Having trouble stuffing through your 3/8" or 10mm Snack stix tube?

[loweyj]

My wife has been having a heck of a time turning the crank on our stuffer when we fill snack stix through our 10mm tube into our 21mm collagen casings.

Turns out that the 21mm casings will slide onto the 1/2" tube if you unravel them.
This works well for us as we can measure out and cut exact lengths to hang in our smoker.

Not sure if this is common knowledge here or not, but thought I would share to possibly save some others from the strain on the stuffer unit and the cranker's arm.

(ps... If your wondering why she runs the crank vs. myself, she can't seem to figure out the proper pressure to keep things uniform)

 

[DanMcG]

You could add a little more liquid to your mix to loosen it up and it will help with the smaller tube.
But yeah I unravel them too.

 

[wazzuqer]

Add ice water and remix with meat it will make a huge difference difference when stuffing

 

[boykjo]

what stuffer do you have

 

[loweyj]

what stuffer do you have

Hakka 15# horizontal here in Mexico
Hakka 15# vertical back in Canada​

 

[dward51]

Add a little more ice cold liquid to loosen up the mix. It does not have to be water and other liquids can add flavor (beer, beef broth, etc...) If you have a binder in your spice mix, it will firm back up. Add the final liquid (just enough to make it a little looser) just before stuffing. Also if you get a 3/8" tube you can easily slide the 21mm casings over the tube. I use both a 3/8" (internal diameter, roughly 1/2" outside diameter) and a 9mm (again internal diameter and roughly 3/8" outside diameter) tubes for my sticks. I suspect your 1/2" tube is also an inner diameter measure as that appears to be the way the industry rates them.

 

[daveomak]

The piston on the 15# stuffers has a pretty big diameter.... Trying to push the meat through the small tube puts a lot of pressure on the piston and gears...
Try a 5# stuffer... that's the size recommended for making sticks... smaller piston....

 

[BGKYSmoker]

Let your meat in your stuffer canister sit at room temp for an hour (dont worry you wont die)

Tube info

 

[kit s]

My wife has been having a heck of a time turning the crank on our stuffer when we fill snack stix through our 10mm tube into our 21mm collagen casings.

Turns out that the 21mm casings will slide onto the 1/2" tube if you unravel them.
This works well for us as we can measure out and cut exact lengths to hang in our smoker.

Not sure if this is common knowledge here or not, but thought I would share to possibly save some others from the strain on the stuffer unit and the cranker's arm.

(ps... If your wondering why she runs the crank vs. myself, she can't seem to figure out the proper pressure to keep things uniform)

LOL.. unravel mine also...if she has a hard time then you will appreciate my problem of trying to do both all by my lonesome. It has been mentioned to add some water, and that does work, but it will also increase drying time before smoke. You also may make sure your screw for piston is lubed. If gunk etc. has built up on it and or it is dry then it will be hard to crank. You would be surprised on this overlooked item by many and you will definitely notice a difference if that is the case.
I have a 10# stuffer so just a little difference in piston size. I also lube the piston with a little crisco lard but not sure if that helps except maybe in clean up.
kit