I just wanted to thank everyone who provided feedback on this. Had a great weekend with family while making sticks with my niece from her first deer harvest from last fall, which I got to enjoy with her as well. The sticks turned out great as far as processing and smoking. The honey bbq flavor isn’t my preferred flavor. Everyone agreed that they were ok but not nearly as preferred as the willies or prpperstick that we usually do.

Dave in AZ no worries, the cure was reduced by 12% to match the reduction in meat block weight.

Grimpuppy how do you like the flavor, this will be my first batch of what I’d term a non traditional flavor.

chipb727 honey/bbq. I’ve read everywhere and it says for 25 lbs. it ships with one pkg of cure, 1oz.
Reviews seem to be really good. I’ll know alot more in 36 hrs

chipb727 duly noted; I plan to adjust cure. One thing that alarmed me is the amount of seasonings that are in this mix. It has 5-1/4 lbs for 25 lbs compared to roughly 1-1/2 lbs of willies per 25 lbs. sometimes on my normal willies sticks I want a little more flavor. I promised myself next time I made sticks I’d cut back on meat 2-3 lbs and see how I liked it. Decided to try this flavor and was surprised at the difference in seasoning weight so thought I’d ask for more experienced advice. I’m assuming the sweeter mix will have a substantial amount of sugar, which will drive the weight up.

twilliams thanks for the response. Out of curiosity what weight have you cut your blocks back to? I was thinking about 22lbs which is a 12% reduction. To me I can deal with extra bold better than too little of seasoning. Just curious how far you’ve cut it back with good results

Planning to make a batch of honey bbq snack sticks this weekend. Just curious, for those who have made this flavor, if it flavors a full 25lb batch to your taste, or do you back off the meat block any to dial the flavor in to your liking. Meat block will be venison/pork and plan to add 2 lbs cheddar. Thanks for any feedback.

kyle , I’d love to hear about your preferred additions.

Preparing to do some snack sticks early January and looking for opinions on flavors. Our family has enjoyed both pepperstick and willies sticks but looking to try something different. Was leaning towards the honey bbq but wanted opinions first as the price was a lot more than the other varieties we’ve made. Thoughts and opinions on the various flavors would be appreciated. Thanks

Preparing to make a few batches of cured sausage this weekend. I’m curious to know what most folks do regarding either resting meat at room temp prior to smoking, or going straight from refrigerator temps into the smoker.

Jonathon thanks. The problem with us rookies is , well ,we’re rookies. I’m enjoying learning and appreciate your feedback.

I just received an order that shipped on 2/9. This shipment was delayed by the winter storm( no fault of Waltons).
This shipment contained tubed fresh hog casings. This is my first experience with them and I’m wondering if they’ll be ok. I opened the box when they arrived. There’s a little odor but not grossly overpowering. I know some odor is normal but I have no way of knowing what temp they’ve spent the last 13 days at in the UPS truck. What are your thoughts?

Jonathon thanks for the reply! I’ll run it all in one process, adding the ECA at the end of mixing and go straight into stuffing/smoking. Final thought, since the stuffed sticks won’t be held overnight in refrigerator, is the “drying cycle” still critical at the beginning of the smoking schedule?

I’m about to get geared up for a round of snack sticks. I’ve made a few batches with great results but wanted to switch it up and had a question. I’m considering using ECA for the first time on this batch. Not sure I’ll like the “twang” but figure there’s only one way to find out. My question is this: would there be any benefit flavor-wise to grind and season my meat and refrigerate it overnight as if it had the sure cure in it, then pull it out and add the sure cure and ECA just prior to stuffing and smoking? Or is that just splitting hairs?

Planning to make some jalapeño/cheddar brats soon. I plan on doing 25 lbs with blue ribbon brat seasoning, hi-temp cheddar, and jalapeño flakes. I’d like input on how much jalapeño to add. I don’t want them to be overpowered by jalapeño. Any suggestions on jalapeño quantity would be appreciated.

Snake River Smokers have you ever used the collagen, or are you giving your preference on tubed vs non-tuned in the naturals?

Jonathon so you’re suggesting I stuff, twist, freeze, then seperate to individual links before final packaging?

Tex_77 my main concern is with the ends opening up after I cut the links into individual sausages at the twist. I’ve never used the hog gut or fresh collagen casings. Being an admitted novice, the no hassle fresh collagen approach interest me, but I do not wanna have trouble maintaining links due to taking the easy route on the front end.

I’m wanting to make brats soon for the first time. My question is will the fresh collagen casings allow me to link and separate before packaging easily? If so can I separate the brats from each other as soon as they’re linked or should I stuff, link, firm up in freezer, and then separate and package? Thank you in advance for your information.

@s-a-m
Thanks for the reply; I recently used the dehydrated version as well and am rather happy with the flavor. The only thing I wish was better is the color of the rehydrates jalapeños. They were well short of vibrant and some were somewhat brownish. While doing some online browsing i noticed most jal/cheddar summer sausage recipes were calling for fresh.