glen thank you for the answer on citric acid…and thank you guys for this forum. it is really nice to have a place to get TRUSTED info…i will be ordering some encapsulated citric acid.
opa

i do have food grade citric acid on hand. it does not say encapsulated but does say approved for food use. will this work in my snack sticks and summer sausage?? if so same amounts as encapsulated??
thanks in advance
opa

i put mine on drying racks overnight then put the in brown paper bags and put in the fridge for a couple days. frost free fridges pull moisture out of the air and the sticks too. i do like mine a little on the dry side. then vac pack. works well for me

ive thought of this too. i am able to clamp the crank side of mine so on the up stroke it doesnt lift the stuffer which works fine but i totally see your point.

i dry at room temp on racks so air gets all around over night , then place in refridge in brown paper bags for a day or 2 whitch removes more moisture. i like mine a little drier than some i think. but lots of people seem to like them

jonathon and glen…thank you both for the info on ECA

as i understand it encapsulated citric acid can not sit over night. so i could grind, season, and mix the first day then add the eca mix, and stuff, the next day and smoke it ? never used it before but do want to try it. just want to be sure how to go about it. i work alone so all in one day aint gonna happen. thanks in advance for any info…opa

all seasonings i buy say on the package how many lbs the package will season,and how many ounces are in the package. there are 28 grams in an ounce. example: if 11 ounces will do 25 lbs… 11 ounces is 308 grams divided by 25 equals 12.32 grams per pound. 5 lbs equals 61.6 grams. i dont split hairs. i would round it to 62 grams. ive done a hell of a lot of sausage using this simple math…just sayin

i think using a good 3 point sausage pricker helps with spliting problem also. i poke mine every inch or so before packaging. seems to vent pressure/fat…might help

barth i think you need 3/8 hog rings. thats what i use and they work well. 1/2 are just to big by a little bit.

locoglaus got mine at amazon i like em

ive msde lots and lots of snack sticks and never add anything like binders etc. make sure all mixing etc. is done well and stick to a good stepped heat/smoke schedule. i never have any issues.

Jonathon jonathon i hate to admit it but im an old guy and dont know how to post pics. i will get my grandson over here as soon as i can to give me yet another computer tech lesson haha sorry bout that i have a smart phone but am to dumb to do much with it

should have said in my post that i leave the contoller on the element wide open…high sorry bout that

thought i would throw this out there. one of my smokers is a dyna glow 43 wide body.it’s typical of most non insulated gas fired smokers. great for higher temps. its big so great for hanging sausage etc. low temps way to high. i bought a small 1650 watt elec. element at amazon. (unifit 120v 15a with controller) controller plugs in like a frying pan etc. it lays on the smoker floor. i have had a few ranco 111000-000 cold/heat controllers in my home brewry for years. i wrap the elemnent controller with thick foil and run the cord out the bottom vent. plug it into the ranco and use the heat side. now i can run a really good heat cycle for sausage. it aint perfect but does the job well. amazon also has the ranco contoller. just need to make sure its the heat/cool model. maybe this will help someone it helped me

thanks to all who replied to my post! very helpful with some great ideas. think i’ll give sous vide a try.

i know very little about this method. ive read of people pulling sausage from the smoker at about 135f and finish in the 170f water. i make my snack sticks 10 inches long so after stuffing i make 41 inch ropes allowing 1 inch for the hang sticks. then when done i get 4 ten inch sticks from each. so when i pull them out of the smoker they are about 20 inches long. if i use a meat lug or other container long enough to drop them into will the pump/heater circulate the water that far? looking online most containers are 12 or so qts.and seem to be short and deep. i would appreciate any help on this…thanks in advance