Snack sticks

[backyard bbq]

Just made the hi moutain pepper/garlic stackin sticks. The flavor tasted pretty decent. My question is, do you need to poke holes in the links before smoking? I smoked at about 190 for a few hours and when they were done I noticed some of the sticks had a fat/grease build up between the casing and the meat. Also because of this the casing is loose in those areas. I gave them a cold bath for about 15 minutes when they were done the in ref in brown paper bag. Any suggestions would be great.

 

[smoking b]

Sounds like you smoked them at too high a temp & rendered fat. One of the master sausage makers on here - Nepas - posted this method for sticks that works great...

From Nepas

Here is my table for sticks. I use a Bradley smoker with a PID.

1. Start at 130* for 1 to 1.5 hours (no smoke or water in the pan) This gives the casings time to dry some.

2. 140* with smoke for 2 hours. I use my water pan here, keeps the casings from being to brittle during the heat PID programs.

3. 150* for 2.5 hours. Check IT of the sticks with thermapen (from the top of the sticks) smoke opt

4. 160* for 2.5 hours, check IT again. You should see approx IT of 125-130 and may even see a stall time. smoke opt

5. 170* for 2.5-3 hours. Again check IT as you should be getting close.

6. If needed bump to 175* while checking IT. Your looking for an IT of the meat of 152*

6a. Try not to exceed 180* smoker IT or you could have a fat-out of the meat.

At times i pull the sticks at 149-150 IT and let them at room temp (no cold water) they will IT to 152* by them self.

This is how i do it. Sometimes the times are shorter. Your results may vary.

Yes its a long time but you will like the end results.

That should give you the results you want on your next batch of sticks 

 

[jrod62]

Need to keep temp below 170 otherwise the fat will start to render out.

 

[mossymo]

What kind of casing were you using? Sounds like collagen which I don't care for for meat sticks personally. With collagen I wouldn't cold water bath, another reason I use sheep casing.

What was the internal temperature of the meat sticks when you pulled them? The fat grease build up sounds like they got too hot.

Meat sticks I dry them for an hour with the smoker at 130º, then add smoke turning up the temperature to 150º for two hours, then I put the temp around 170º till the meat sticks internal meat temperature reaches 155º.

 

[bakedbean1970]

Sounds like you got the right advice.  I use collagen casings and let them cool at room temp after smoking, then off to the fridge.