ac legg

dannylang said:

 
anyone ever used the ac legg snack stick seasoning? on amazon there is a kit for 25 pounds of this, is it any good?

dannylang

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Danny I was looking for my sticks and found this,hope it helps.

Richie

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/156058/ac-legg-snack-stick

I used the #116 and it was good....


http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/230920/beef-sticks-21mm-with-leggs-116-money-shot

dannylang said:

 
thanks tropics and dave for the post you sent, what does letting your sausage bloom mean?

dannylang

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Danny I may be wrong,but I think it refers to getting the full color or to the color you want

Richie

Once the sausage reaches 152 it you remove it from the cooker and run it under cold water to stop the cooking process, this is what is referred to as blooming    

dannylang said:

thanks tropics and dave for the post you sent, what does letting your sausage bloom mean?
dannylang

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I interpret it to mean, "Letting the spices, cure etc. do their work to make a uniform flavor"... That includes smoke permeation etc.... Kind of like making chili or spaghetti and leaving in the fridge for a couple days before you eat it... the flavors get better with age...

Blooming snack sticks and sausage is letting them dry at room temperature after cooling them in chilled water (after cooking to the desired internal temp, usually 152 to 154* F).  You get some additional drying of the casing and usually a final color development during blooming (fancy name for drying basically) as well as final flavor development. This should be sausage or sticks with cure in them and not "fresh" sausage that was cooked.  You don't bloom fresh sausage.

After blooming you want to store snack sticks in some sort of breathable container in the fridge.  You can use a paper bag or a plastic container with some holes in the lid.  You want them to stay dry.  If you put them in a sealed zip lock or other sealed plastic container, you can get casing separation as the casings do not really stay dry. If you have a big batch, freeze (vacuum packing preferred) what you will not eat in a week or so and then take more out as needed.

As you browse posts on snack stick making here you will often see photos of the finished sticks hanging over wooden dowels in a kitchen.  This is the blooming part of the process.

Oh, and back to the original question in this post.  Yes, AC Legg formula #116 is an excellent snack stick mix.  It is very good "as is" and you can use it as a base to expand upon by adding things such as honey or some extra spices for more heat if desired.  A lot of people around here consider it a "go to" formula.

Just bought and used this kit last weekend and my sticks turned out awesome.