Jalapeno Snack Stick Q-View

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bloc004

Fire Starter
Original poster
Apr 26, 2011
44
10
Hudson, WI
I did a batch of jalapeno snack sticks.  Used about 50/50 pork and beef.  This is my second stick run, so still learning.  Smoked with a couple fills of hickory for about 4.5 hours.  Turned out great, only regret was that I didn't get some high temp cheese to put into these things!!!!

5 lbs of 50/50 pork and beef, seasoned and cured with LEM hot stick package.

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8 peppers miced into 5 lbs of meat.

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My wife helped me stuff- she fed the meat in, while I controlled the casings, which helped a lot!

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Hung in the smoker.  I need to get some hooks or something, string works but not quick.

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Finished product, and tasted great!

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Thanks for looking!
 
They were pretty mild.  The LEM spicy sticks package didn't have much kick, good background flavor, just not spicy.  Adding the peppers added a little kick, but not what I was expecting.  I may leave the seeds and membranes in next time to get the kick I like.  

My wife doesn't like things too spicy and she said it was just the right amount of kick for her.
 
Those look good! My wife also prefers food on the 'milder' side so I wind up making two different batches to keep everyone happy yet keep domestic bliss intact.

For additional fire-power versus the jalapeño, you could go with habeñeros, or my preference & easier to find, serranos.

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I made my smoker about a month ago, and I have done 4 butts, 2 batches of sausage, 2 fatties, and a pan of ABTs...cheese is definately in the near future!!!! 
 
nice lookin sticks Bloc, I got to try adding a few hot peppers in mine next time.
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Looks good, wish I had some to taste test for you...LOL
 
Any other spice besides the Jalepenos?  I see your sticks shrunk up quite a bit.  Do you think you raised the temp too quick?  One suggestion you may want to try (if you don't already know this).  Smoke them for your normal time at a lower temp, say 160-180 (as long as you have some curing salt in it) and then cook it in boiling water like you would a hot dog (boil water, put sausage in, turn heat off, let cook for 6-7 minutes).  No you have non-shrunk sausage that tastes the same with softer casing.  Smoke will NOT "wash off" the casing by cooking this way.
 
I used LEM spicy stick seasoning/cure packet.  I smoked these between 150-160 until they got up to temp.  The shrinkage didn't bother me, but I would like the casing to be a bit softer.  I will experiment with that.  But like I said , I never went over 160 and used 50% pork so I just expected shrinkage.

Thanks for the suggestion.
 
Well, the lower temp you smoke it at, the less shrinkage you'll get, as well as raising temp slower.  I'm sure you probably already know all the reasons why that happens, but figured I would suggest one.  Depending on the sausage, I'll not even try to cook it with the smoker, just apply the smoke, and cook by boiling.  I can guarantee that will totally change the casing consistency.

We're going to try a jalapeno sausage now that we saw yours.
 
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