1st Time Snack Sticks

[hecklar56]

Hello Everyone!

Before I jump in I just want to thank everyone here for being so helpful and such a great resource for one of my (our) new passions....smoking. Just upgraded the membership to support the site. You all rock.

Wife and I are trying our first batch of snack sticks today. Smoker is an MES 40 electric. Started with that and will be upgrading soon but it's been great for jerky, ribs, butts, roasts...just a great experience and highly recommend as a starting smoker.

Two 'recipes':

1) Picked up a Hi Mountain snack stick kit at Cabelas. "Sweet n Spicy" those are the darker sticks you see on the rack
2) Purchased some LEM Smoked Collagen Casings, 19mm, some Anthony's #1 Cure

For #1 we just followed the instructions but added medium cheddar cheese and fresh jalapenos from the garden. 2lbs
For #2 we did water, salt, white pepper, garlic powder, #1 cure and one batch with Serranos and Dragon Cayenne peppers (again, from the garden). The other batch (2lbs each batch for our recipes, 6lbs total) was Habanero and Jalapeno with cheddar.

They're in the smoker now. Did the first 1.5 hrs at 135-140 no smoke. 2nd hour did 145-150 (the MES doesn't do a GREAT job of maintaining temps, it tends to swing and also be about 10-20 degrees off my Inkbird) with some Hickory smoke (chips, because my propane torch is out of commission, so no pellets in the AMNPS). That's where we're at now.

Plan is to keep upping temp by 10 degrees each out till my IT hits 152-155. Then I'll pull them, give them a few hours to bloom at room temp then considering overnight in the fridge in a brown paper bag.

Any thoughts/adjustments/recommendations?

Thank you all again for being such an excellent community, of which I'm proud to be part of.

Happy Smoking!

P.S. Yes, I'm aware the smoker needs cleaning and that I (really) like parenthesis.

Cheers!

Mike

 

[SmokyMose]

They look great!
That smoker doesn't need cleaning.

 

[DRKsmoking]

Nice snack sticks

David

 

[hecklar56]

Smokeymoose=new fav poster

Thank you DRK!

Just took them off put them on some cooking racks to bloom. Pretty psyched. Gonna try one in about an hour and then put the rest in a brown paper bag...definitely some grease on em.

 

[JckDanls 07]

Everything's looking good.. even the smoker that DOESN'T need cleaning... you say your gonna keep raising temps ever time out... just a reminder not to go over 175` max on smoker temp ...

Pending the outcome... next time you might want to start at lower temps (120`) for the first hour or so ...

 

[hecklar56]

Everything's looking good.. even the smoker that DOESN'T need cleaning... you say your gonna keep raising temps ever time out... just a reminder not to go over 175` max on smoker temp ...

Pending the outcome... next time you might want to start at lower temps (120`) for the first hour or so ...

Definitely on my list to start lower and a lil' slower next time, thanks for the advice.

Found a few air pockets that we'll have to watch out for next time, and I'm a tiny bit concerned that the casing didn't fuse to the meat, but we shall see.

Thanks for the replies!!

 

[hecklar56]

For anyone who's watching....what is the purpose of the NFDM or other binder in the sticks? That's the only thing we lacked in terms of ingredients. I saw it used in some, but not in all.

Is it to bind the mix together or to bind the mix to the casing?

Thanks!!

 

[hecklar56]

First taste about to happen. Hi Mtn on left other two w the LEM casings

 

[hecklar56]

Update: AMAZING

The Hi Mountain casings have better snap, and overall the mixture could have used more peppers but we were just saying this is our BEST first attempt at smoking anything. They came out so freaking well.

Cheers y'all!!

 

[JckDanls 07]

They certainly look good... great job... welcome to your NEW addiction...

I make them 40-50 lbs at a time ... Usually on a three day weekend ...

as for the NFDM... yes it is used for a binder.. but... It also is used for water/moisture retention ...

 

[DRKsmoking]

First taste about to happen. Hi Mtn on left other two w the LEM casings

They both look great, I like the size of the High Mountain one myself, I could go for a few of those

See my shipping address below

Davidd

 

[hecklar56]

They certainly look good... great job... welcome to your NEW addiction...

I make them 40-50 lbs at a time ... Usually on a three day weekend ...

as for the NFDM... yes it is used for a binder.. but... It also is used for water/moisture retention ...

Thanks Jck. Definitely addicted before even really tasting them. Was just a fun process to do with the wife on a weekend afternoon.

I think the darker ones look plumper, perhaps because the pre-mix from Hi Mtn had a binder/moisture retention ingredient. That was the one thing we omitted from the ones in the clear casings. They're both collagen, dark one is just 3/4 vs the 5/8 of the clear.

Wife has celiacs and we just realized the pre mix from cabelas has some gluten in it....so guess who gets that whole batch?

 

[hecklar56]

They both look great, I like the size of the High Mountain one myself, I could go for a few of those

See my shipping address below

Davidd

Since the wife can't help with those I might have some extras...you just might have to fight my kids for them LOL.

Gonna give them 24 more in brown paper in the fridge then vacuum seal half for freezer and keep the rest out for snacking.

 

[hecklar56]

Will close this thread out with a pic and some lessons learned:

Need to add NFDM to the next set of ones from a non-premix to promote the binding of the stuffing to the skin. The Hi-Mountain casings (mahogany, your front left) seem to stick to the stuffing a notch better and also promote a uniform color, which we liked.

Need to watch for the gluten in the mixes

Need to add a TON more flavor. They taste great and everyone has loved them so far but i'd use sharp instead of medium cheese and load it with more peppers, perhaps even swapping out the water for some hotsauce. I like em spicy.

Cheers!!