I had some time to kill waiting to smoke the 10lbs of pork roll I had sitting in the fridge, so I thought I’d make something else in the meantime. So I had several pounds of ground pork, lean ground beef, plus several sizes of small collagen casings.
So I had a couple of recipes for meat sticks and off we go…
First, I used 3 pounds of ground pork shoulder (25-30% fat) I had in the freezer. To this I added 1.75 pounds of very lean (93%) ground beef.
To these meats I’ll add these ingredients:
‘Espellete pepper’ is a distinct regional pepper from the Pyrenees that adds a great red peppery taste with a hint of sweetness & heat. The smoked pig skin I had leftover from some hickory-smoked bacon I made a while ago. I poached ¼” pound of the skin to soften it and then it was off to the grinder with it.
Skin–grinding: using a 4.5mm plate….
My son helped me stuff 20mm collagen casing with the Grizzly stuffer. Once we had the sticks stuffed & tied-off, I hung them along with ten pounds of pork roll chubs in the smoker. Heat to 120° with no smoke the first hour.
On-hour in and now applying plenty of smoke:
After 3 hours, they are getting good color….
Seven hours later, I pulled the sticks. The larger chubs went to the poacher.
Once the sticks cool, I refrigerate them overnight before slicing.
Rack-cooling:
Next day, I cut them to cigar-length and began packing them up for storage in the fridge.
Close up of the ends. Very cheesy tasting! Very little heat but a nice smokey, peppery taste to these sticks.
I fear they will be gone in no time.
Kevin
So I had a couple of recipes for meat sticks and off we go…
First, I used 3 pounds of ground pork shoulder (25-30% fat) I had in the freezer. To this I added 1.75 pounds of very lean (93%) ground beef.
To these meats I’ll add these ingredients:
‘Espellete pepper’ is a distinct regional pepper from the Pyrenees that adds a great red peppery taste with a hint of sweetness & heat. The smoked pig skin I had leftover from some hickory-smoked bacon I made a while ago. I poached ¼” pound of the skin to soften it and then it was off to the grinder with it.
Skin–grinding: using a 4.5mm plate….
My son helped me stuff 20mm collagen casing with the Grizzly stuffer. Once we had the sticks stuffed & tied-off, I hung them along with ten pounds of pork roll chubs in the smoker. Heat to 120° with no smoke the first hour.
On-hour in and now applying plenty of smoke:
After 3 hours, they are getting good color….
Seven hours later, I pulled the sticks. The larger chubs went to the poacher.
Once the sticks cool, I refrigerate them overnight before slicing.
Rack-cooling:
Next day, I cut them to cigar-length and began packing them up for storage in the fridge.
Close up of the ends. Very cheesy tasting! Very little heat but a nice smokey, peppery taste to these sticks.
I fear they will be gone in no time.
Kevin
