Snack Sticks first try

[paidin]

I tried to make some snack sticks using some of the recipes from the Dakota Stuffer website.  I looked at all their recipes and tried to determine how much of whatever seemed good and then added two ghost peppers for good measure.  After tasting the spices, I found them to be WAAAYYY too salty so I added a bunch more corn syrup to counter the saltiness.  After mixing up the coarsely ground deer and pork shoulder, I had to go out of town.  It sat in the fridge for about a week before I could get back to stuffing and smoking it.

I stuffed the 20 pound mixture in 21mm collagen casings.  I roughly measured how long a stick needed to be in order to fit in my smoker.  It turned out to be the length of my table.  I found a clever way to get these sticks on the smoker sticks.  I just looped the sausage back and forth on the table so they ran the length of the table.  I then placed the bar across the sausage and folded the sausage over.  DONE  lol.  That was the fastest and easiest way I know of to load one of those sausage bars.  You folks read it here first!

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[paidin]

I then got the AMNPS loaded up by first microwaving the pellets for 2 minutes to dry them, then lighting both ends with a torch.  I placed it in the smoker with some aluminum over the AMNPS to keep any drippings from putting out the smoker generator.  In hindsight, the way you smoke sausage, you do not get any drippings if done right.

I ended up using 4 of the stainless steel sausage bars from Smokin-It to hold 20 pounds of snack sticks.  I programmed the Auber PID to do the following:
120 degrees for 2 hours
140 degrees for 2 hours
160 degrees until internal temperature hits 152 degrees.

I placed the meat probe in one of the sticks and the cabinet probe just inside the smoker through the bunghole.

It ended up taking about 18 hours I think.  Not sure because it finished while I was asleep.
First time for me making snack sticks in the Smokin-it.  They turned out ok.  Texture was perfect but recipe was just so-so.  I made them before using the cabelas snack stick mix and it was out of this world tasty but appearance was ugly since I was using a pellet grill.  I am on a lookout for a better recipe and if you guys have any hints, I would love to try them out.  Thanks for looking!

[Pork Belly]

Those look good, but why not let the SI make the smoke? At the temps of 120, 140 & 160 the SI would make good smoke. I think you could have save a bit of prep by just using the SI, not the AMNPS.

[paidin]

Those look good, but why not let the SI make the smoke? At the temps of 120, 140 & 160 the SI would make good smoke. I think you could have save a bit of prep by just using the SI, not the AMNPS.

I actually tossed in a bunch of cherry chips into the smoke tray.  My experience with the MES40 is that at low temps, it will not produce smoke.  Especially in the initial stages where you are smoking at 100 or 120 degrees.  The AMNPS is just insurance make sure there is smoke with the initial low temp cook/drying process.  I noticed that when the AMNPS burnt out at the 6-7 hour mark, there was no more smoke being generated from the Smokin-it.  After the smoke, I checked the chip tray and although the chips were black, they were not ash which tells me that they did not fully smoke, even after being in the Smokin-it for about 18 hours.  I left them in there for the Buckboard Bacon smoke, which is going on as we speak/type.

[NDKoze]

Did the stix cook evenly? I would have been worried with the bottoms that close to the element.

The meat mix really stiffens up the more you let it sit. I bet that was pretty tough stuffing no?

My smoke box is much hotter toward the back. So I place my chips toward the back of the smoke box and I have no problems getting smoke at low temps.

That's a long time in the smoker. I run mine quite a bit hotter (150-200) and usually takes 7-8 hours. I start low and crank up the heat a little bit every couple of hours and max out at 200.

Here is one of my smokes:
http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=1640.0

[paidin]

Did the stix cook evenly? I would have been worried with the bottoms that close to the element.

The meat mix really stiffens up the more you let it sit. I bet that was pretty tough stuffing no?

My smoke box is much hotter toward the back. So I place my chips toward the back of the smoke box and I have no problems getting smoke at low temps.

That's a long time in the smoker. I run mine quite a bit hotter (150-200) and usually takes 7-8 hours. I start low and crank up the heat a little bit every couple of hours and max out at 200.

Here is one of my smokes:
http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=1640.0

The way the PID works, in conjunction with the constant rotation of air from the fan, made it possibel for the sausage to cook evenly.  At least that is what my head says.  Cycling the element on and off constantly to maintain the temps eliminated the spikes and kept the fresh air from the bottom the correct temp all the way out the top I think.

it was harder to stuff!  I have the 5 pound manual stuffer but it still stuffed fine.

My smoke box has that W element so more of it is towards the front with the back being the coolest.  I tossed in a heckofa lot of chips all over in the smoke box.  They only turned black on me.  It could be the constant on off of the auber that prevented it from smoking at low temps.  Its ok though since I bought the AMNPS with the MES40.  It was basically a $40 paperweight until I bought the Smokin-It #4

It was a long time because I maxed out at 160 and eventually 165 in order to prevent fat-out.  A condition that causes the fat to render out of the sausage and makes it a little dryer.  I am new to this sausage thing so I will make changes next go around.  I thought the texture was perfect but the taste was not as good as the cabelas mix I did last time.  I need to find out how to make it that same way

[mcinore]

Did you have the jerky fan on the whole smoke? Just got my jerky fan and am anxious to give it a try. The Dakota site has numerous stick recipes have you looked at those also? I'm only asking because I've used a few of theirs and thought them to be pretty good.

[NDKoze]

I made a batch with the Willie's Snack Stick seasoning two weeks ago. We thought it was "OK", but probably will not be making that recipe again.

This is our long-time favorite that I have probably made 700-800 pounds of over the past 4-5 years:
http://www.waltonsinc.com/p-4490-pepper-stick-seasoning.aspx

My Dad, Brother, and Brother-In-Law, and I combine our deer meat and process and divide what we make 4 ways. So, we end up making 150-200lbs of snack sticks per year along with some Summer Sausage and Fry Sausage as well.

The seasoning mix above is an Excalibur mix that I started buying locally at my local butcher, but found it online at Walton's for less money. I actually buy most of my meat processing supplies from this company.

Walton's Inc is based out of Kansas. So shipping to ND is usually within a couple of days. We have tried several different mixes over the years and keep coming back to this one. We now order the mix in the 100lb mix packs. It contains no MSG for those affected.

[paidin]

Did you have the jerky fan on the whole smoke? Just got my jerky fan and am anxious to give it a try. The Dakota site has numerous stick recipes have you looked at those also? I'm only asking because I've used a few of theirs and thought them to be pretty good.

Yes I ran the jerky fan the entire smoke.  I looked over the dakota site and made up the recipe based on those recipes on the dakota site.  I found it too salty.  Make sure you taste the sauce before you combine it with your meat.  also, its a good idea to microwave a small sample after mixing your meat to see how it tastes before committing to stuffing and smoking.

[paidin]

I made a batch with the Willie's Snack Stick seasoning two weeks ago. We thought it was "OK", but probably will not be making that recipe again.

This is our long-time favorite that I have probably made 700-800 pounds of over the past 4-5 years:
http://www.waltonsinc.com/p-4490-pepper-stick-seasoning.aspx

My Dad, Brother, and Brother-In-Law, and I combine our deer meat and process and divide what we make 4 ways. So, we end up making 150-200lbs of snack sticks per year along with some Summer Sausage and Fry Sausage as well.

The seasoning mix above is an Excalibur mix that I started buying locally at my local butcher, but found it online at Walton's for less money. I actually buy most of my meat processing supplies from this company.

Walton's Inc is based out of Kansas. So shipping to ND is usually within a couple of days. We have tried several different mixes over the years and keep coming back to this one. We now order the mix in the 100lb mix packs. It contains no MSG for those affected.

Thanks for the tip on the waltons website.  I just ordered 4 packages of the snack stick kit from ps seasonings, the same willies snack stick I made before.  I added ghost peppers to the mix and found it to taste awesome.  I will try your excalibur seasonings next because, why not!