@KellyJordet I spoke with our application specialist about this and he says if you are really getting a tacky surface then the issue is most likely your smoker no producing enough smoke. He also said that a possibility is that the outside is too dry and doesn’t recommend that you dry them for 2.5 hours. We’d also recommend that you not jump right up to 160° instead step it up in stages. Start at 120 for an hour then 140 for about and hour then to 160 and finally at 175 until it reaches 160°