First time making Snack Sticks (pepperoni)!
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After reading so many threads on the subject I was a little intimidated and also had some limitations that I needed to work around. So after putting my by boy underwear I decided to pull the trigger on a small batch.
I decided to do pepperoni snack sticks because that was the consensus at the house and I have all the basic seasonings to make it happen.
Here is the main limitations I had… I did not have a dedicated smoker to properly manage the temperature schedule. I own a pellet grill and the lowest temperature I can go is 180 degrees. I don’t do enough smoking to really justify the $$. So how did I work around it?? Well, it was a two step process.
Step #1: I put the snack stick cold on my pellet smoker and bumped it till the PID showed 140 degrees and then I shut it off. In order to get a good reference on my temp I put a probe thermometer in the tub and in order to get the smoke (since the grill was off) I put a smoke tube with the sticks
Now I could manage the lower temperature fairly well but I knew I was going to be in a bind at the higher temperature. So after much reading I came across a couple of threads that dealt with finishing the snack sticks with sous-vide. BINGO!
Step #2: After finishing about 2.5hrs of smoking and cycling the temperature from 120s to 150s I pulled the sticks and dunked them in the water preheated to 160 degrees. I inserted my probe thermometer and cooked them till their reached about 155 degrees.
I pulled them out of the hot water and in an ice bath 50% ice and 50% water and let them sit for about 30 minutes or so. I hung them to let them bloom and this morning I cut them in nice little snack stick lengths. I am so happy!! Here are the results:
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YooperDog Team Orange Masterbuilt Big Green Egg Dry Cured Sausage Sous Vide Canning Power Userreplied to Dr_Pain on last edited by
Dr_Pain Looks like adapted and over came. Made a good looking product
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cdavis Masterbuilt Canning Kamado Joes Regular Contributors Power User Sous Vide Oklahoma Team Camoreplied to Dr_Pain on last edited by
Dr_Pain they look great. Way to overcome the challenge. Congrats to you sir
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glen Regular Contributors Team Grey Sous Vide Canning Dry Cured Sausage Masterbuilt Power User Meat Hack Winner Veteran Kansasreplied to Dr_Pain on last edited by
Dr_Pain Sous vide can be a game changer
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bocephus Team Orange Power User Canning Masterbuilt Regular Contributors Veteran New Mexico Sous Vide Gardeningreplied to Dr_Pain on last edited by
Dr_Pain Look good to me, nice job.
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processhead Power User Regular Contributors Smoker Build Expert Bowl Choppers Nebraska Veteran Team Camo
Nice job working around the challenges.
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Chef Canning Dry Cured Sausage Primo Grills Team Blue Sous Vide Power User Cast Ironreplied to Dr_Pain on last edited by
Dr_Pain you are the man. looks great, you no longer have a handicap. You are now among the pros.
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ND Mike Big Green Egg Team Blue Regular Contributors Cast Iron Power User North Dakotareplied to Dr_Pain on last edited by
Dr_Pain nice finished product!
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Very nice! I found that the longer the pepperoni sticks sit in the freezer, the better they are. I wasn’t impressed with my first batch snd put them in the freezer. About 2 months later I decided I better start eating them to get rid of them. Something about that 2 months in the freezer changed them from alright to outstanding.
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Grimpuppy said in First time making Snack Sticks (pepperoni)!:
Very nice! I found that the longer the pepperoni sticks sit in the freezer, the better they are. I wasn’t impressed with my first batch snd put them in the freezer. About 2 months later I decided I better start eating them to get rid of them. Something about that 2 months in the freezer changed them from alright to outstanding.
Well that is good to know. This was a 2.5lbs batch just to test spices and technique but the next one will be a production run. I will have to start experimenting with other snack stick flavors but I dare not ask Jonathon because I will be overwhelmed at all the different possibilities LOL!
What are you guys favoring snack stick flavors (own spice mix or commercial blends)??
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Dr_Pain
Looking good. Will be grinding and stuffing 25# of sticks myself today.
Sous Vide all the way… -
PapaSop said in First time making Snack Sticks (pepperoni)!:
Dr_Pain
Looking good. Will be grinding and stuffing 25# of sticks myself today.
Sous Vide all the way…Actually PapaSop you are the inspiration behind using the sousvide without the bag
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The little train that Could, looks like you did !!!
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Dr_Pain said in First time making Snack Sticks (pepperoni)!:
PapaSop said in First time making Snack Sticks (pepperoni)!:
Dr_Pain
Looking good. Will be grinding and stuffing 25# of sticks myself today.
Sous Vide all the way…Actually PapaSop you are the inspiration behind using the sousvide without the bag
Total game changer. Will be using it tomorrow after the sticks visit the smoker.
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GWG8541 Regular Contributors Cast Iron Sous Vide Canning Team Blue Power User Military Veterans Ohioreplied to Dr_Pain on last edited by
Dr_Pain looks great. You definitely overcame any obstacles.
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wdaly Cast Iron Canning Green Mountain Grill Team Orange Masterbuilt Power User Military Veterans Regular Contributors Yearling Nebraskareplied to Dr_Pain on last edited by
Dr_Pain great looking sticks. Thanks for sharing your procedure. I think a lot of us are using pellet smokers that have lower temperature limitations.
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YooperDog Team Orange Masterbuilt Big Green Egg Dry Cured Sausage Sous Vide Canning Power Userreplied to Dr_Pain on last edited by
Dr_Pain for snack sticks I typically use prepackaged mixes. I think a strong favorite from Walton’s is Willies. For kabanos, a Polish snack stick, I use a recipe. There are others that I am playing around with, trying to find the right balance, e.g. hunter sticks.
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YooperDog said in First time making Snack Sticks (pepperoni)!:
Dr_Pain for snack sticks I typically use prepackaged mixes. I think a strong favorite from Walton’s is Willies. For kabanos, a Polish snack stick, I use a recipe. There are others that I am playing around with, trying to find the right balance, e.g. hunter sticks.
Thanks for the suggestions!
