1st Snack Sticks With the Hakka

[johnh12]

I found some Hi Mountain seasoning kits on sale at Academy Sports the other day so decided it would be a great way to test my abilities with the new Hakka 15# horizontal stuffer.

The kit says it makes 20# of snack sticks so I bought 10# of 80/20 ground beef from Walmart. It comes with two packets each of spices and cure along with some collagen casings.

I mixed the spices and cure according to the directions with the addition of some liquid smoke, black pepper and red pepper flakes. I put the peppers in the bullet and ground them up to a bit finer texture.

Here's the final product that'll be in the refrigerator overnight. They'll go in the dehydrator tomorrow.

20170309_103540.jpg

• johnh12
• Mar 9, 2017

The wife twisted them to various lengths so we'll see what length works best for us. If all tastes good we'll smoke the next batch on the Lang.

Here's what was left in the stuffer tube after the piston bottomed out. I'll fry it up later for a taste test.

20170309_103552.jpg

• johnh12
• Mar 9, 2017

Hardly anything left in the canister.

20170309_103609.jpg

• johnh12
• Mar 9, 2017

Scraped this off for a fry test later.

20170309_103617.jpg

• johnh12
• Mar 9, 2017

Overall I'm pleased with the Hakka. The cleanup was easy enough and the stuffer worked as advertised.

A few things I learned and will try to work around:

** I found that I had to clamp the crank handle end to the table since I was both cranking and holding the casing to get the right fill rate. It tended to lift during the up strike after the canister was almost empty.

** Reloading is easy enough. (We mixed the meat in two 5# batches) I just retracted the piston, tilted the canister up, extended the piston a bit to get under the canister, and rested it on the piston. I need to work on tamping the meat down a bit further to minimize the air pockets. The air relief valve worked OK but I didn't get the meat all firmly packed during the reloads.

** The one thing I really want to improve is a way to get more casing on the 6 1/2" feed tube. The process would be a lot quicker with more casing to work with. I think we had to reload the casing a half dozen times or so to get the whole 10# done.

I just hope the sticks taste good.

Next task is to make some sweet Italian sausage for the wife. I have a spice pack and will grind a 10# pork loin for that.

All said and done, I can definitely recommend the Hakka for both price and function. I'm also glad I went with the horizontal since I think there is less meat remaining when the piston bottoms out.

 

[daveomak]

They look good....  

   ....   Will your dehydrator get the sticks up to ~160 deg. F ?? 

Or if you follow the pasteurization table, other temps are adequate given enough time.... 

....click on pic to enlarge.....

2015-12-24 GROUND MEAT pasteurization table 001.jp

• daveomak
• Mar 9, 2017

 

[johnh12]

Don't quite understand what the chart is telling me but we have an Excalibur 9 tray dehydrator. The temp dial goes to 165* and that's what the manual recommends for meats.

We've done a lot of jerky, both strips and ground meat. All has been good so far.

Only thing I'm unsure of is the time for the sticks. They're from the 16mm (OD) tube that came with the Hakka so they're much thicker than the jerky strips. The casings looked like 19mm but the package didn't state the size.

I plan to go for about 5 hours and start checking the IT with the thermometer. 

 

[tallbm]

I think Dave mentioned a good point.  You will want to hit the proper IT in the meat.  If the Dehydrator ends up not cutting the mustard then you can always transfer to the oven.

Just an FYI, I know it is not apples to apples but two 4 pound slabs of bacon belly took roughly 12 hours to hit an IT of 145F when I had my smoker at a steady 165F.

I guess just being prepared for a long time frame and a backup with the oven will help ensure you don't run into any situation that will ruin the attempt.

I'll keep looking to see how they come out :)

 

[g dog]

A trick I've used to get all the meat out of the stuffer is to take 4-6 pieces of bread, wet them a little bit, and use it to push all the meat through into your casings.  Stop when you see the bread coming out of your stuffing tube.  Unless you want some sticks filled with wet bread, I know that sounds pretty delicious. 

 

[crazymoon]

JH12, Your sticks are looking good. How did they turn out ?

 

[johnh12]

Taste great. Just enough bite to not be bland.

I'm gonna use the Lang next time. I can easily run it at 200* so the sticks will get to 150 IT sooner and I know the smoke flavor will be much better than with the liquid stuff. The dehydrator at 165* took way too long and the casings are a bit tough.

The other change will be to cut rather than twist to size after the smoke period. The excess will be bagged and kept in the freezer till we finish the first bag.

 

[pumpkinseed]

 
A trick I've used to get all the meat out of the stuffer is to take 4-6 pieces of bread, wet them a little bit, and use it to push all the meat through into your casings.  Stop when you see the bread coming out of your stuffing tube.  Unless you want some sticks filled with wet bread, I know that sounds pretty delicious. 

That is a good idea, thanks for sharing.  I don't mind using whats left in the angle part to fry up, but just getting it out of the tube is a challenge.  Wet bread should be easier to rinse/soak out.  Or for transition between recipes where you want to tell where one ends and the other starts.

 

[crankybuzzard]

To get the meat out of the stuffing tube, tear off a corner of a paper towel and fold it until it's just larger than your tube. Place it over the end of the tube, and then push it through with a skewer.

 

[wild west]

Taste great. Just enough bite to not be bland.
I'm gonna use the Lang next time. I can easily run it at 200* so the sticks will get to 150 IT sooner and I know the smoke flavor will be much better than with the liquid stuff. The dehydrator at 165* took way too long and the casings are a bit tough.
The other change will be to cut rather than twist to size after the smoke period. The excess will be bagged and kept in the freezer till we finish the first bag.

200 * is too high a temp for sticks. It would probably result in a fat out. I've had that happen once....learned my lesson.

 

[daveomak]

I use bread in the grinder also...  2-3 dry slices really cleans out the auger and plate...

 

[johnh12]

200 * is too high a temp for sticks. It would probably result in a fat out. I've had that happen once....learned my lesson.

Interesting.

The instructions from the Hi Mountain kit say to take them out of the refrigerator after an overnight cure and let them stand at room temp for an hour.

It then says to smoke at 200* for about 2 hours or until the IT is 165*.

It also cautions not to over smoke because it will cause a bitter taste.

 

[wild west]

I have not tried that method before. I start mine off at 130* for an hour with no smoke then add smoke and bump temp up 10*/hr until 170* and keep temp there until I reach my target IT. The fat out I had was when I got impatient waiting for them to finish and bumped the smoker temp up to 190. Now I use my same method until they reach the color I want and then finish in a water bath. Hopefully someone who has tried the 200* for 2 hrs can chime in with their results. Sorry if I gave bad advice.

 

[crankybuzzard]

Interesting.
The instructions from the Hi Mountain kit say to take them out of the refrigerator after an overnight cure and let them stand at room temp for an hour.
It then says to smoke at 200* for about 2 hours or until the IT is 165*.
It also cautions not to over smoke because it will cause a bitter taste.

They are trying to cover their assets with that process.

Collectively, over the last year, I would bet that well over 1000# of snack sticks have been made by SMF members using the process that Wild West described. It's a proven process and will not fat out on you.

 

[johnh12]

Probably a great way to do them if I had an electric or propane smoker. I doubt if I could ever control the temp that precisely on my stick burner (Lang).

+/- 25* from target is about the best I can hope for.

 

[hondabbq]

I did the 140f start temp then added 10f every hour until 180f then removed thevsticks at 156f internal.
I was tired of it taking 8-9 hours each time and being locked to the house on a cook day.

I tried to start the temps higher at first and it cut my time in half. The result was sticks that were less dehydrated and more rubbery.

Sadly I'll be going back to the longer times.
I was always told, good food takes time.