- May 18, 2021
- 498
- 405
hmm... have you tried pork and pork back fat with this recipe?
I know my target stick is 100% beef, so I shouldn't need to use any pork fat for it to work. Nevertheless, I did try some pork and pork fat. I have the flavor/taste very similar now, and adding pork made it taste less similar (as you'd expect when trying to replicate a 100% beef product).
Nevertheless, I'm always open to making a snack stick taste better than my target too :) As such, I will be getting in some pork fatback today to try. So if that makes it taste better, and with the texture/dryness I want, then I'd call that a win. Worth trying, anyways.
also another idea is to cold smoke for 8-10 hrs then water bath it in 165F water till you get your target internal temp then start drying..... just a thought or another idea....
That's a good idea! Since these are 15mm casings, I don't find it hard to reach my internal temperature. One of my experiments was a "reverse cook" approach, where I stick it in the oven for 20mins @ 250F to fast cook it to 155 IT, dunk it in cold water, and then proceed with a smoke. The idea was from an Age of Anderson video, where we talked about tough casings being due to a long low-and-slow cook.
That being said, I haven't tried sous vide yet. That might be useful to keep it wet which could counterintuitively help with drying (i.e., get sausage safe with minimal moisture delta between exterior and interior). I think I'll try that too.
My target stick is from a standard mahogany collagen casing, so I do know that should be able work.my thoughts, I feel like the sheep casing will give you the best snap.... pork and back fat....
parafrozen fat in the grinder and smoker temps not swinging really high...
In my three-way comparison between Fine-T, sheep, and collagen casings, my conclusion (so far) is this: collagen is fine if you have perfect binding with meat and awful if not. As long as you don't have a blowout, sheep and Fine-T will give you a better product if you mess up. So far, they're not drying any better and they don't really taste better (but that may change over time).
I also think that "snap" isn't precisely defined. There are at least two types of "snap":
- The "Snap" when you bite into it. You can get this with a hot dog if you cook it right.
- The "Snap" when you try to break it in half. You should be able to do this easily with three fingers.
also have you tried back fat at a lower percentage?
I have tried fat at lower and higher percentages. Lower fat tastes awful and higher fat is too floppy.
Thanks for your thoughts! You've given me a few new things to try!