by myself… I have a 26qt roaster…I believe…also if you search finish in water on the search page there’s a whole thread worth reading

Thanks. Might be a dumb question but I take it you just heat the water right in the electric roaster? Seems like this would make the process go quicker .

blackbetty61 said in Snack sticks?:

This is just me but after reading about finishing in water that’s what I do for everything from snack sticks,ring sausage to summer sausage…smoke till internal temp of 140° then I throw them in my electric roaster with 170° water til they reach 160° internal… then ice bath til cool and let them bloom overnight in a cooler in the garage or fridge. Next day cut to your size and vacuum pack.

Curious about the way you finish them. Do you put the sticks themselves directly in the water? Also any idea how many pounds you can fit in an electric roaster? This might be something to consider if I could fit 12.5 pounds in the roaster.

Anyone have a suggestion if I should use a pan of water or not? I am using a masterbuilt smoker. I keep going back and forth on this.

Ok. Thanks
I liked the taste and texture just felt the sticks weren’t dry enough. I don’t know if that was because of the water pan or another reason. More than likely I will be trying another batch on Tuesday.

twilliams said in Snack sticks?:

JohninPa your smoke and cook process is good except im not sure on the pan of hot water. I never use it but i dont have a problem with stall.

Well do you think I should try without a pan of water this time ? When the last ones were done you could see alot of moisture on the sticks and inside my smoker.

This was my process. Ground the meat, added the seasoning, cure , sure gel binder and water. Mixed it until I had good protein extraction. Then I stuffed it and let it set overnight for the cure to work.
The next day I started them at 125* in the smoker for 1 hour with vent fully open. After that hour I bump temp up to 140* close vent and added smoke for 1 hour. After this hour I bumped temp up to 155* for 2 hours and added a pan of hot water and closed vent completely. When these two hours were up I bumped temp up to 175* until IT reached 160. Then I pulled them out and did an ice bath .

Ok. Thanks
So following that I would at 1 to 1.5 cups for a 12.5 lb block. I seen a post on here from one of the guys at Walton’s and believe it was a quart to 25 lb but home processors could go up to 2 quarts.

Thats why I didn’t know if I could of used too much water when mixing them. I know they were a bit of a pain to stuff which leads me to believe I didn’t use too much water.

twilliams said in Snack sticks?:

JohninPa did you ice bath them last time?

Yes. I did everything was good on them except they didn’t have a snap to them. You could just bend them and finally they would break. They just seemed to have excess moisture to them. I don’t know if I messed up on the drying stage. I know the temp dropped a good bit until I got the smoker loaded.

I want to make a 12.5 # batch of snack sticks. My question is how much water should I add when mixing ? I will be using either a 19mm or a 21mm collagen casing. Any tips to get a stick that has a nice snap to it. My batch I tried last time didn’t have any snap to them. Taste was good just no snap. Also seemed like a lot of moisture on them when the were done. Any ideas ?

johnsbrewhouse said in Smoked bratwurst questions:

JohninPa I use natural casing on my Texas hot links, Kielbasa and Bratwurst. When I smoke them, I loop them in around 18" links and tie them back end to end and hang them with no problems. These are the hot links before and after.

That kielbasa looks amazing and has my attention. Care to share how you make it.