Covid Quarantine Snack Sticks

[indaswamp]

Man that is a mess of sticks!
I could just hang out on the couch watching a movie, munching on the sticks & drinking beer!
Al

Thanks Al. Since we spend so much time in the outdoors, I save the sticks for in the woods or on a boat. I'll be bringing half of this batch to my buddy in Kansas.

 

[indaswamp]

pH is down to 5.25 right now... gonna let them ferment a little longer.

 

[indaswamp]

pH is now @4.75 which is where I was aiming for. The water pan put out a lot of condensation on the links such that white mold is growing. casings are super soft (collagen) so can't wipe them down right now. I have a fan on low blowing to dry the casings. I'll smoke in the am after I brush/wipe them down with vinegar.

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

Man those look great!

Hope you beat that delta in record time!

 

[indaswamp]

Smoked the stix this morning...

7 hours of cherry/hickory smoke 125*-160*F to INT of 144*F for about 30 minutes.

 

[indaswamp]

Took me about a hour to scrub the links down with vinegar to remove the mold. With all the salami I have been making over the years, my house is well inoculated with spores and the mold will grow anywhere given the chance...which is good and bad.
I need to buy some potassium sorbate for the next time I make stix.

 

[indaswamp]

Forgot to mention....I moved the sticks on racks over two chairs to cool about 4 hours after smoking, then I moved them to my drying chamber. They should be finished drying to 45% weight loss in about 5-7 days. I have not sampled them yet.... BTW, if you get Covid, Ivermectin does wonders keeping your sense of smell and taste going. At least it did for me.....

 

[crazymoon]

IDS, I hope you recover quickly ! Your sticks look awesome .

 

[TNJAKE]

How ya feeling bud?

 

[indaswamp]

How ya feeling bud?

Thanks for askin Jake...
Thank god for Ivermectin! Been keeping the worst of it at bay. Today is day6 so the worst of it should be behind me. Worst day was Sunday.
Got a tension headache from coughing up stuff and light sensitivity in my eyes. I'm about to laydown for another nap.

 

[TNJAKE]

Thanks for askin Jake...
Thank god for Ivermectin! Been keeping the worst of it at bay. Today is day6 so the worst of it should be behind me. Worst day was Sunday.
Got a tension headache from coughing up stuff and light sensitivity in my eyes. I'm about to laydown for another nap.

Good to hear. The headache and cough were the worst for us when we had it. Neither of us lost taste or smell.

 

[indaswamp]

Well, I pretty much kicked Covid Butt... had 5 days of fever, muscle aches and headaches....Last 3-4 days coughing up green stuff. Today, fever gone, vitality returning.

Stix have lost 45% weight so I will be slicing packaging sometime tomorrow.

 

[indaswamp]

Forgot to post this yesterday... Pull the stix out of the drying chamber @ 45~48% weight loss.

I cut the sticks into ~6" long and packaged 8 to a bag. These are for outdoor adventures this fall.

 

[Gonna Smoke]

Well, I pretty much kicked Covid Butt... had 5 days of fever, muscle aches and headaches....Last 3-4 days coughing up green stuff. Today, fever gone, vitality returning.

Stix have lost 45% weight so I will be slicing packaging sometime tomorrow.

I'm glad that you're on the other side of the COVID mess. I had the same symptoms except the cough. Extreme headache and I felt like I had been beat with a baseball bat from head to toe. Didn't get out of bed for about 4-5 days and then it eased up and was gone. Took about 2 weeks to get over the after-effects, mainly was feeling a little off balanced, off-kilter.

Snack sticks look great...

 

[indaswamp]

Well...finally feel like I'm back to normal. About day 12 with Covid, pretty sure I caught strep throat as it felt like I was swallowing glass every time I tried...could not eat for 2 days. Had to keep the Chloraseptic close by for 2-3 days. Then around day 16-17 I had what they call 'Covid pneumonia' ....it all settled in my lungs, I had no stamina, and a persistent cough. That lasted for about 2 weeks. Then Ida hit.....Oh well....when it rains it pours I guess.

BTW, this batch of jalapeno and cheese stick is one of the best I have ever made. Really good more pronounced jalapeno flavor and robust cheese flavor. I did not rehydrate the jalapenos and that helped with the flavor. I also dried the cheese @95*F for about 4 hours prior to mixing. Both helped tremendously. I will keep doing it this way.