2017... A Snack Stick Odyssey!

[Libohunden]

I'd like to say thanks to NDKoze (Greg) for all his help with this... From getting the right stuff to prep and smoking!  I really appreciate all the help getting me started on this path!

See the "Snack Stick Gear" thread for the starter of this one.
http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=5786.0

After an expensive visit to the Walton's website and getting lucky with finding a Weston 20lb meat mixer on Craigslist in my area at a very good price, I secured all the necessary equipment to start my snack stick odyssey!

Spent Friday night cleaning my new gear.  I had a pork belly scheduled to smoke on Saturday for bacon so I figured I would stuff my snack sticks when that was done.  I decided I would start with the Excalibur BBQ Smoke seasoning with cheddar high temp cheese in it.  My bacon ended up taking 10.5 hours and I didn't get it in till noon.  So didn't get to stuffing until around 11pm last night.  Finished clean up around 1:30am. 

ND Koze had been giving me essentially step by step instructions along the way, which made the process very easy.  Thanks again, Greg!  The Walton's 11lb stuffer was very easy to use and did a great job.  Although, next time I will use some c-clamps and clamp it down for more stability.  I will also get more help with stuffing.  Although, my wife and I were able to do it pretty easily.  I think if the stuffer had been clamped down it would have been much easier.

I used 21mm casings.  Stuffing them was pretty simple and I think I did a decent job on my first go round.  I did have one casing split when I went to pinch it to get a good place to cut when I was cutting them down to 40 inch lengths.  They were fairly tight but I don't think overly tight.  After stuffing, I let them rest in my fridge until 10am this morning.

They are still in the smoker with about 4.5 hours left to go.  Decided to smoke by time and then use my Thermapen to test at 6 hours to ensure they are done since I'm using Greg's tried and true method.

Smoking at 150 for the first 45 min, then 200 until 6 hour mark.  No fan for first 3 hours to keep smoke inside, then using Jerky Fan for last 3 to dry them out.

I'll let you know what I think once they are finished and update with some after pics.  Until then, enjoy some snack stick porn!

 

[Libohunden]

And getting them in the smoker!

 

[SmokedGouda]

You been busy this weekend! Lookin good!

 

[Libohunden]

It has been busy this weekend!  I'm getting tired of the clean up! 

We won't have too many more cold weekends down here.  So, I need to maximize the stuff that needs cool weather to smoke!

 

[NDKoze]

Nice job Libo! That is a dang fine effort for your first go around.

I was very happy to help.

One thing that I think I forgot to mention is that you should wait to put your high-temp cheese in until the end of the mixing cycle. And you want to make sure you keep your meat and cheese as cold as possible before stuffing. I usually leave my cheese in the freezer right up until it is time to add to the mixer. This insures that your cheese doesn't get busted up during the mixing process.

 

[ibbones]

Just...wow!

 

[Libohunden]

Gotta say, they turned out great!  I've got some ideas on how I'm going to improve monitoring my temps better during the cook.

Next up, buffalo blue cheese with high temp blue cheese!

 

[tnlyne]

Ok, this one is going on my todo list. Do you guys think a KitchAid thing like I link to below would work for stuffing these? I'd rather not buy a whole new monstrosity to store in my house like I seen in your pictures of this thread.

https://www.amazon.com/KitchenAid-SSA-Sausage-Stuffer-Attachment/dp/B00004SGFQ

 

[SconnieQ]

Do you already have the KitchenAid food grinder attachment? You will need the food grinder attachment to use those stuffing tubes. I would not recommend the KitchenAid food grinder attachment. It's pretty much all plastic these days, and the blades are not stainless steel, and people complain about black goo in their ground meat, whatever that is. I am not a snack sticks maker. Or a sausage expert. But if you have a KitchenAid and want to grind meat and stuff sausage with your KitchenAid on a small scale, the link below is the best quality attachment out there. All stainless steel. Also available on Amazon I think, and you can get it with, and without the stuffing attachments. (If you have a KitchenAid "Classic", it might be a little "challenged" power-wise by grinding meat.) I have considered it just for making my own ground beef, on a small scale. That being said, if your goal is meat grinding and sausage making on a larger scale (more than a few pounds at a time), there are probably better options out there if you are willing to purchase dedicated appliances for the task, and have the space to store them.
http://smokehousechef.com/the-original-stainless-steel-meat-grinder-attachment-for-kitchenaid-mixer-plus-sausage-stuffing-kit/

 

[NDKoze]

Gotta say, they turned out great!  I've got some ideas on how I'm going to improve monitoring my temps better during the cook.

Next up, buffalo blue cheese with high temp blue cheese!

Awesome job my young Padawan!

You did very well for your first snack sticks.

 

[NDKoze]

Very long and maybe more information than you may want to read. But, here are my thoughts. Others can agree/disagree.

Ok, this one is going on my todo list. Do you guys think a KitchAid thing like I link to below would work for stuffing these? I'd rather not buy a whole new monstrosity to store in my house like I seen in your pictures of this thread.

https://www.amazon.com/KitchenAid-SSA-Sausage-Stuffer-Attachment/dp/B00004SGFQ

If you already have a KitchenAid mixer with the grinder attachment, the stuffing tube kit that you have noted here would probably be a worthwhile and recommended option to use for an initial batch of sticks. This would be a super cheap way of doing your first batch to see if it is something you might like to do more often or in larger batches.

That being said, I have watched many YouTube videos of people stuffing sticks, sausage, etc, with meat grinder stuffer attachments, and I gotta tell you it was pretty painful to watch. Stuffing through a grinder/mixer takes a looooooooooooooooooooong time because you have to run the pre-ground meat mixture through the grinder auger which sticks really bad because the meat is tacky and doesn't suck into the auger like whole meat chunks do. So, you constantly need to be using your grinder pusher tube to push the meat down into the auger. And if you want to use high temp cheese in your mix, even if you use the sausage stuffing plate, it will tend to grind up your cheese more than I like. We did this for one year I think before we gave up and got a stuffer.

I am not a snack sticks maker. Or a sausage expert. But if you have a KitchenAid and want to grind meat and stuff sausage with your KitchenAid on a small scale, this is probably the best quality attachment out there. All stainless steel. I have considered it just for making my own ground beef, on a small scale. That being said, if your goal is meat grinding and sausage making on a larger scale (more than a few pounds at a time), there are probably better options out there if you are willing to purchase dedicated appliances for the task, and have the space to store them.
http://smokehousechef.com/the-original-stainless-steel-meat-grinder-attachment-for-kitchenaid-mixer-plus-sausage-stuffing-kit/

This looks like really nice grinder attachment for the Kitchenaid and way better than the plastic Kitchen Aid version. But again, if you decide you like these sticks, I am guessing that you will eventually want to upgrade to a stand-alone stuffer at some point. I can stuff 28lbs of sticks in about 30 minutes with my 15lb stuffer, whereas I would guess it took us closer to 1.5-2.0 hours with the grinder.

If you don't already have a grinder, that would be the last thing I would buy, because you can easily buy preground hamburger and/or pork and not need a grinder. Grinding your own meat does save some money though especially if you like to include some pork in your sticks like I do. But, unless you are doing pretty large batches, there are a number of hand-grinders that can be had for a very reasonable price and work just fine for snack stick making. If you keep your eye open for sales, you can find some good deals on grinders. With a combination of a good sale price and a $20 off of $100 purchase, I bought this Kitchener #12 grinder for under $70 last month. This is definitely not the quality of a LEM 'Big Bite' grinder (what I would want if money was not an option). But, it works very well for the 10-30lb batches that I do at home. When my family and I do our Snack-Stick-A-Paloozas we have a LEM #12 grinder that we use. But, we are grinding 300-400lbs of meat for those events.

A stuffer is more utilitarian as it can only be used for stuffing sausage and/or meat bags, but it is an astronomical improvement over using a grinder to stuff sausages with. A stuffer is going to make the biggest difference in your snack stick/sausage processing for the money.

Just an FYI, that the Walton's Inc 2-Speed 11lb Stuffer is on sale right now for $179.99 and a Walton's Inc 1-Speed 7lb Stuffer is on sale right now for $119.99. It looks like they just added a code for 15% off all seasonings with the purchase of a Walton's stuffer. I wish they would have had this deal back in November when I bought my stuffer and a bunch of seasonings.

 

[Libohunden]

I would probably start with the LEM Jerky Gun...  I was going to do that but decided that I would go with the expensive option off the bat so that I didn't have  Jerky Gun just sitting in a closet somewhere after I decided to buy a stuffer.  Gotta say, I like the stuffer.  I may have been just as good with a 7lb stuffer that is not all stainless... that one cost right at $100... which is only $50 more than the gun.

 

[Libohunden]

Tony, I finally got around to checking your link.  Wow, for $7 I would definitely give it a shot! 

So far, everyone loves the sticks!  Looking forward to my next batch!