Snack Stick/Summer Sausage smoker

[buckscent]

so what I have been seeing there is a 3-4 step smoking process starting like 1 hour at 100 degrees. What smoker are you all using that gets that low. I have 2 pellet smokers and a Bradley smoker and the lowest they get is about 130-140 degrees. I have a oak joe wood burner but can’t hang nothing in it. Seems you need a vertical smoker.

 

[73saint]

so what I have been seeing there is a 3-4 step smoking process starting like 1 hour at 100 degrees. What smoker are you all using that gets that low. I have 2 pellet smokers and a Bradley smoker and the lowest they get is about 130-140 degrees. I have a oak joe wood burner but can’t hang nothing in it. Seems you need a vertical smoker.

I use my Lang and lay on racks instead of hang. Start w a small coal bed so no issues w low temps.

 

[dward51]

I do mine in a highly modified MES30 that is now a PID controlled smoker. Pellet tray for smoke source. I've also used a 18.5" WSM with small quantities of charcoal prior to that, but most of the snack stick smokers (the ones made for sticks and sausage) are electric for the heat source because of the greater level of control at lower temps.

But as long as you can find a way to control the heat at the lower levels of say 120-130* to start off with, and increase by about 10* every couple of hours, you can make some killer sticks and sausage. The "type" of smoker really does not matter as long as you can control the heat to the lower levels. Some (like PID electric) make it so easy it's basically set and forget. Heck my PID has 6 preset stages. I can do the 110* drying, and each of the 10* temp increase increments for X number of hours as a program. Put in the meat, run the program and come back 7 hours later - done...

Thread on stick in the MES Custom SS

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t...-in-the-mes-custom-ss-first-stick-run.264745/

Build thread with detailed photos

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/mes-custom-ss-model-mods-pic-heavy.264396/

 

[buckscent]

So I have a cabinet I use for curing and connected to inkbirds. So instead of me buying another electric analog smoker and a PID to get and keep temp at 100 for the first hour. Wouldn’t it be the same if I just use the cabinet with a heater inside it and set he inkbird to 100-110 for an hour or so. Then transfer to the pre heated smoker to do the rest of the higher temps and smoke?

 

[BGKYSmoker]

TSM 30Lb digital smoker with a PID
Best sausage/stick smoker out there.

 

[jimmyinsd]

masterbuilt MES40 from Cabelas with a mailbox mod and a pellet tray from Amazen products. simple, affordable, and versatile.

 

[hondabbq]

Starting the sticks out at your lowest of 130-140 is fine. Just let them go for an hour to allow them to dry off before adding smoke. I top my sticks out at 180f cabinet temp until they get to 156f

 

[smokenharley]

Buckscent, I use a Traeger pellet smoker for all my snack sticks and I run it on the smoke setting (130-160) for about 3 hours. Some folks have an issue with the temperature fluctuations but, that is how you get smoke from a pellet smoker. The key is to keep the temps low enough to smoke the sticks but, not too high where you render out the fat in the meat. You want to smoke and somewhat dry at the same time. The last hour of 4 I'll bump the smoker to 180 which gives me a temp swing of 160- 210 with smoke. At 155 IT I pull my sticks. If you can keep your pellet smoker in the 130-180 range you can smoke sticks without an issue. It really is a learning curve - go for it.

 

[Braz]

So I have a cabinet I use for curing and connected to inkbirds. So instead of me buying another electric analog smoker and a PID to get and keep temp at 100 for the first hour. Wouldn’t it be the same if I just use the cabinet with a heater inside it and set he inkbird to 100-110 for an hour or so. Then transfer to the pre heated smoker to do the rest of the higher temps and smoke?

Yes, that would work just fine. The initial temp is mostly to dry the casings before you start applying smoke so using your curing cabinet for the first stage would be perfect.