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Man yours look so good I think I'll make some this weekend and then maybe they could be sent to Iraq for a special soldier we happen to know. You did a great job there Hoss.
I used 200* to smoke them. Do you consider this to be too high? This is what was reccomended on the snack stick directions so I followed them to a tee for the first time out. Both the snack sticks and the fatties came out great with nice smoke and not overdone.
As far as the snack sticks go some of the casings are a little loose and I assumed that the cold water bath would eliminate that.
What kind of cases Hoss? Sheep or collagen? Regular Collagen or those ones specifically for smoked sticks? I've been experimenting with snack sticks for the last year or so (Kabanosey, pepperoni, dried snack stix, etc), and my last batch the cases turned out perfect. Used 19mm smoked collagen casings. I didn't water bath them, just hung them in the basement (about 60-65* down there) for a few hours.
I also did Christmas snax this year - two 3lb batches I made were done with my jerky gun, in the dehydrator, no cases at all. And they were numero yummo.