Snack Sticks in the New House!

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s2k9k

AMNPS Test Group
Original poster
Sep 8, 2011
11,324
182
SEUSA
I decided to break in the new house with some sticks, can't really mess up sticks so this should be an easy way to see how the house is going to work!
Local grocer had 85/15 ground round on sale as cheap as I could find chuck anywhere else so I picked up 25lbs of it, might as well go big if I'm going to burning electricity!
The first time I tried making some sausage I used a recipe I found and it didn't turn out so good so I decided to stick with premixes for awhile until I get the hang of this.
I mixed up 5 different flavors last night.
5lbs of Lem Hot
5lbs of Waltons Gigawatt Hot
5lbs of Waltons Tex/Mex
7.5lbs of Waltons Willie's

This morning I stuffed it all into 19mm smoke collagen casings, it went well, only one blowout!
Got it all hanging with the PID set to run 120*-170* ramping 10* every hour. So far it is running just like it should. I have my two Mavs hanging about mid level and the thermocouple is right at the top rack. The Mavs have been reading 4*-5* hotter than the TC at the top but that's close enough for me!
Filled up the AMNPS with Pitmasters Choice and lit both ends and it's puffing nice TBS out both top vents. I was concerned that just one AMNPS wouldn't be enough but so far it looks good, we'll see how the flavor is later.

Sticks are a hangin':

I also put in a couple of my jerky racks with the AMAZEN Q-Matz just in case anything falls:

So if anyone was doing their math earlier you see I forgot 2.5lbs.

Does anyone remembers this from last night?

OK we had some good tries at identifying it last night and some came real close but I don't think anyone got it.
This is a Trinidad Scorpion Chile.
A friend of mine is growing them along with a whole bunch of other varieties, he loves the hot stuff and is wanting to start marketing his own hot sauces. Might just see some interesting pepper and sausage combos coming in the near future!

Anyway, I pureed the chili and mixed it in the last 2.5lbs along with the Lem Hot mix, I don't think Lem's Hot is hot at all, the last time I made it I added a bunch of cayenne and red pepper flakes so I figured that would be a good mix for the Trinidad!
Would anyone care for a drink of this?

Here are the sticks 2 hours in, starting to take on some color:

Thanks for looking!
Will be back later with the finished product!
 
I opened the bottom vents up about 30 minutes ago and just went out and looked and here's what I saw:

I'm pretty happy right now! :sausage:
 
New smoke house..... fresh sausage...... everything running like a top. You should be pretty happy and I agree with go big or go home when you have to clean everything. Sausage making is an equipment intensive sport!
 
New smoke house..... fresh sausage...... everything running like a top. You should be pretty happy and I agree with go big or go home when you have to clean everything. Sausage making is an equipment intensive sport!

Yes it is! I'm glad I went electric now, there is so much other work involved I don't want to be tending to temperatures or fuel too! I think I spent more time cleaning than I did mixing and stuffing!
 
sticks look great. i saw on the last thread and as soon as i saw it, i yelled thats a scorpion!!!! haha. then i came to this thread to see what on earth you were doing with it.. and thats not just hot , thats the furthest thing beyond hot! lol.
 
Hey Dave.... Didn't take long for you to start making sausage like a pro........... Nice job with the sticks.. They look great.. Make sure you pack a small sample and bring them to the South Florida gathering...........
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Thanks Joe! Don't know about pro but I'm starting to get the hang of it!
I'm going to have to start stocking up on stuff for SFL or else I'll eat it all by then!
 
The PID worked perfect! It ramped just like i wanted it to but when it hit the last step, 170* the temp never went above 165*. It got real windy this afternoon and I saw smoke coming out the bottom vents so I closed the top vents then ended up closing them all. Even closed smoke was still coming out, top and bottom, I knew they wouldn't seal perfect but I didn't expect smoke to come out the bottom. I think it was the wind. Oh well 165* is plenty! The sticks took 7 hours to hit about 150*. The sticks near the walls cooked faster than the middle so guess I need to give more space on the outsides.
The Trinidad sticks really aren't that hot but they have a weird flavor I don't really care for, I'm sure my buddy will like them though! I think the Gigawatt Hot are the hottest, pretty hot with a real good stick flavor. The Tex/Mex are real good too, nice southwest flavor with a little heat. And the Willies is just a good mild stick.
All in all I think everything worked out good and I can't wait to make some more! Maybe some smoked sausage on the 4th!
I'm tired and didn't feel like slicing and bagging tonight so I put them in the fridge and will take care of it tomorrow!

Here they are after a cold bath and hanging to bloom for a bit:
 
YESSSSS... that's some good looking stuff there... won't be long and we will be putting you together with the other sausage kings.... now I need to find a way to dry my keyboard out.. (slobber)
 
Perfect looking sticks! I notice my smoker tends to be 4-5 degrees hotter around the walls. I diffuse the heat with 2 half pans so heat and smoke can only pass in the front and back of the smoker. For some reason the heat still makes its way to the sidewalls. I have 2 even temps, around the walls and in the center. I switch the dowels around once during the smoke so the center sausage gets a turn by the walls. It really shows with summer sausage as 5 degrees can take some time for the cooler sausages to catch up.
 
YESSSSS... that's some good looking stuff there... won't be long and we will be putting you together with the other sausage kings.... now I need to find a way to dry my keyboard out.. (slobber)

Thanks Keith! Sausage King??? I don't know about that but I'm starting to get the hang of it!


Hello Dave.  GREAT job on tha smokehouse and GREAT job on those fine looking sticks!  Hope to see more good stuff comin outta that new house.  Keep Smokin!
Danny

Thanks Danny! Oh you will be, I have too much invested to just let it sit there! I have 5 butts sitting in my freezer, thinking a couple will be coming out for next weekend!


Perfect looking sticks! I notice my smoker tends to be 4-5 degrees hotter around the walls. I diffuse the heat with 2 half pans so heat and smoke can only pass in the front and back of the smoker. For some reason the heat still makes its way to the sidewalls. I have 2 even temps, around the walls and in the center. I switch the dowels around once during the smoke so the center sausage gets a turn by the walls. It really shows with summer sausage as 5 degrees can take some time for the cooler sausages to catch up.

Thanks Todd! Yea once the Durock gets hot it really holds the heat and just radiates off the walls. I can see with longer smokes I will be moving things around a couple of times.
I keep looking at your dowel stands and need to get busy and make some!
 
Thanks Joe!

Well I made a rookie mistake last night and I know better, don't know what I was thinking. I put all the sticks on a couple of pans to go in the fridge overnight and I put some plastic wrap on them to keep the sticks separated. Plastic wrap? Really? What was I thinking? Well needless to say, condensation formed and they were all wet this morning. It didn't hurt anything just that I had to dry them before I could bag them. I should have used paper towels instead of plastic wrap and I know this!

So I just put some paper towels down on the counter and laid them out to dry for a bit

After they dried I sliced them up:

Cross section of each:

All bagged up, should keep me in sticks for awhile:

Thank You everyone at SMF for teaching me how to do this!!!!
 
Thanks Dave!!!
I'm really happy with the house and how it performed. I love my GOSM propane but I'm glad I went electric with this, it was so easy to let the PID do all the work!
 
Dang those sticks look Awesome!!!

Don't think I ever said this before, but they almost look too perfect !!!

Bear
 
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