Shelf life for vac-sealed snack sticks

[kelbro]

The LEM snack stick mixes use insta-cure and I'm curious how long these will keep when vac-sealed with an oxygen eliminator pack inside.

How long just in the cabinet?

How long in the fridge?

How long in the freezer?

About the same for summer sausage?

Thanks

 

[indaswamp]

Are dried so they are semi dry (15-20%) or dry (30-45%)? How much water do they lose?

 

[indaswamp]

And did you use a cure accelerator like Sodium Erythorbate which is also an anti-oxidant and helps prevent fat rancidity?

 

[kelbro]

And did you use a cure accelerator like Sodium Erythorbate which is also an anti-oxidant and helps prevent fat rancidity?

No additives. Just the LEM kit. 85/15 beef.

Smoked, poached, and then in the fridge for 24hrs.

Do I need to measure humidity? I have a Centech digital mini moisture meter.
ETA: Just checked and the meter says 'over 40%'

I did not do a before/after weight.

Thanks.

 

[Dave in AZ]

kelbro food being shelf stable is almost completely tied to how much Water Activity, Aw, there is. This is the water available for bacteria to use and grow, that isn't bound chemically to something else. Expensive to measure, so home makers tend to just guesstimate by weight-loss of product after drying.

Salt immediately bonds water and drives some water out, to lower Aw--this is the methodology by which salt curing makes food last.

The pH of product also affects its susceptibility to bacterial growth. More acidic lower pH doesn't have to be as low Aw to discourage pathogens.

Charts of pH, Aw, and common food illness or spoilage bacteria are in Marianski's book Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages, also their Art of Making Fermented Sausages. Also in the USFDA FSIS various docs for how to cook meat, how to make jerky, and Inspectors Handbook.

So indaswamp is asking how dry your meatsticks are. The seasoning mix doesn't matter much at all, they are all about same saltiness. Cure1 sodium nitrite has some immediate effect, and primarily stops botulism bacterium. But in the end, it is mostly how dry it is.

Recommend you get the Marianski book Home Production, it has all this info in it ;)

P.s. based on what you reported, I'd say
1 day in cabinet
2 weeks in fridge
6mo to 2 yrs in freezer

 

[kelbro]

kelbro food being shelf stable is almost completely tied to how much Water Activity, Aw, there is. This is the water available for bacteria to use and grow, that isn't bound chemically to something else. Expensive to measure, so home makers tend to just guesstimate by weight-loss of product after drying.

Salt immediately bonds water and drives some water out, to lower Aw--this is the methodology by which salt curing makes food last.

The pH of product also affects its susceptibility to bacterial growth. More acidic lower pH doesn't have to be as low Aw to discourage pathogens.

Charts of pH, Aw, and common food illness or spoilage bacteria are in Marianski's book Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages, also their Art of Making Fermented Sausages. Also in the USFDA FSIS various docs for how to cook meat, how to make jerky, and Inspectors Handbook.

So indaswamp is asking how dry your meatsticks are. The seasoning mix doesn't matter much at all, they are all about same saltiness. Cure1 sodium nitrite has some immediate effect, and primarily stops botulism bacterium. But in the end, it is mostly how dry it is.

Recommend you get the Marianski book Home Production, it has all this info in it ;)

P.s. based on what you reported, I'd say
1 day in cabinet
2 weeks in fridge
6mo to 2 yrs in freezer

Thanks Dave.

As I learned in my first trials of jerky, I'll freeze in smaller portions and just thaw out what I can eat in a week.

 

[Dave in AZ]

Thanks Dave.

As I learned in my first trials of jerky, I'll freeze in smaller portions and just thaw out what I can eat in a week.

I do the same, vacuum seal 1 meal of sausage or a week of sticks in each bag. I have found that if I have something large in fridge, like a summer sausage, if I'm not home to push it then it can go bad before it gets eaten...

My family can get tired of all the sausage lol. So I cut up pork rolls or summer sausage to half or quarter chubbs and vacuum seal and freeze separate. Nothing worse than working hard to make, then coming home from a week trip to find product uneaten and looking worrisome in fridge.

Especially charcuterie kinda stuff luke summer sausage, sometimes it sits out on a appetizer tray then put back in fridge...doesn't last long that way.

 

[indaswamp]

When I do snack sticks, I'm usually trying to make room in the freezers so I like to make them shelf stable...which is why I asked the questions. I use 2% salt along with 0.25% cure #1 and ferment to pH4.7-4.8, then smoke to 123*F and hold the snack stick at that temp. for 1.5hours. At this point, they will have lost 20% or more water. I'll hang <65*F;60%RH for about 7-10 days until they have lost 45% water. At that point, they are very preserved. I'll vac seal and they are good in a box in a cool dark place for over a year. Eat a lot of them while at the camps deer hunting and out on the water fishing.....

When the box is getting low, I'll make more.

 

[SmokinAl]

I froze mine, but I’m sure unless your making a huge amount it will be gone before you need to worry about how long it is good for. Had some in the freezer for 2 years, ground jerky. Still tasted just like I made it.
Al