I put the snack sticks together on Saturday night. I used 8 pounds of 73/27 ground beet and 2 pounds of ground pork. For seasoning, I used LEM Backwoods and tried spicing it up with some Cajun seasoning I had. Unfortunately, the extra seasoning made them pretty salty. I should have just ran to the store for some cayenne. They still ate pretty well. The sticks smoked from 10:00-3:30 on hickory chips.
I found some metal rods at the home depot to use for hanging them. They were actually the same price as hardwood dowels. Worked well.
After pulling the sticks out and giving them an ice water bath, I threw a 3-4 pound pork loin roast on. The top pic is before the bath, and bottom after. Interesting how the color changed a bit. I smoked the pork loin until 1:00 am. Needless to say, when it got to 160, I pulled it and wrapped in foil for 20 minutes. Then into the fridge, and off to bed.
Did a little fat cross hatch I saw Martha Stewart do on a ham. It was a little weird because the fat cap started coming loose from the silver skin. If I were wanting to remove the fat cap completely, I may try this technique to keep from gouging too much. The DW doesn't like as much kick, so I went light on the seasoning (what was left of a Jamaican Jerk dry seasoning) and lighter on the smoke with pecan chips. Seasoning the fat cap is a waste of seasoning, in my opinion.
The DW was very impressed. She even refused to go heavy on the sauce because the meat stood on its own. Love that gal.
Thanks for letting me share.
PS, the DW asked why I couldn't smoke both meats at the same time. I told her I would love to, but needed a bigger smoker. :)
She said, well, I guess we could have done the roast in the oven. But I countered and said if I had tied up the oven, she wouldn't have been able to bake her cookies.
I feel a bigger smoker in my future!
I found some metal rods at the home depot to use for hanging them. They were actually the same price as hardwood dowels. Worked well.
After pulling the sticks out and giving them an ice water bath, I threw a 3-4 pound pork loin roast on. The top pic is before the bath, and bottom after. Interesting how the color changed a bit. I smoked the pork loin until 1:00 am. Needless to say, when it got to 160, I pulled it and wrapped in foil for 20 minutes. Then into the fridge, and off to bed.
Did a little fat cross hatch I saw Martha Stewart do on a ham. It was a little weird because the fat cap started coming loose from the silver skin. If I were wanting to remove the fat cap completely, I may try this technique to keep from gouging too much. The DW doesn't like as much kick, so I went light on the seasoning (what was left of a Jamaican Jerk dry seasoning) and lighter on the smoke with pecan chips. Seasoning the fat cap is a waste of seasoning, in my opinion.
The DW was very impressed. She even refused to go heavy on the sauce because the meat stood on its own. Love that gal.
Thanks for letting me share.
PS, the DW asked why I couldn't smoke both meats at the same time. I told her I would love to, but needed a bigger smoker. :)
She said, well, I guess we could have done the roast in the oven. But I countered and said if I had tied up the oven, she wouldn't have been able to bake her cookies.
I feel a bigger smoker in my future!
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