Snack Stick Questions

[sontavas]

Hey All,

I have attempted snack sticks a few time with mediocre success.  In hindsight, I think I smoked the sticks too hot on my UDS, where I struggle to keep temps under 190.  Anyhow, I am ready to take another crack at it.  Since my last attempt, I have added a cold smoke generator to my UDS, so I can now, theoretically, add smoke to the sticks without causing a "fat out".

In an ideal world, I would have a smokehouse capable of smoking and heating simultaneously, but I'm not sure I can reliably do that on the UDS.   So, my plan dry the sticks for an hour, then hit them with cold smoke for 3-4 hours, then finish on the Excalibur Dehydrator at 160ish until done.  

I modeled this after my favorite Jerky recipe.  I LOVE smoke flavored jerky, but prefer the consistency of dehydrated jerky.  So I typically smoke 3-4 hours, the transfer and finish in dehydrator.  However, does this methodology really work for snack sticks where the goal is not to dry, but to cook?  

Any comments or suggestions on my this methodology would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[dirtsailor2003]

You're not going to end up with moist sticks. You are going to end up with jerky sticks. Your best bet would be to water bath finish the sticks if you can't comstitently control the temp in your UDS. There are numerous threads here on using the water bath to finish sausages.

 

[sontavas]

Ya, that makes sense.  Thank you.

Perhaps I should buckle down and try to find a way to add a gas burner inside the UDS to add some heat to the equation.  

Thanks!

 

[crankybuzzard]

Ya, that makes sense.  Thank you.

Perhaps I should buckle down and try to find a way to add a gas burner inside the UDS to add some heat to the equation.  

Thanks!

Before gas, I'd try a 1200 watt hot plate first. The UDS doesn't take long to heat up.

 

[sontavas]

Thanks for the info!  Adding an electrical component to the UDS would probably be perfect for me.  I ordered a 1500 watt heating coil that I will add to the UDS.  I'm getting excited about the possibilities!!