Bearcarver's Pepperoni Beef Sticks

Those look great, I wounder if I could do something simiular with my grinder?

They look great Gene, and I know they taste even better!

Like mine, they aren't nice & straight & smooth, but that's because they aren't stuffed inside a casing. That's also why they are probably the best tasting beef sticks you ever had, because there isn't any skin blocking that wonderful smoke flavor.

I really try hard to make all of my best recipes "Step by Step", because I look for that kind of post when I want to try something new, and there seems to be very few posts like that. I'm really glad you like them. 

I wish there was more room in our "signature" area. I started putting a few "Step by Step" recipes in there, but I think we're only allowed about 4 or 5 lines. I was going to put a list of all of my smoking toys there, but I figured it was more important to help others by putting links to my easy to follow recipes there.

Maybe the forum should have a special place for "STEP by STEP" Recipes. If it's not completely step by step, it's not allowed there. That would avoid having to read 30 threads to figure out how to make something, because one doesn't say the temp, one doesn't say the mixture, the time, the water pan, cure mix, the time in fridge, etc, etc, etc.

Sorry to steal your thread, I just figured it would be a good place to mention this, because I know you liked my step by step recipe, and the more people who find out how easy I make it to follow, the better I feel about putting the time into the description. When I make something that really tastes good, I want others to be able to make the same thing without having to go through all the trials I went through. Why should we all have to go through that?

You might as well get ready to make your next batch----It won't last long!

Thanks for showing,

Bearcarver

Awesome post.

I love meat sticks... dammit BC!  Now I'm off to dig up you recipe.

Great job JPT!

Those look great Gene...

Now those sticks sure look good too there Gene.

BC, they'll probably say that your step-by-steps belong in the WIKI.  Seems reasonable and that's the way it seems to be drifting.

JPT, those are fine looking sticks.  Worse thing about them is that they're addictive.

NWDave said:

BC, they'll probably say that your step-by-steps belong in the WIKI.  Seems reasonable and that's the way it seems to be drifting.

JPT, those are fine looking sticks.  Worse thing about them is that they're addictive.

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Yeah,

I've been to the WIKI to find a complete step by step for a simple Chuckie. I couldn't find any that were step by step with everything included. I read about 20 different chuckie posts & consolidated all the things I needed. Took forever. I know there aren't many steps to a Chuckie, but I couldn't find one post that left no questions. Jeff makes some really good step by steps, but I couldn't find a Chuckie from Jeff. I'm not saying there isn't one---I just couldn't find one. I ended up making one, and it was very good, but not good enough to do a serious step by step.

Bear

JustPassingThru said:

daddyzaring, thanks, I don't know if it would be feasible, seems like you would have to move the stuffer or the rack, maybe it's it's a good excuse to buy a jerky gun.

WALLE,  thanks, try'em you'll like 'em.

Beer-B-Q, thanks Paul.

mballi, thanks.

NWDave, thanks, yep, their addictive, I've already ate about a pound of them this morning, (while I'm typing this).

Bear, Bear, Bear, what can I say my friend, I'm suppose to be losing weight and now you have introduced me these wonderful bites of mana. 

Ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters in this smoking addiction, Bear said they were AWESOME and he is RIGHT!!!  Long time ago I remember buying these thing in convenience stores and throwing them away before they were completely eaten because of all of the preservative junk in them and the thought of I was probably eating cow's lips and steer ears.  Not so with these, I know exactly what is in them and they are delicious!

I agree, your step by step instructions are easy to follow, these should be a wiki and your're the one that should do it.

Thank you Bearman for making my stay in Tahiti more pleasurable.

And again, thank you all for looking at my Q-view,

Gene

Click to expand...

Gene,

Thank You for those kind words. That makes me feel great!

I'm wondering if you found the same thing as I did the hardest part. I only made 5 pounds---two racks. I found the hardest thing was laying them out in my little MES 30, without allowing any of them to touch each other. Next time I'll use the top three racks, instead of only the #2 & #3 positions. That way I should be able to do about 7 lb or 7 1/2 lb. I don't like to use the bottom position, because it is so close to the heat---Just me I guess.

Go easy on them---They're very addictive,

Bear

Those look mighty tasty!

And, yes, Bear, please put this step-by-step in the WIKI so the rest of us can more easily find it when we get ready to try this.

Thumbs up to both of you!

Well I was thinking I could make them in my grinder so they'd be more the size of pizza pepperoni.  I think I could control the legnth by how much I put in the grinder, and I am thinking of doing it on a long smooth surface like out kitchen table, and taking a roll of wax paper, lay the roll under where the meat will come out, pull out just enough for it to start on, and just let it unroll the wax paper as it comes out.  ?

 

JustPassingThru said:

daddyzaring, thanks, I don't know if it would be feasible, seems like you would have to move the stuffer or the rack, maybe it's it's a good excuse to buy a jerky gun.

WALLE,  thanks, try'em you'll like 'em.

Beer-B-Q, thanks Paul.

mballi, thanks.

NWDave, thanks, yep, their addictive, I've already ate about a pound of them this morning, (while I'm typing this).

Bear, Bear, Bear, what can I say my friend, I'm suppose to be losing weight and now you have introduced me these wonderful bites of mana. 

Ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters in this smoking addiction, Bear said they were AWESOME and he is RIGHT!!!  Long time ago I remember buying these thing in convenience stores and throwing them away before they were completely eaten because of all of the preservative junk in them and the thought of I was probably eating cow's lips and steer ears.  Not so with these, I know exactly what is in them and they are delicious!

I agree, your step by step instructions are easy to follow, these should be a wiki and your're the one that should do it.

Thank you Bearman for making my stay in Tahiti more pleasurable.

And again, thank you all for looking at my Q-view,

Gene

Click to expand...

daddyzaring said:

Well I was thinking I could make them in my grinder so they'd be more the size of pizza pepperoni.  I think I could control the legnth by how much I put in the grinder, and I am thinking of doing it on a long smooth surface like out kitchen table, and taking a roll of wax paper, lay the roll under where the meat will come out, pull out just enough for it to start on, and just let it unroll the wax paper as it comes out.  ?

 

 

Click to expand...

daddy,

Then you might want to use this recipe & step by step. It is for a bigger diameter, but uses basically the same recipe. I like the smaller sticks better, I think because they pick up a lot more smoke, but this was excellent too.

Have a look at this one:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forum/thread/94897/pepperoni-cured-smoked-and-qviewed

LOL---Guess I covered all the bases on this one,

Bear

Well, I was going to put this in a separate thread but, since it's drifted this direction, I'll post it here.

Last week, I made Bear's pepperoni sticks with a few variations to suit my setup.  I followed his timeline as fairly as possible. 

I grind my own hamburger so I really know what's in the meat.  It was chuck, kinda lean, about 90/10 which I found too lean.  Next time it'll be about 80/20.  I kept it beef, no bacon or other pork, just the beef, man.  My first grind of chuck was in a Weston 8# grinder, coarse plate.  I mixed in the "BC magic dust/spices" (except I used Instacure #1)  and ran it through the medium plate.  Into the fridge overnight) back on the BC schedule.   Next day, 3/4 stuffing tube on the Weston, pushed caseless onto the dehydrator grid.  Sticks were about 13-14 inches long.  Nice shape.  I've used the gun and I gotta tell you, the grinder with a floor switch is the cat's meow.

I use a GOSM instead of BC's MES, so I started the process in my Excalibur at 100 degrees for 1 1/2 hours. No smoke of course.  I got the GOSM fired up, down to about 120 or a little less (needle valve sure made the difference).  I have the Amazin-N-Smoker (Thank you very much, Todd) and had it primed with hickory, full load, both ends smoking for the duration.  I followed the timeline for temp increase and pulled when the temp hit 165 internal.  Immediate cold wash (after I sampled some pieces and knew it was a winner.  Wiped down.  Didn't bother freezing any as I knew it wouldn't last.  Cut them in half and placed them in some leftover oyster jars for refrigeration.  Samples given out to one and all and all agreed, this is a winner.  Next time (tomorrow actually)  I think I'll start the process in the smoker for about an hour with just the AMNSmoker, no heat, just smoke flavor, then into the dehydrator for about 1 1/2 and then into the timeline.

Daddyzaring, I have one of those all-around jerky makers (they're OK for their intended purpose, ground beef jerky, and yes, they adapt to the Weston) and they use the wax paper layouts.  You have to draw the wax paper out as the meat feeds out as the meat has enough fat to slide over the paper if you don't help it.

In the near future, now that I'm use to the expected taste is to do a salt substitute (Alsosalt) and see what it turns out to.  I'll post the results after the smoking (Yes, this time I'll do a QView, so you all will know it actually happened).  There's too many of us that have to go the no salt route (I'm still on the low salt regimen) so it's time to start experimenting to find the answers.  I will die with a smoked sausage in my stomach if I have to, but.......I'd prefer to stick around a while to try out more recipes.

In conclusion, BearCarver, thanks for a great recipe.  You've added a great item to our daily needs. 

JustPassingThru:  you say you're suppose to be losing weight?  Well, as far as I'm concerned, if you eat these beef (ALL-BEEF, mind you),  instead of chips, snackies and whatever else, you will lose weight.  Well, I do anyway. 

I'm just glad everybody likes this stuff. It pleases me very much to have another winner.

Next time I'm going to try my new stuffer that should be here in the next week or so.

Don't forget guys, one of my reasons for writing them up so completely step by step is because I'll need it next time, and the next time, etc, etc, etc........

Bear

I live in Ontario,Canada any idea where to get a jerky gun.

Here ya go, that's where I got mine. Be prepared for heavy use.

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/s...=10001&langId=-1&CMID=TOP_SEARCH_GO&x=10&y=13

Those look awesome!

Thanx for the info about the jerky gun Meateater