Please help! Mushy beef snack sticks

[paul2002]

Another thing to consider when buying pre-ground meat...

The store has a cut of meat that is not selling, or maybe it has a cut that has sat in the meat case for 3 days...they need to do something with it. What do you think they do with it so they don't take a loss on it? That's right, they make it into ground meat. How old is that meat? Do you know?

Very good point, However Ive ate it my whole life and grinding didnt produce the results I wanted, or so I thought. We shall see if things change. I might re visit grinding my own.

 

[paul2002]

Yes, hanging it...with 1" clearance between each coil hanging on a rod. Probably can't get 12.5# of snack sticks in there though.
Did you do the sausage hanger mod to your MES? There are some guys that have posted pictures....

hmm nope. Do you have a link by chance? I smoke more snack sticks and jerky than anything.

 

[indaswamp]

hmm nope. Do you have a link by chance? I smoke more snack sticks and jerky than anything.

You'll have to ask some of the MES owners to point you in the right direction of post pics....

Basically, you cut a board that is narrow enough to slide between the top rack channel and the side wall. cut it 2" long, then notch it lengthwise so it will slide down into the rack channel with the notches as stops. Cut some half moons out along the top for your dowels. Space the half moon cuts 3~4" or so apart. Cut your dowels to length.... voila', sausage hanger rack for a MES....
Use a board wide enough so the top of the board is about 1.5" from the ceiling of the MES. This will optimize the space for hanging sausages.

 

[paul2002]

You'll have to ask some of the MES owners to point you in the right direction of post pics....

Basically, you cut a board that is narrow enough to slide between the top rack channel and the side wall. cut it 2" long, then notch it lengthwise so it will slide down into the rack channel. cut some half moons out along the top for your dowels. space the cuts 3~4" or so apart. Cut your dowels to length.... voila', sausage hanger rack for a MES....

awesome thank you!

 

[indaswamp]

I edited my post for clarity...

 

[daveomak]

Paul, evening..... I do sticks and they come out pretty good... I don't run my smoker over 160....
I do the temp raise thing... start at 110 ish... dry the outside of the casings... then add smoke for a few hours until they have the smoke I like... then raise the smoker to 160.... I hold the 160 temp for 24 hours... the fat doesn't melt.... the sticks will dry from the water added.... At 24 hours they are at a temp of about 135-140.... They won't get any warmer due to evaporative cooling from the moisture inside the casing .....
Looking at a pasteurization table, they are very safe to eat... they are not overly dry but I think they are perfect....
As you can note from the USDA chart below, 121 minutes at 130 def. F, will return a 7 log lethality... That leaves only 1 bacteria alive out of every 1,000,000 bacteria in the meat.... I figure after 24 hours at 160, the meat has been at 130 for at least 3-4 hours so more bacteria has been killed.... It's a time at given temp that does them in...
If you have the capability, give this method a try.... you might like it... Dave

I have no idea why the disclaimer of final temp. has been added at the bottom of the chart... All sous vide charts say the meat is safe after the time/temp has been achieved.... Maybe it's an "insurance" disclaimer....

 

[paul2002]

Paul, evening..... I do sticks and they come out pretty good... I don't run my smoker over 160....
I do the temp raise thing... start at 110 ish... dry the outside of the casings... then add smoke for a few hours until they have the smoke I like... then raise the smoker to 160.... I hold the 160 temp for 24 hours... the fat doesn't melt.... the sticks will dry from the water added.... At 24 hours they are at a temp of about 135-140.... They won't get any warmer due to evaporative cooling from the moisture inside the casing .....
Looking at a pasteurization table, they are very safe to eat... they are not overly dry but I think they are perfect....
As you can note from the USDA chart below, 121 minutes at 130 def. F, will return a 7 log lethality... That leaves only 1 bacteria alive out of every 1,000,000 bacteria in the meat.... I figure after 24 hours at 160, the meat has been at 130 for at least 3-4 hours so more bacteria has been killed.... It's a time at given temp that does them in...
If you have the capability, give this method a try.... you might like it... Dave

I have no idea why the disclaimer of final temp. has been added at the bottom of the chart... All sous vide charts say the meat is safe after the time/temp has been achieved.... Maybe it's an "insurance" disclaimer....

View attachment 387331

Awesome! Thank you. I just pulled mine out after 12 hours. Temp raised to 170 from 130 step raises. As you read I did a cup of water, which most guys here seem to think that's my problem. I probably smoked them 6 hours longer than any other attempt. They have been my best yet! They still have some work to do. So I'm going to combine a bunch of stuff I learned here today the next time I do it. And hopefully I'll have it nailed down!
Thank you for the input.

 

[indaswamp]

Paul2012. that's what this site is all about...glad we could help....

 

[paul2002]

Paul2012. that's what this site is all about...glad we could help....

Yes. It was a huge help. And a ton of support from a lot of people

 

[chopsaw]

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t...ack-mes40-w-step-by-step.174140/#post-1288097

 

[paul2002]

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t...ack-mes40-w-step-by-step.174140/#post-1288097

Great! Thank you!

 

[indaswamp]

Thanks for posting chopsaw...

 

[DIYerDave]

Hey there Paul. Hang in there on making your smokies. You'll get there.

 

[SonnyE]

Good luck. Glad to see you are getting somewhere.

 

[paul2002]

Hey there Paul. Hang in there on making your smokies. You'll get there.

Thank you, And I feel I've gained some huge tips from this post. Last nights batch came out much better than any other attempt, just by letting them go in longer. So once I reduce or remove the water... I think Ill be right on the money.

 

[paul2002]

Good luck. Glad to see you are getting somewhere.

Thank You. You guys were a huge help

 

[paul2002]

Simple. You just need to smoke 'em longer to get the water out. You can add a gallon of H20 in your mix if you don't mind smoking for a day or two to dewater 'em.

I don't know your smoker, but I do stix in an electric. I start off for 45 mins to one hour on high heat 275 degrees. BUT I leave the vent wide open and the door cracked and just on latch. Then I add smoke and turn down my temp to sustain whatever smoking time I which to use. When they are dry, where I want them I pull 'em.

Smoking is about your senses, sure a recipe is great for preparing your product, but use your eyes, nose, and touch to decide when its ready. If you don't there will always some different modifier to your set equation. Smoking is not an exact science. Besides the product to smoke (meat is always different), there temp, humidity, type smoke, condition of smoke type, etc etc....

Just try smoking your stix a little longer, or readjust the content of fluid in the mixture, heck you could even smoke higher all should work.

Thanks for the info! Last nights batch came out much better! Still had a cup of water. It was already mixed when I wrote this post. but last night I smoked them for 6 hours PAST the time the thermometer read 155 totl of 12 hours...and pulled them when I thought they looked and felt good. and it was 2am and I needed to get to bed. lol. they could have used a little more time I think. But I have high hopes for the next batch where I will use less or no water. I will also try your high heat FIRST method. I think that will save some considerable time.
When You say you bring it down after an hour... lets say you want a 6-8 smoke... what temp would you set it at?
Thanks again!

 

[forgiven1]

I don't know your smoker, but I do stix in an electric. I start off for 45 mins to one hour on high heat 275 degrees.

When you do this do you have a problem with grease pockets between the casing and the meat? Sometimes I get that issue and places where the meat seems to shrink away from the casing. I was thinking that maybe I had gone too high on the temp? Not really sure though.

 

[foamheart]

When you do this do you have a problem with grease pockets between the casing and the meat? Sometimes I get that issue and places where the meat seems to shrink away from the casing. I was thinking that maybe I had gone too high on the temp? Not really sure though.

If you are liquifying the fat you are getting it too hot. Have you ever tried using your temperature sensing device on your stix? I always do. Its not unusually for me to leave the door cracked open in the begining with all vents wide open. This is to dewater or get the moisture out of the casing and the smoking chamber. Why? Smoke can not transfer thru water or moisture. The drier your meat/casing the faster and better the smoke will adhere.

Always reefer them overnight before smoking. The reefer works using dehydration to cool. so that means that it is actually drying the casing before you even get to the smoker.

I will say this, its my opinion, and some others that the meat has a smoke sweet spot. It's the IT of about 90 to 150, everything above or below will still see smoke and absorb but at a much lessor degree. I hardly ever raise the temp of cured meat in the smoker above 120. That is my magic number to keep the fat from rendering. Crack the vents, crack the door, turn down your smoker and watch that IT. once you stable it out at 110 to 120, it's its just about applying smoke till you are happy. The hotter at the beginning the faster to loose the moisture but don't let that temp get away from you.

I am smoking sausage tomorrow and doing all these things just
as I have told you.

 

[foamheart]

Thanks for the info! Last nights batch came out much better! Still had a cup of water. It was already mixed when I wrote this post. but last night I smoked them for 6 hours PAST the time the thermometer read 155 totl of 12 hours...and pulled them when I thought they looked and felt good. and it was 2am and I needed to get to bed. lol. they could have used a little more time I think. But I have high hopes for the next batch where I will use less or no water. I will also try your high heat FIRST method. I think that will save some considerable time.
When You say you bring it down after an hour... lets say you want a 6-8 smoke... what temp would you set it at?
Thanks again!

Sorry I seemed to have missed this. I wasn't ignoring you. I can't tell you times anymore than temperatures. Its about how you smoke, the meat and the what your smoker likes. Its why they are called pitmasters. Time and temp just don't work and smoking is not an exact science like math, its more an about experience & knowledge or an art. Its about applied wisdom vice memorized intellect. With a temp monitor it will cut your mastery time sizably and make sure you serve safe foods while learning but you still have to experiment then when you feel you have it all figured out you take on another type meat, or a different pit, or different modifiers. The great thing is you get delicious food and you never cease to need to practice to learn.