Buffalo wing blue cheese snack stick mix...
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Hey all!
I am fairly new at the meat processing process, so I need some advice. I attempted to make the buffalo/blue cheese snack sticks this weekend…and they dont have ANY buffalo or blue cheese flavor.I Cut the package content into 1/5 by weight, got good protein extraction, and used 70/30 beef mix for meat. I also shook up package to mix the seasoning before weighing it out. The product looks and tastes good, but no buffalo/blue cheese taste at all. Anyone else have this problem?
BTW…the Meatgistics videos and this forum is awesome! Keep up the great work Austin and Jon!
Tubby
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Jonathon Team Blue Admin Walton's Employee Power User Kansas Dry Cured Sausagereplied to Tubby on last edited by
Tubby First off, welcome to the board! Buffalo Bleu Cheese should give you a pretty good buffalo flavor, the Bleu Cheese doesn’t really have too strong of a taste though. If you were expecting more from the Bleu Cheese that might be part of the problem but saying it didnt have any flavor leads me to believe something happened. So you used 70/30 beef and got good protein extraction, when you bite into them what is the consistency like? Does it seem more dry than a 70/30 should? Can you give me your smoke or cooking schedule?
The only other thing I can think of is that even though you shook up the bag you got more of one type of seasoning than another, this can happen and it’s even happened to me once. Not really much to be done if that is the issue, but give me your smoke shcedule and let me know if they seemed dry for a 70/30.
One other thing, did you use any other additives like Encapsulated Citric Acid or Carrot Fiber?
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Thx for responding. I would not say they were dry, but were not real moist. I made a 5# batch, with a 70/30 beef. I did not use encapsulated citric acid or a binder. My cook schedule was as follows:
1 hour at 125
1 hour at 140
2 hours at 155
Finished at 175 until internal 160 internal temp.I did go back and watch your video on protein extraction, and i dont think i got as good an extraction as I thought. Had some fat pockets in a portion of the sticks.
Any thoughts?
Thx
Tubby
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Jonathon Team Blue Admin Walton's Employee Power User Kansas Dry Cured Sausagereplied to Tubby on last edited by
Tubby Protein extraction was my thought in a way. I was thinking that if you did not get enough then your sticks might have “fatted out” and when that happens it can dull the taste as there is not as much fat to act as a vehicle for the seasoning. The fat helps coat your mouth with the taste and helps it linger, that is part of the reason that fattier foods generally taste better.
Your smoke schedule was good so it’s not that. I would recommend adding a binder in the future, its a simple way to keep the fat and water bound into the meat and can give you a better overall product. Now, I dont think that was the cause of the lack of taste here, just a tip on something to try in the future.
On your next batch make sure you are getting proper protein extraction and maybe try using enough seasoning for say 6-7 lb of meat but only use 5 lb of meat. I dont always recommend that but I know alot of people do that too get a stronger tasting product from time to time.
Let me know on your next batch and we can work from there!
