Snack stick temps stall.

[indaswamp]

They're a bit 'soft' now. Hard to describe, but think 'spongy' sort of.

This will happen when cooking to a lower INT as less water is cooked out of the sausages/sticks....but either way-they are cooked. But for sticks, you just dry them longer outside of the smokehouse. I like the fridge method either in a paper bag or wrapped in butcher paper.

 

[Brokenhandle]

Another thing I don't think was mentioned... put them in smoker for however long you think is enough smokers, then finish in sous vide... if you have one. If not, well the enabling around here runs rampant, so I just as well start that! I haven't tried it so I'll let others that have more knowledge on it say more.

Ryan

 

[BugHunter]

I do have a sous vide. But I'd want to try a few to test. Probably would work great. But I can just imagine the new cans of worms that'll open for me. Lol.

I'd say by morning these will be ready to package up. Must hand some out for additional feeback. I've got a whole bunch of testers!

 

[BugHunter]

These looked a lot better this morning. Cut and put in a paper bag and into the fridge. No blisters, no grease out, and the casings are attached nicely. No sign of the oil that was basically oozing out of them straight from the smoker. I suspect the cook was too long, but that's easy to fix by just raising the temp sooner. There's a fairly long hollow spot where the probes were, those are big probes and go in a lonngg way. Lighting wasn't so great in the pic... oh well.

 

[zwiller]

NICE. Sounds like a good run. Hard to judge the final product right after the run. I typically wait a week to judge but admit I sample.

I have SV too but do not want to mess with it for these. Been studying stick smoke ramps and and seeing guys are starting higher than I typically do. Might change that.

 

[BugHunter]

Well, what's the odds? I had to go across the street to the hardware store and took some sticks to share and get feedback. When I walk in, who do I see but good friend and retired former owner the local meat market. This is the guy who's to blame for my snack stick addiction. Years ago, I made all the stainless racks for in his smoker.

Asked him to try a stick and give feedback. He was impressed with the recipe flavor and especially so with the texture. Said too often people grind too much and they get mushy, these are not that. Said they are not overcooked at all, not sure I agree entirely there, but they're very little if at all. I think they're more cooked than his were when he had the store, and those were the standard by which I have judged all sticks. Maybe he did a slightly coarser grind, he had a big Hobart grinder. I sharpened those plates plenty of times but really don't recall what the hole sizes were. And I didn't ask while he was here.

So he was there to get parts for his JD mower, which didn't entirely work out. Needed a modification done to a part so he came here to have me a few minutes of machine work on it and we discussed SS more. He's saying there's not a lot more to improve upon other than personal preference. He liked his a little more on the dry(er) side, but that just means waiting a week while they dry more. These are near gone already so that's a test for another batch. :D All in all, a great time to stop there for feedback!

 

[SmokinEdge]

It will just get better from here. Nice work.

 

[Fueling Around]

Patience as many stated.

...
There's a fairly long hollow spot where the probes were, those are big probes and go in a lonngg way. Lighting wasn't so great in the pic... oh well.

I wish @ThermoWorks would give you more options on probes when ordering a 4 channel unit.
The big L shaped standard probes are worthless for anything less than a brisket or pork butt sized hunk of meat. One doesn't always cook an big hunk of meat.
I ordered a variety of probes and I have around a dozen of them.
I like the needle point for smaller sausage / sticks. It is the totally water proof unit that one can use in Sous Vide or pan poaching.
I use the short straight probes the most along with the pit probes.

 

[BugHunter]

Patience as many stated.

I wish @ThermoWorks would give you more options on probes when ordering a 4 channel unit.
The big L shaped standard probes are worthless for anything less than a brisket or pork butt sized hunk of meat. One doesn't always cook an big hunk of meat.
I ordered a variety of probes and I have around a dozen of them.
I like the needle point for smaller sausage / sticks. It is the totally water proof unit that one can use in Sous Vide or pan poaching.
I use the short straight probes the most along with the pit probes.

I think I have 5 for my square dot, and I bought several short ones for that reason. But wanted the wireless probes and got an Inkbird 4 probe wireless. They're great, but they are huge compared to the wired probes. I could probably use them without going in full depth since ss cook at a max of 170f or so, even still, they leave a 1/4" hollow inside the finished sticks.

 

[JckDanls 07]

Eventually you'll get a time frame on approximatly how long they take... Then just use a instant read Thermapen 1 from @ThermoWorks ... It has a really small tip...

 

[BugHunter]

Have 2 of them, but you have to open the door to use it.

 

[BugHunter]

I think I learned where the unusual issue came from with the "oil" seeping out of these even after cooling to room temp. These were sorta wet, like there was an unsaturated fat in them. Well, this was my first ever grind of beef, and it was entirely beef (all others were store bought beef, I assume also all beef). However, the fat I added to this chuck roast was fat I trimmed from a brisket I cooked many months back. (smoked / cooked in a my gas grill before buying a smoker). I had trimmed the fat to not more than 1/2" on the exterior, and inside that pocket where the fat goes really deep, that also got removed. All of it saved.

Fast forward to yesterday, and I had been told on here to watch Duncan Meyer on Youtube for his hot dog video. I did so, and then watched a few more. In his video about selecting meat for sausages, he mentions very briefly that you should avoid "body cavity fat" when selecting fat for your sausages because that fat, while plenty easy to render, has a lower melting point and will cause grease out. Now, for me it didn't cause grease out, but it does cause the snack sticks to be a bit wet when eating them at room temp in the summer.

Always learn'n... Who'da thunk it that that particular fat I saved could be an issue in these snack sticks... Like Mom used to say, "if it ain't one thing, it's two."