Snack stick case hardening

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mbernard83

Fire Starter
Original poster
Dec 12, 2015
31
12
Grand Rapids, MI USA
I used to smoke my snack sticks in a propane smoker and never used to have an issue with the cases hardening but both cooks I have done in my MES 40 the flavor is great but the cases are a lot tougher. Thoughts/tips welcome.


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MB83, What type of casing are you using? It sounds like a heat issue,too hot and  cooking too fast ??
 
21mm mahogany casings. 1-2 hours at 130 then a gradual bump every hour or two till 180* internal temp on the stick 155-160 cook time 8-9 hours.


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That sounds right, but I think you're leaving them in there too long.  I think you can be a little more aggressive with your temp bumps and get your cooking time down to around 5 hours.  Just my 2 cents.
 
21mm mahogany casings. 1-2 hours at 130 then a gradual bump every hour or two till 180* internal temp on the stick 155-160 cook time 8-9 hours.


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When I do sticks...  I smoke like you do... couple hours at 110-120...  then up the temp to 150 for the duration....  takes about 20 hours...   I feel over 150 is too warm....   

Also, I add Amesphos to my sticks...

Pasteurizing the sticks at a lower temp for a longer time is safe....  Here's a pasteurization table...  Once the IT of the sticks gets to 135 for 28 minutes, they are safe to eat...  I hold them at 135 for a couple hours just to make sure...  As some kind of rule, meat will not get any closer than ~15 degrees of the oven temp....   temps in the smoker may be uneven...  so I try to allow for that...   a 2 hour hold means they only had to get to 130 to be safe...   They don't case harden and stay moist...  they do not fat out as they do at higher temps...

FSIS Guidance on Safe Cooking of Non-Intact Meat Chops, Roasts, and Steaks April 2009

Temp °F / Time for 5.0 log Reduction

Unit Time

130.......... .86 min.

131 ...........69 min.

132.......... 55 min.

133.......... 44 min.

134............ 35 min.

135............. 28 min.

136 ..............22 min.

137 ...............18 min.

138 ...............14 min.

139............... 11 min.

140 ..............9 min.

141.............. 7 min.

142 .............6 min.

143 .............5 min.

144 .............4 min.

145 .............3 min.

146 ..............130 sec.

147.............. 103 sec.

148 ..............82 sec.

149 ..............65 sec.

150............... 52 sec.

151................ 41 sec.

152................ 33 sec.

153 ................26 sec.

154 ................21 sec.

155 ................17 sec.

156 .................14 sec.

157 ..................11 sec.

158 ...................0 sec.

159 ....................0 sec.

160 ....................0 sec.

The required lethalities are achieved instantly when the internal temperature of a cooked meat product reaches 158 °F or above. Humidity must be considered when using this Time/Temperature table.

This Time/Temperature table is based on Thermal Death Curve for Salmonella in Beef Emulsions in tubes (Derived from Goodfellow & Brown1, 1978) Regulatory Curve obtained from Jerry Carosella, Deputy Director, Microbiology Division, Science and Technology. All times that were a fraction of a minute or second was rounded up to the next whole number (e.g., 16.2 seconds for 155 °F was round up to 17 seconds).

________________________ 1. Goodfellow, S. J. and W. L. Brown. 1978. Fate of Salmonella Inoculated into Beef for Cooking. Journal of Food Protection. 41:598-605.
 
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...no way I could wait 20 hours for stix.  I think I could eat the whole batch right out of the smoker.  

Dave always has cool info..
 
 
...no way I could wait 20 hours for stix.  I think I could eat the whole batch right out of the smoker.  

Dave always has cool info..
You know the saying..... set it and forget it.....   Try it 1 time and see the difference in the quality of your sticks...   nepas wrote in a stick thread that, that's what he did...  used Amesphos too...  If nepas does it, who am I to argue.....  nepas is ALWAYS right...  nepas is my hero.....   ..... 
lurk.gif
    ....
 
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Going from propane to electric also means you are changing the smoke chamber moisture level.  One of the by products of burning propane or natural gas, will be water vapor.  Electric is just dry heat.  So what worked perfect in a propane smoker will likely need tweaking in an electric even at the same temps and times.

That being said, the batch in your last photo looks pretty darn good to me!!!!

I've been making ground beef jerky in my dehydrator lately and what seems a little on the dry side fresh out of the dehydrator mellows into a perfect moisture content throughout after some time to bloom in the trusty brown paper bag.  It gives the moisture content time to equalize throughout the meat.

And, yep.... DaveO is right, NEPAS is the snack stick king!!!!!  So if he says something, take notes and use it (and bookmark his posts and recipes).
 
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You know the saying..... set it and forget it.....   Try it 1 time and see the difference in the quality of your sticks...   nepas wrote in a stick thread that, that's what he did...  used Amesphos too...  If nepas does it, who am I to argue.....  nepas is ALWAYS right...  nepas is my hero.....   ..... 
lurk.gif
    ....
I now totally agree....and the sticks are awesome. I put them in around noon after stuffing and leaving to air dry some as I get the smoker ready. In they go at 150 for about an hour and I then add the wood chips/chunks in the tray, close it up and don't go look until about 0600 the next day. Pop that door open and gaze upon some of the best looking sticks time after time. I let them bloom for a few hours, cut them up and let them sit on the stove for the day. Easy peasy....
 
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