Ok so I’ve done a couple of different batches before I joined this board and I was mostly pleased with my last batch. It got some really good reviews from friends who tried them but I’m still struggling with the casing not staying stuck to the meat. I’m not sure if there was too much water, too little water or if the casings were just crap (bought the lem ones from academy).
Sooo I’m changing things up a little this time. I’m using 5lbs of ground deer mixed with bacon that I do myself up to about 10-15% fat content, the LEM snack stick seasoning and cure mix, Walton’s 19mm collagen casings, and some high temp cheddar. I may mix in some jalapeños with the last strand or two. I got this all mixed today. It’ll sit in the fridge until tomorrow morning when I hope to get them stuffed and into the smoker.
My plan for the smoke is to let them hang at ambient temp (30’s) for about an hour to adjust and hopefully not sweat too much. Then probably 100-120* with smoke for 1.5-2 hours, then bump the temp up until I get to 155* internal. After that I’ll let them cool down in the smoker for about an hour then bring them into the house and let them continue to cool off before putting them into a brown paper bag (I got from Kroger for this specific reason) and into the fridge and let them set a couple days before slicing up.
From what I’ve read the letting them set in the fridge for a while is the most glaring difference in what I’ve done in the past but seems that most every experienced SS maker here does. I’m hoping that helps the casings stick to the meat better. I can pull it off and just eat the stick but I really like the snap you get biting into these when they’re done right.
Anyways that’s my plan and here are some gratuitous meat shots. What do y’all think?
Sooo I’m changing things up a little this time. I’m using 5lbs of ground deer mixed with bacon that I do myself up to about 10-15% fat content, the LEM snack stick seasoning and cure mix, Walton’s 19mm collagen casings, and some high temp cheddar. I may mix in some jalapeños with the last strand or two. I got this all mixed today. It’ll sit in the fridge until tomorrow morning when I hope to get them stuffed and into the smoker.
My plan for the smoke is to let them hang at ambient temp (30’s) for about an hour to adjust and hopefully not sweat too much. Then probably 100-120* with smoke for 1.5-2 hours, then bump the temp up until I get to 155* internal. After that I’ll let them cool down in the smoker for about an hour then bring them into the house and let them continue to cool off before putting them into a brown paper bag (I got from Kroger for this specific reason) and into the fridge and let them set a couple days before slicing up.
From what I’ve read the letting them set in the fridge for a while is the most glaring difference in what I’ve done in the past but seems that most every experienced SS maker here does. I’m hoping that helps the casings stick to the meat better. I can pull it off and just eat the stick but I really like the snap you get biting into these when they’re done right.
Anyways that’s my plan and here are some gratuitous meat shots. What do y’all think?