Unstuffed Smoked Beef Pepperoni Sticks with Qview

[bigbuck]

been super cold here for smoking, I use my homemade smoker that works awesome but it does not like cold temps,anyone tried liquid smoke in this recipe and do them in the oven? and if so how much? thanks all

 

[Bearcarver]

been super cold here for smoking, I use my homemade smoker that works awesome but it does not like cold temps,anyone tried liquid smoke in this recipe and do them in the oven? and if so how much? thanks all

I'm sure that would work, but I have no idea how much to use, because I never used Liquid Smoke.

Sorry,
Bear

 

[bigbuck]

thanks bear I am going to scale it back to a pound and try 1 teaspoon of liquid smoke per pound and see how it turns out

 

[Bearcarver]

thanks bear I am going to scale it back to a pound and try 1 teaspoon of liquid smoke per pound and see how it turns out

Yeah---I'm sorry I can't help you with that.
The only thing I've heard is it takes very little of that stuff to get results many want.

Bear

 

[bigbuck]

did one pound with 1 tsp of liquid smoke and it turned out awesome!! it did not last very long, got a five pound batch sitting in fridge now

 

[Bearcarver]

That's Great BB !!
I'm glad it worked good for you!!
Didn't it need a little extra heat, like I put in my "Bear Loaf" ingredients?

Bear

 

[bigbuck]

I think it did, this batch has some extra crushed red pepper in it, thanks for recipe this one is awesome,, cant wait for warm weather to actually smoke some!!!

 

[TomKnollRFV]

Know I'm raising this from the dead but what is TQ? I assume some sort of curing salt. I want to do my own snack sticks, but do not have a sausage stuffer..and these actually look like the type of thing my grandpa would do. I have fond memories of him and I tooling around in his old beat up truck and he always brought a bag of venison sticks along and he'd make the grand kids swear to secrecy any where left..so I gotta make them now! I just have no idea what TQ is!

 

[pops6927]

TQ stands for Tender Quick. It is produced by Morton's and contains both sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate, plus sugars and added salts. There is no direct formula to equate processing done with TQ to processing done with Cure #1 (pink salt) as Cure #1 is sodium nitrite only, and you add your own sugar and salt separately.

 

[Bearcarver]

Know I'm raising this from the dead but what is TQ? I assume some sort of curing salt. I want to do my own snack sticks, but do not have a sausage stuffer..and these actually look like the type of thing my grandpa would do. I have fond memories of him and I tooling around in his old beat up truck and he always brought a bag of venison sticks along and he'd make the grand kids swear to secrecy any where left..so I gotta make them now! I just have no idea what TQ is!

TQ is short for "Morton's Tender Quick", a curing mix made by Morton Salt Co.
It is sold by some Supermarkets, Sporting Good stores, etc.
A fair price is about $6 for a 2 pound bag, which will Dry cure 64 pounds of whole meat or cure 128 pounds of sausage.

Bear

 

[nanuk]

.....as Cure #1 is sodium nitrite only, and you add your own sugar and salt separately.

Cure #1 is mostly salt.... used as a carrier.
But because you don't need much Sodium Nitrite, you add very little salt with the Nitrite, ergo most recipes call for more salt.
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/ams/prague-powder-1-vs-prague-powder-2.9693/

 

[TomKnollRFV]

Aha! Thanks guys! Local store says they have it, hoping to pick up a bag today so I can adjust the recipe for a smaller batch and get her going and hopefully crank out the sticks on Wednesday or so! Or well, in the next week. :)

 

[Bearcarver]

Aha! Thanks guys! Local store says they have it, hoping to pick up a bag today so I can adjust the recipe for a smaller batch and get her going and hopefully crank out the sticks on Wednesday or so! Or well, in the next week. :)

Tom,
Sorry it took me 6+ hours to reply, but I'm not on here at 3 AM.

If you have any more questions on any of My Step by Steps, send me a Personal Message, so I don't miss it.

Bear

 

[TomKnollRFV]

Thanks Bear..and I know most people likely aren't up at 3 I suspect LOL

 

[TomKnollRFV]

Another post from beyond the grave..

I just did some today, you can see my First Big Smoker session thread for the pictures and realize why I titled mine 'Dog Logs'..

The problem for me is when rolling them, the fat started sticking etc <Also I was doing them literally by hand because...I was just doing it that way, and using wax paper>. I'm wondering..would putting the raw meat in a freezer for 30 minutes help alot for this?

Also any one ever use Sriracha in a beef stick mix? I was eating them and thinking some Sriracha and a dash of honey in there..

But Thanks Bear! They sure taste good! And if people won't eat them due to looks? More for me!

 

[Bearcarver]

Another post from beyond the grave..

I just did some today, you can see my First Big Smoker session thread for the pictures and realize why I titled mine 'Dog Logs'..

The problem for me is when rolling them, the fat started sticking etc <Also I was doing them literally by hand because...I was just doing it that way, and using wax paper>. I'm wondering..would putting the raw meat in a freezer for 30 minutes help alot for this?

Also any one ever use Sriracha in a beef stick mix? I was eating them and thinking some Sriracha and a dash of honey in there..

But Thanks Bear! They sure taste good! And if people won't eat them due to looks? More for me!

Glad you like them, Tom!!
Yup---They aint pretty, but they taste Awesome!!
Next time you might want to change to the "Bear Loaf" ingredients. It's a little more Spicy.
The ingredients lists of my Sticks, Logs, and Loaves are all interchangeable.

I didn't have much trouble with sticking, but I rolled them in Saran Wrap. Then refrigerated them over night while still wrapped.

Bear

 

[TomKnollRFV]

Curious, Bear or any one else use a sausage hand stuffer? Just a tube and plunger thing? I've seen them, shouldn't be hard to make one at home or just buy a Sausage Kit with one. I've bought what I thought was a great deal on things before <like a 20 dollar meat grinder, hand cranked> and realized I should have just paid for a proper thing before, don't want to waste money on a hand stuffer like that if it's junk!

 

[Bearcarver]

Curious, Bear or any one else use a sausage hand stuffer? Just a tube and plunger thing? I've seen them, shouldn't be hard to make one at home or just buy a Sausage Kit with one. I've bought what I thought was a great deal on things before <like a 20 dollar meat grinder, hand cranked> and realized I should have just paid for a proper thing before, don't want to waste money on a hand stuffer like that if it's junk!

Northern Tool has one that works Great for only $89. (5 pounder)
https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200680783_200680783?cm_mmc=Google-pla&utm_source=Google_PLA&utm_medium=Food Processing > Stuffers&utm_campaign=Huntrite&utm_content=57627&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_IWi386e2wIVgRiBCh30ngwwEAYYCCABEgLwBfD_BwE

You can shoot the unstuffed sticks right out on a sheet of wax paper.

Bear

 

[brewster]

I unwrapped them and put them in my MES for 1 1/2 hours at 100˚ without smoke.
Then I lit both ends of a Hickory filled A-MAZE-N-SMOKER (6" X 6"), and put it in the bottom of my MES30.
After another hour, I bumped the heat up to 110˚.
Then 120˚ for one hour.
Then 130˚ for another hour.
After 3 1/2 hours my A-MAZE-N-SMOKER burned out, so I bumped it up to 150˚, and threw some dust & some Apple chips in my MES chip drawer.

I am finally starting these tonight to put on the smoker on Friday and have a question about the timeline. I am probably reading this wrong but it says they went on for 1 1/2 hours with no smoke, then another hour with smoke, then another hour at 120 and another hour at 130. I have that at 4 1/2 hours, but the next line says at 3 1/2 hours you bumped it to 150.

Does it really matter the times and temps as long as you are starting at a low temp and stepping the temp to maximise the smoke?

Thanks for your help, I'm really excited to try these. I am using a 50/50 mix of beef and pork, my neighbor is making buffalo with added pork fat at the same time. I'm using a MES 30 and my neighbor a Bradley. Vancouver Island Dark Lager will be consumed while sitting in the smoke and "supervising" the process.

 

[Bearcarver]

I unwrapped them and put them in my MES for 1 1/2 hours at 100˚ without smoke.
Then I lit both ends of a Hickory filled A-MAZE-N-SMOKER (6" X 6"), and put it in the bottom of my MES30.
After another hour, I bumped the heat up to 110˚.
Then 120˚ for one hour.
Then 130˚ for another hour.
After 3 1/2 hours my A-MAZE-N-SMOKER burned out, so I bumped it up to 150˚, and threw some dust & some Apple chips in my MES chip drawer.

I am finally starting these tonight to put on the smoker on Friday and have a question about the timeline. I am probably reading this wrong but it says they went on for 1 1/2 hours with no smoke, then another hour with smoke, then another hour at 120 and another hour at 130. I have that at 4 1/2 hours, but the next line says at 3 1/2 hours you bumped it to 150. That is confusing, but it's from 2010, when I was just starting to do "Step by Steps". I got better as I got more experience in writing these up. Actually at that point it was 4 1/2 hours in the smoker. However the AMNS ran out of Sawdust after 3 1/2 hours. So I threw some dust & chips in the chip tray, instead of reloading my AMNS. Then I continued bumping the temp up from there.

Does it really matter the times and temps as long as you are starting at a low temp and stepping the temp to maximise the smoke? The temp progress doesn't have to be the same. Once you have the Pellicle, which is the reason for no smoke in the beginning, then if you want you can hold it at 140° or 160° to get lots of time giving it smoke. Then when you want to get it done, jack it up to 180° or even 190° to get Internal temp to your finished temp (160°).

Thanks for your help, I'm really excited to try these. I am using a 50/50 mix of beef and pork, my neighbor is making buffalo with added pork fat at the same time. I'm using a MES 30 and my neighbor a Bradley. Vancouver Island Dark Lager will be consumed while sitting in the smoke and "supervising" the process.

Just yell if you have any more questions (If you PM me I won't miss it).

Bear