Have been smoking for a while

[Smokin' partner]

Hi from Eastern Ontario, Canada. We farm, hunt and fish. We are retired. We travel. I have a Masterbuilt Sportsman Elite Propane Smoker...actually gifted it to my husband years ago, but I tend to have control of the outdoor cooking. He does the outdoor providing!
I have used it for a variety of things. Mainly fish. BUT recently the cost of getting our wild game pepperettes made by our favourite Western Ontario Mennonite family business went up. We are making our own sausage and pepperettes. We mixed a lot of our own seasoning, but have now found a supplier of awesome seasoning mixes. We use coloured collagen casings for our pepperettes. We have all the equipment needed for mass production.
We got into some serious mass producing of pepperettes lately and I just can't seem to get the temp/time perfected. I am doing them on the racks, 4 racks, top shelfs. I have found it necessary to rotate the racks top to bottom and front to back to even out the process.
I have watched several video's with all sorts of suggestions.
So, right now, I am drying for about 30 minutes at 130 deg., then smoking for 1 hr at 130 deg, then up to 150 for an hour then 170 until "done".
What I am finding is the internal temp is getting to "done" before the exterior has taken on the nice wrinkly dry texture.
Suggestions?
Would I be better off hanging instead of racks? My fear was the bottom, closer to the heat source, getting done too fast.
One youtube suggested drying for an hour before going in the smoker. One suggested adding water to the pan during the smoke process. Some start at 110 deg.
I am sure there is a lot of trial and error. I think I am on batch 4 of 12 lb batches! Some seem better than others.
Of course outdoor temp and wind etc have a huge factor. Windward side doesn't get there as fast as leeward side. So I find myself turning racks!
I am looking forward to hearing others experiences and suggestions.
Thank you!

 

[JLeonard]

Welcome to the forums! Lots of sausage makers on here. You'll get a ton of suggestions.

Jim

 

[DougE]

Welcome from Kentucky!
indaswamp , BGKYSmoker and SmokinEdge may be able to get you dialed in with stepping up temps as you go.

 

[SmokinEdge]

You are basically making snack sticks. So tell me the time you are in smoke and heat. I’m thinking you are going to fast and need more time in smoke and heat.
The wrinkles come from drying, this takes time.

Also what does “done” mean exactly to you?

 

[geostriata]

So, right now, I am drying for about 30 minutes at 130 deg., then smoking for 1 hr at 130 deg, then up to 150 for an hour then 170 until "done".
What I am finding is the internal temp is getting to "done" before the exterior has taken on the nice wrinkly dry texture.

What size casings are you using?

 

[Smokin' partner]

You are basically making snack sticks. So tell me the time you are in smoke and heat. I’m thinking you are going to fast and need more time in smoke and heat.
The wrinkles come from drying, this takes time.

Also what does “done” mean exactly to you?

Done is 155 deg. At least that's what I take away from most things I have read. I end up taking them past that to get the texture I want. Today's batch is getting an hour of air drying first, then I'll start them lower for longer. Maybe 110 deg if I can get the smoker to hold that. It's cold and windy here today! My intro post tells the time and temps that I was working with. I'll try to slow it down.

 

[Smokin' partner]

What size casings are you using?

About 1.5 cm. Chubby pinky finger sized!

 

[Smokin' partner]

Welcome from Kentucky!
indaswamp , BGKYSmoker and SmokinEdge may be able to get you dialed in with stepping up temps as you go.

Thank you! Looking forward to learning more!

 

[geostriata]

About 1.5 cm. Chubby pinky finger sized!

Nice! There aren't many that go through the trouble of snack sticks as small as 15mm, but I feel that it's totally worth the effort! Trying to make snack sticks out of 17mm starts to feel more like a meal than a snack, and 16mm is a bit closer but still doesn't feel like a "real" snack stick to me.

In any case, here are some of my recommendations that might help with your small diameter snack sticks:

• For the best wrinkles, add more water. I add ~75g per lb-of-meat of water, which is about 3x the usual recommendation. This will also extend you cook time a little, but it sounds like that's what you'd like anyways.
• For dryer sticks, perform a sustained cook at lower temperatures. My protocol is 1hr at 105, 8 hrs at 140, and final hour at 170 to finish at IT 154. Cooking this long will result in tough casings, but that's recovered after a quick water bath, wiping off moisture, and leaving them in a ziplock back in the fridge for a week (which I find further improves dryness, taste, and texture). My suggestion for you is to start at 105-110F for an hour, ramp to 130/140 with smoke and keep it there until you have the texture you like (even if it takes several hours), then to ramp to 170 (or 150 then 170 to finish). If your casings are aren't tough after the cook, then hanging at ~70% relative humidity for a while should be enough for equalization.
• I prefer hanging. I like how it causes the casing to form around the meat, with no grill marks either. A minor superficial & professional touch (I think it doesn't improve taste much, if at all). So I have a similar smoker, and a cool trick is to buy magnetic hooks to hang from and just stick em on the inside roof. Way cheaper than the special attachment too. For what it's worth, my sticks are hanging close to the heater, and they come out fine. I think the key is good airflow.
• You can also add insulation to your smoker to keep it at solid temps. I'm sure a quick search on these forums on that topic will help you in the right direction. I recall seeing a few builds from around here that folks use to keep their smokers running through the winter (or at least more of the winter).

For reference, here's what mine look like after 105hr (drying), 8hrs at 140F, and final ramp to 170F:

This is with beef, which is what I primarily work with. The tags on the right were initial weight measurements, and for each hour I cooked past the first few, it shaves off like 5-10% of the initial weight.

Hope that helps!

 

[DRKsmoking]

Welcome from Nova Scotia

This is the right place for some helpful ideas from some good folks

As you can see from above, they are stepping right in to try and help you out.

David

 

[Smokin' partner]

Nice! There aren't many that go through the trouble of snack sticks as small as 15mm, but I feel that it's totally worth the effort! Trying to make snack sticks out of 17mm starts to feel more like a meal than a snack, and 16mm is a bit closer but still doesn't feel like a "real" snack stick to me.

In any case, here are some of my recommendations that might help with your small diameter snack sticks:

• For the best wrinkles, add more water. I add ~75g per lb-of-meat of water, which is about 3x the usual recommendation. This will also extend you cook time a little, but it sounds like that's what you'd like anyways.
• For dryer sticks, perform a sustained cook at lower temperatures. My protocol is 1hr at 105, 8 hrs at 140, and final hour at 170 to finish at IT 154. Cooking this long will result in tough casings, but that's recovered after a quick water bath, wiping off moisture, and leaving them in a ziplock back in the fridge for a week (which I find further improves dryness, taste, and texture). My suggestion for you is to start at 105-110F for an hour, ramp to 130/140 with smoke and keep it there until you have the texture you like (even if it takes several hours), then to ramp to 170 (or 150 then 170 to finish). If your casings are aren't tough after the cook, then hanging at ~70% relative humidity for a while should be enough for equalization.
• I prefer hanging. I like how it causes the casing to form around the meat, with no grill marks either. A minor superficial & professional touch (I think it doesn't improve taste much, if at all). So I have a similar smoker, and a cool trick is to buy magnetic hooks to hang from and just stick em on the inside roof. Way cheaper than the special attachment too. For what it's worth, my sticks are hanging close to the heater, and they come out fine. I think the key is good airflow.
• You can also add insulation to your smoker to keep it at solid temps. I'm sure a quick search on these forums on that topic will help you in the right direction. I recall seeing a few builds from around here that folks use to keep their smokers running through the winter (or at least more of the winter).

For reference, here's what mine look like after 105hr (drying), 8hrs at 140F, and final ramp to 170F:
View attachment 694318
This is with beef, which is what I primarily work with. The tags on the right were initial weight measurements, and for each hour I cooked past the first few, it shaves off like 5-10% of the initial weight.

Hope that helps!

That's the look that I am looking for, and I think I've almost got it this batch! They are on the final stretch. I think insulating my smoker might be helpful. One side is nice and wrinkly and he other is still smooth. So, I think prevailing wind cools one side of the box!
Thanks for your details. I have one more batch to do tomorrow. So, one more kick at the cat! We had 65 lbs of venison/pork (70/30) that we have done up into pepperettes!

 

[geostriata]

That's the look that I am looking for, and I think I've almost got it this batch! They are on the final stretch. I think insulating my smoker might be helpful. One side is nice and wrinkly and he other is still smooth. So, I think prevailing wind cools one side of the box!
Thanks for your details. I have one more batch to do tomorrow. So, one more kick at the cat! We had 65 lbs of venison/pork (70/30) that we have done up into pepperettes!

Good luck! I'm glad you getting closer to what you want. Definitely sounds like insulating is a good idea. Maybe smaller batches might help.

Please let us know your results! We love pictures here, and are also curious as to what works well for you.