Snack Sticks

lkapigian

@hondabbq inspired snack sticks...lessons learned so far ..Seasoning kit is a waste when I have most all the spices on the shelf...17 MM casings are tough to get on my smallest tube( 1/2 inch) switched to the 19 MM casings which come on the kits, fit well on the tube but awful large for a snack stick...unless they shrink up a bit....going to set my oven on 170 tomorrow and dehydrate then ill put some smoke on...any advice appreciated 

DMW

If you need a taste tester, ship some to me.

lkapigian

@DMW they say do a couple pounds your first batch...so that was 13 pounds for me

hondabbq

I only use 19's as they fit on my smallest horn. The Hi Mountain kits are 19's as well which is what I started this journey with so I just stuck with it.

They will slightly shrink up with moisture loss and cooking.

I always pull my sticks out of the fridge from overnight for at least an hour to let them come up in temp a bit because if you put them in directly from the fridge they will condensate and take longer to cook.

I also start my temp of what ever vessel im cooking in at 140 for at least 1 hour to dry off the casings, then bump up the temp 10f every hour until a max of 180f is reached. Then bring the sticks up to 154-156 IT. Generally the first hour to dry the casings is when actually smoking the sticks. When smoke hits the wet casings the taste is acrid, so drying the casings prior to smoke produces a better tasting stick.

Looking forward to some great looking stick pics.

lkapigian

hondabbq said:

I only use 19's as they fit on my smallest horn. The Hi Mountain kits are 19's as well which is what I started this journey with so I just stuck with it.

They will slightly shrink up with moisture loss and cooking.

I always pull my sticks out of the fridge from overnight for at least an hour to let them come up in temp a bit because if you put them in directly from the fridge they will condensate and take longer to cook.

I also start my temp of what ever vessel im cooking in at 140 for at least 1 hour to dry off the casings, then bump up the temp 10f every hour until a max of 180f is reached. Then bring the sticks up to 154-156 IT. Generally the first hour to dry the casings is when actually smoking the sticks. When smoke hits the wet casings the taste is acrid, so drying the casings prior to smoke produces a better tasting stick.

Looking forward to some great looking stick pics.

It thanks @hondabbq , my oven goes down to 170 so ill be running it with the door cracked for a while to keep temp down and let moisture escape...thanks for helping

hondabbq

Mine also only goes to 170 I used my Maverick to manage temps along with different apperati to get the door closure temp I needed.

lkapigian

hondabbq said:

Mine also only goes to 170 I used my Maverick to manage temps along with different apperati to get the door closure temp I needed.

@hondabbq , I am going to use my Stoker, Ha funny seeing that on top of the oven , then If I am pleased with this method I will go and get a decent dehydrator...Question for "shelf life" do you try and get the moisture content down to a certain level, or am I overthinking this..I guess since it is a fatty stick, shelf life wont be that great anyway

hondabbq

lkapigian said:

hondabbq said:

Mine also only goes to 170 I used my Maverick to manage temps along with different apperati to get the door closure temp I needed.

@hondabbq , I am going to use my Stoker, Ha funny seeing that on top of the oven , then If I am pleased with this method I will go and get a decent dehydrator...Question for "shelf life" do you try and get the moisture content down to a certain level, or am I overthinking this..I guess since it is a fatty stick, shelf life wont be that great anyway

The issue for longer shelf life is fat not moisture. That's why when making jerky you use very lean cuts with no fat. 

No no need to over think it. Just bring the IT up to 154-156 f. 

Carolina Q

Nice kitchen!

lkapigian

Carolina Q said:

Nice kitchen!

Thanks @Carolina Q ...reminds me of an Asian guy @ work who told me "Mister Larry, I no feel good and need to go home" i told him " when I'm not feeling well, I go make love to my girlfriend" next day Chan is back at work looking chipper, I asked how he was he said "Much better Mr. Larry i took your advice, and you have nice house to"

lkapigian

About 3.5 in the oven at 170, put them on an offset to finish at get some smoke ...water bath and blooming right now...definitely will do my own spices next time, will withhold final judgement 24 hours...all in all a good first run...making sausage has probably helped make this easier 

hondabbq

What flavour are they? Looks good. 

lkapigian

Thanks @hondabbq black pepper and garlic, much better after a couple hours...we are our own worst critic 

lkapigian

After the bloom, much better flavor...I want a dehydrator , oven was ok but MEH .,,don't coil the sticks as it is difficult for packaging , all in all an ok first run...17MM casings on the left 19MM on the right 

blasting

Looks great @ikapigian.  Bookmarked for sure.

lkapigian

Thanks @blasting

lkapigian

Since I was dehydrating in the oven, had some Asada Meat I converted to beef jerky...Very Very Teriaki, garlic and onion powder paprika and chili flakes ...4 hours at 170...most excellent and will do again 

hondabbq

lkapigian said:

Since I was dehydrating in the oven, had some Asada Meat I converted to beef jerky...Very Very Teriaki, garlic and onion powder paprika and chili flakes ...4 hours at 170...most excellent and will do again 

For me jerky always looks good but I hate it. I don't like chewing and ripping the meat off. 
I like the ground jerky style. I have made 3-4 batches of that in the dehydrator. 

lkapigian

hondabbq said:

lkapigian said:

Since I was dehydrating in the oven, had some Asada Meat I converted to beef jerky...Very Very Teriaki, garlic and onion powder paprika and chili flakes ...4 hours at 170...most excellent and will do again 

For me jerky always looks good but I hate it. I don't like chewing and ripping the meat off. 
I like the ground jerky style. I have made 3-4 batches of that in the dehydrator. 

I'm going to give that a try as well, had marinated this meat for dinner that didn't happen, so I threw in a couple more ingredients and dried it...I do like the texture of the ground jerky better as well 

lkapigian

@hondabbq which cabalas dehydrator do you have

hondabbq

lkapigian said:

@hondabbq which cabalas dehydrator do you have

http://www.cabelas.ca/product/86802/cabelas-12-tray-pro-series-dehydrator

lkapigian

hondabbq said:

lkapigian said:

@hondabbq which cabalas dehydrator do you have

http://www.cabelas.ca/product/86802/cabelas-12-tray-pro-series-dehydrator

I assume you are happy with , any " I wish I would have " 

Firemanyz

I would check out this line. Cool thing is cabelas  offers their lifetime guarantee on it. 

http://www.cabelas.com/product/CABELAS-L-COMMERCIAL-FOOD-DEHYDRATOR/2339804.uts?slotId=0

hondabbq

lkapigian said:

hondabbq said:

lkapigian said:

@hondabbq which cabalas dehydrator do you have

http://www.cabelas.ca/product/86802/cabelas-12-tray-pro-series-dehydrator

I assume you are happy with , any " I wish I would have " 

I have about 6-7 runs through it so far and I have no regrets on it.  Are there better ones? Yes. Excalibur is the best in this category and have a 10 year warranty but they are pricey. I didn't want to go that deep with my first foray into a dehydrator. 

lkapigian

hondabbq said:

lkapigian said:

hondabbq said:

lkapigian said:

@hondabbq which cabalas dehydrator do you have

http://www.cabelas.ca/product/86802/cabelas-12-tray-pro-series-dehydrator

I assume you are happy with , any " I wish I would have " 

I have about 6-7 runs through it so far and I have no regrets on it.  Are there better ones? Yes. Excalibur is the best in this category and have a 10 year warranty but they are pricey. I didn't want to go that deep with my first foray into a dehydrator. 

@hondabbq I was thinking more in terms of capacity. Looking at review I think Cabelas is awesome just wondering more about the real estate 

hondabbq

lkapigian said:

hondabbq said:

lkapigian said:

hondabbq said:

lkapigian said:

@hondabbq which cabalas dehydrator do you have

http://www.cabelas.ca/product/86802/cabelas-12-tray-pro-series-dehydrator

I assume you are happy with , any " I wish I would have " 

I have about 6-7 runs through it so far and I have no regrets on it.  Are there better ones? Yes. Excalibur is the best in this category and have a 10 year warranty but they are pricey. I didn't want to go that deep with my first foray into a dehydrator. 

@hondabbq I was thinking more in terms of capacity. Looking at review I think Cabelas is awesome just wondering more about the real estate 

I can do 10 lbs of sticks or ground beef jerky and have 2 trays left over. For me that's enough.

Heres the thread from my first couple of runs.

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1208013/dehydrator-fun#latest

hondabbq

Some pics

lkapigian

Thanks one again @hondabbq I will order that unit!

hondabbq

lkapigian said:

Thanks one again @hondabbq I will order that unit!

Glad to help out. If you need anything else let me know. 

NPHuskerFL

Show off
#madjelly

lkapigian

@hondabbq picked these up today Commercial 80 litre Dehydrator...and felt I needed an electric smoker for random smoking of protein