25 LBS. of Willies Snack Sticks.

[YooperDog]

mdseaside looks like you are set for the week. Good looking product.

[mdseaside]

ciszzco I use natural sheep casings in the 19 to 21 mm. range. They are a little more tricky and time consuming to use but I like the finished product so much better it is worth the extra time.

[mdseaside]

Moose_MI After the sticks dry in the smoker for an hour or so I start adding smoke for about 3 to 4 hours untill they have a nice color. Then I vacuum seal them and place in my container and add preheated water around 160 degrees and set the sous vide at 152 degrees for 2 hours. Then soak and rinse with cold water for about 20 minutes. The take out of the bags and air dry with a small fan for about an hour to help dry and set the casings.

[bocephus]

mdseaside Nice looking batch of sticks.

[PapaSop]

mdseaside
Very nice!

[cdavis]

mdseaside they look great

[DJS303]

Everything looks great! I am going to have to try sous vide as it appears to shorten the cook time. I seem to always get a stall on my sticks in the smoker and it turns into a long cook.

[mdseaside]

DJS303 I like it because when I finished them in the smoker they tended to come out a little drier than I like. When you bag them and sous vide it keeps the moisture in and you in my opinion get a better finished product.

[GWG8541]

mdseaside amen. I know it is personal preference, but I’m sold on the sous vide (water thermal processing) to finish sticks and summer sausage.

[Dave in AZ]

mdseaside I read so many posts on sous vide that now I forget who said what, but I’m pretty sure it was a lot of your posts that talked me into it, and GWG8541, and I’m so thankful you did! I do think it is both easier and makes a nicer hmm skin? I did some without the sous vide, and felt the casings were more chewy and not bound to the meat as nicely. The sous vide ones have a nicer snap, to me. I know I wouldn’t have tried sous vide without all the great posts here talking about it!