Jalapeno snack sticks greasy film

[WINGMAN01]

Hi everyone, I recently smoked 80/20 beef with the jalapeno snack stick seasoning and used carrat fiber and high temp cheese for the first time. used 21mm casings.
so for some reason they came out with a extra greasy film on the outside. I have made other snack sticks such as willies, habanero bbq and never had this issue before using 80/20 beef.
Could it have been the carrot fiber? Or just the character/nature of that jalapeno seasoning?
Or perhaps the high temp cheese?
Any thoughts for the experts out there?
I also increased the water. normally I use 5 cups for 5 pounds of meat.
However this time I used 6 cups to make it easier to stuff the casings.
Perhaps this one extra cup was the culprit.
Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks

[Mickey Page]

WINGMAN01 Question, how long do you smoke the sticks and at what temp? That seems like a lot of water t
o have to cook out. For sticks I use 19mm casings and use 2 ounces of water per pound of meat.

[WINGMAN01]

Mickey Page
I start low @ around 120 degrees and about every hour step up 10 degrees until 145 degrees hold for 2 hours. the step up to 165 for an hour or so then finish at 185ish until internal is above 155-160 ish.
This can take 5-8 hrs typically.
I thought it was a lot of water but I thought I read somewhere up to 1 cup per pound.

[YooperDog]

WINGMAN01 typically sure gel is preferred for cured sausages and carrot fiber for fresh sausage.

[Mickey Page]

WINGMAN01 You have a good process of smoking, just remember that the more water added the longer the smoke time. More water keeps the IT down and can squeeze out moisture and make the outside feel greasy
I would suggest lowering the water. My sticks are 10% fat and are very good being smoked 3 hrs to an IT of 152. We all have various processes, just keep working at it and record your process each time. BTW, make sure you mix carrot powder with meat only before adding water. I made this mistake and the change made a big difference.

[WINGMAN01]

Mickey Page Thanks!
I will try it again.

[WINGMAN01]

YooperDog I did not know that. I’ve made habanero bbq and willies snackin sticks with pheasant meat without issue. First time trying the carrot fiber trying to make stuffin easier.

Thanks

[YooperDog]

WINGMAN01 It is not a hard and fast rule. My understanding is they both have water holding abilities. Some folks prefer one over the other and I understand that carrot fiber holds more water making it more difficult to cook out of a cured sausage. For a fresh sausage it makes it a juicier sausage.

[cdavis]

WINGMAN01 I made a batch of snack sticks with Willie’s and carrot fiber. I was out of sure gel. Not sure that caused it but they were greasy feeling on the outside. Next batch I went back to sure gel and no problems. Hope this helps.

[Jonathon]

WINGMAN01 cdavis I wonder if it isnt so much the carrot fiber but the difference in processing when you use carrot fiber vs sure gel. 1st, sure gel is absolutely better than carrot fiber for cured sausages, there are people who use carrot fiber for snack sticks but I don’t recommend it for that. Sure Gel adds protein to the meat right when you need it, when mixing. So, it makes protein extraction easier as there is more protein (and it loose protein) so you get a better bind. If you followed same mixing when using carrot fiber as you would when using sure gel you could have failed to get enough protein extraction. That would cause it to fat out and give you a greasy texture as the fat has rendered out of the meat.

[WINGMAN01]

Perhaps but have been successful with protein extraction without binders.
I’m about to do another 5 pounds of the same seasoning but without the carrot fiber to see how it turns out.
I have been using a quarter cup of ice water per pound. I’ll probably cut that back some too.

[Jonathon]

WINGMAN01 When they’re done please let us know how it comes out! Cutting back on water might help, I recommend no more than 1.5 quarts per 25 lb batch so that is basically exactly your ratio per lb of meat but backing off a little might help with consistency.

[Muxmun]

Hello
I’m the new guy here. This thread is interesting. I made my first batch of snack sticks with mixed results. I had a 5lb recipe that I broke down to 3lbs. I used the carrot fiber. The flavor was pretty good but the texture was like eating sawdust. Not sure why that was. I read that I should have mixed the fiber with the meat and then add the water but I put water in along with the fiber towards the end of the mix. Maybe that was why the texture was like saw dust. My math said 0.06 oz per pound x 3= 0.18 oz which I broke down to 5.10 grams. Maybe my math is screwed up!
Thanks for any input.

[Mickey Page]

In making snack sticks i:
Mix meat for about 2 minutes
add carrot fiber and mix for about 2 minutes
add seasonings and mix 2 minutes then,
add water at a rate of 2oz per pound of meat.
I use an electric stuffer and it does require a little lower viscosity meat mix. The times above are just approximate as I look at the mix and feel the mix before moving to next step. This works very well for me. Good luck as I am sure you will receive a lot of info.

[Muxmun]

Mickey Page
Thanks Mickey. I’ll give it another shot per your suggestion

[Jonathon]

Muxmun Did you use a cure accelerator? Sawdust can be either total fat out, where the fat just renders out totally during the cook or it can the casings from the Encapsulated citric Acid. If it is not cooked at about 130° for at least an hour it wont fully dissolve and gives a weird chalky texture.

[Muxmun]

Johnathon
Yes I did use critic acid and temp was held at a good temp for more than a few hours. I don’t think the fat ran out but maybe it did. The smell is great but texture just not right. I finished in the oven until temp got to 160. I’ll try again later this week. Thanks for your input.