Stuffing Snack Sticks

[PokeChop]

I’ve heard large-diameter or large capacity stuffers don’t do well, filling snack sticks using smaller 10mm or 12mm stuffing tubes. Which stuffer fills snack sticks using small stuffer tubes best?

[Grimpuppy]

#5 pound stuffers do 19mm casings that fit on 12mm tubes easy and 16mm casings that fit on 10mm tubes with a little extra water. Just a note, it is not easy to find a 10mm tube that fits a #5 stuffer. I had to make an adapter. My #11 stuffer will do 19mm but it is work to crank it.

[processhead]

PokeChop
It’s not the stuffer capacity so much as it is the diameter of the tub.

Everything else being equal, the smaller the diameter of the tub, the less effort it takes to push meat through the small diameter tube.
This is a basic principle of physics and hydraulics.

Now another factor that enters into it is the gear ratio of the crank mechanism. As far as I know, none of the manufacturers publish this.

The gear ratio can be figured out for the purpose of comparing stuffers though. Just measure how much vertical distance the piston moves with one turn of the crank. Again, everything else being equal, the stuffer that moves the piston the shortest distance with a single turn of the crank will be the one that requires the least amount of effort to crank.

[twilliams]

PokeChop all I do is 19mm casings with a 12mm tube with the 11lb Walton’s stuffer. All works just fine but I use 1600ml of water for 25lb meat block which is around 1 1/2 qts. If I do a sweet seasoning that has a lot of seasoning I will up it to about 1800ml-2000ml. My 20lb will do it but it’s a small difference in pressure and at times blows past the gasket. I think if I purchased a new gasket it would not blow by. I think the key besides water is making sure your stuffer has a dual speed. Single speed would be near impossible to do snack sticks.

[processhead]

PokeChop

When it comes to easy cranking, there is no substitute for the added leverage you get from a longer crank handle. If you are handy, you can fabricate something like this that I add to my antique stuffers to make them work well with snack sticks.

[Jonathon]

Without a doubt there is a difference between the 7 lb Stuffer & 11 lb stuffer and the 26 lb stuffer & the 33 lb stuffer. The increased diameter of the cannister makes it harder for sure, which is part of the reason I almost always recommend the 11 lb to home processors who want to do snack sticks.

Shameless plug for the 20 lb Electric Sausage Stuffer and the 30 lb Sausage Stuffer will do snack sticks with NO cranking, as the motor cranks for you. Now, they do require at least .75 liters of water with snack sticks and pork BUT it should generally come off the tube faster than you can handle without causing the motor any issues.

[DJS303]

I bought a Walton’s 11 lb stuffer after doing some research regarding stuffing snack sticks. The 11 lb stuffer works great with the smallest diameter stuffing tube that I use for snack sticks. I use food grade silicone on the gasket and I think this helps with blow by.

[dawg]

Definitely the smaller diameter stuffer if geared the same. I broke my small stuffer last spring and finished using my 26lb stuffer and that was miserable. I may have to invest in an electric stuffer next fall!