First time snack sticks questions

[motolife313-2]

Always wanted to try and make them. Never got into it. Been using my stick burner since 2017 and have yet. Guy from some in to work and it sparked a fire under my butt. He’s really into
Among them too and hands them out at work. Anyway. It’s Sunday and I plan on doing my first time making them next Sunday. When will be a good time to grind the meat and make it into sticks? I’m planing on doing pork and chicken like he did. He did 20 percent chicken. Also he said he likes to cook the. First couple hours or until the casing is dry then add smoke. That’s what a snack stick packaged kit said too when I was at Cabela’s today. Is that the right way to do it or can I put smoke right to it?? I did spend a pretty penny on the grinder. Was planning on getting one for 230$ the professional series one but wasn’t in stock so first get the commercial one. Was going to get the 1/2 up for 400 but decided to get the 1 hp one for 150$ more. The tunnel to the auger was way bigger and obviously a lot more power. Plan on buying hi temp cheese, adding jalapeño and dried cherry.

 

[motolife313-2]

Also what do you guys think about Ice bath after vs hang them to cool on there own??

 

[JckDanls 07]

Welp... There is still many of questions and answers to be made...

First off... You did great on selecting a grinder... That will handle anything you throw at it, for a long time to come...

Do you have a stand alone stuffer ?? You will find that the grinder (when used as a stuffer) is a BIG PITA...

What do you plan on cooking your sticks in ? Hopefully, not the stick burner... Low cooking temps (starting at 120`) is what your going to need... You will never want to go over 170/175` cooking temp... Temps will need to be ramped up slowly (10` per hour) until the max temp is reached...

Myself, I don't ice bath my sticks... I just turn heat off and open smokehouse up to cool....

This is a start ...

 

[crazymoon]

ML31, IMHO, You would be better using all pork for your first batch as it would be easier. Also a stick burner is going to be hard as you must keep your chamber temp below 170* to prevent the fat from running out of your sticks. You do have to dry your sticks first so the smoke adheres to the stick. Start with vents wide open and a temp of 110-120 for an hour or more . Slowly bump up temps after that . I have never done snack sticks on a stick burner and it seems that temp control could be an issue ?

 

[motolife313-2]

I have done bacon a couple times and was able to keep temps under 140. Will probably add ducting to the inlet on the firebox going 10 feet back and have another firebox

 

[flatbroke]

I have done bacon a couple times and was able to keep temps under 140. Will probably add ducting to the inlet on the firebox going 10 feet back and have another firebox View attachment 689743View attachment 689745View attachment 689744View attachment 689746

I have the same grinder. It works good. I used the stick burner for sticks and it works but also makes you work. Start with charcoal first to dry them then add chunks of wood. I look forward to your results.
I’m looking into a smokehouse to make things like this easier. Another thing I found easier was to keep a fire going in a separate container so you can add already ready coal for heat to maintain the consistency and not go over the 170. It’s an effort. Charcoal works good for this and pre lit in a chimney.
It only took about 6-7 pieces at a time maintain temp for me.

 

[crazymoon]

Also what do you guys think about Ice bath after vs hang them to cool on there own??

I don't have to ice bath as I have a cool cellar to hang them in. You do need to stop the temp from increasing or take them out before the desired temp is reached and they will climb a bit before cooling down. I leave them in a paper bag overnight in the fridge after cooling down to further remove any moisture that would end up in a vac sealed bag. Let us know how you do and keep those chamber downs down ! :)

 

[motolife313-2]

Can’t find any hi temp cheese local in Portland Oregon’s unless anyone knows where maybe?? I’ve found cheese called halluami and it’s got a really high melting point I guess. And I called some butcher shops who make their own sausage and they all just use regular cheese and have good luck with it. So I’m planning to do with with regular cheese and see how it goes. Planning to mix and stuff Friday afternoon and smoke Sunday

 

[flatbroke]

Can’t find any hi temp cheese local in Portland Oregon’s unless anyone knows where maybe?? I’ve found cheese called halluami and it’s got a really high melting point I guess. And I called some butcher shops who make their own sausage and they all just use regular cheese and have good luck with it. So I’m planning to do with with regular cheese and see how it goes. Planning to mix and stuff Friday afternoon and smoke Sunday

Use the tilamook farmstyle thick cut

 

[motolife313-2]

Ok thanks. This is what I got. Got 3 of them. Will probably just use 2 then a pound of the cheese you’re talking about or cheddar cheese. Guys are saying the hi temp cheese doesn’t taste as good either. Sure would make it cheaper too to use regular cheese. Already at 1$ per pound off the seasoning and casing alone. I know im cheap :)

 

[motolife313-2]

Well decided to buy a stuffer. Stuffer seems really nice so far. And didn’t use all the cure or seasoning and the test patty on the stove was pretty dang salty. Hopefully the salt taste chills out after sitting since last night and being in the cooker tomorrow, grinded the 18-19 pounds or so in under 3 minutes, the re grind took about 10 minutes. need to buy some wood dowls or 1x2’s to hang them on, going to cook them low and slow tomorrow, the cold temps and snow will help and I’m using oak and apple wood that I cut and process myself

 

[JckDanls 07]

PERFECT... I need to do this same thing...

As far as wood dowels go... Make sure you get oak dowels... Minimum of 3/4" (pending how long they need to be)

 

[crazymoon]

ML, Nice work on the sticks, try using some PS Seasoning for sticks .Never salty IMHO.

 

[motolife313-2]

Ok I’ll look into the ps seasoning. I got them on a Douglas fir 1x2 and I rounded off the edges with a very course flap wheel on a 4.5” grinder. Did just propane for 1-1.5 hour, put the stick in before I lit up the propane. That’s how do all my bbqing too, it it came up to 120 pretty slow then added some oak wood for smoke, can hold a tiny fire with just wood below 140 degrees and have done it a few times doing bacon but didn’t really feel like doing that so just using propane, first time doing it like this and it’s working well, some of the casing are braking been on there for 2 hours and it slowing went from 120-150, will have it work it way slowly to 170-180 and stick my temp gauge in in about 1 hour when the smoker is at 170

 

[SmokinEdge]

Ok I’ll look into the ps seasoning. I got them on a Douglas fir 1x2 and I rounded off the edges with a very course flap wheel on a 4.5” grinder. Did just propane for 1-1.5 hour, put the stick in before I lit up the propane. That’s how do all my bbqing too, it it came up to 120 pretty slow then added some oak wood for smoke, can hold a tiny fire with just wood below 140 degrees and have done it a few times doing bacon but didn’t really feel like doing that so just using propane, first time doing it like this and it’s working well, some of the casing are braking been on there for 2 hours and it slowing went from 120-150, will have it work it way slowly to 170-180 and stick my temp gauge in in about 1 hour when the smoker is at 170View attachment 690455View attachment 690454View attachment 690456

Just so you know, PS Seasonings makes pretty much all of the Cabelas brand seasoning mixes.

 

[motolife313-2]

Smoked them for 3.5 hours. Didn’t go over 175. There pretty good. I’m going to add more jalapeño next and and I’m going to put them in the fridge with no lid tonight and hope they firm up a little more, and the regular cheddar cheese never melted every where like a lot of people say on YouTube

 

[SmokinEdge]

Nice work. Yeah the cheese, just keep it sharp to extra sharp (means dryer) and life is good. Get off of FB and YT , it will make you dumb, in general.

 

[driedstick]

Heck yeah!!!!! Great post and nice looking sticks!!!! congrats on the new toys and the new to you hobby ,,,,, I love making sticks.

 

[motolife313-2]

Ya I’m really happy with them and thanks for all the advice! Going to make more very soon since I made 11 customers at work today since I got 850$ bucks into the grinder and stuffer figured better sell some of this stuff to pay it off. I work at a pretty big ship yard working in navy ships with a lot of hard working guys and gals. Took the pic on the helio pad today, bought the vacuum sealer for 20$ on amazon and it’s got 4.5 stars or so and 7k reviews

 

[JckDanls 07]

I cut my sticks at 6" long... I put 6 in a 8" wide bag... Sell them for $10 a pack at work... They eat em up and ask for more ...