I also have been using my time at home to do some meat processing. I did 12 lbs of Bloody Mary snack sticks and 12 lbs of Hatch Green Chili brats this week. For both I used 7.5 lbs venison, 3 lbs pork shoulder, and 1.5 lb pork fat. I added 1oz carrot fiber to the brats. To the sticks I added 2oz carrot fiber and 2oz ECA.
The Hatch green chili is my new favorite brat flavor. I did half with hi-temp cheddar. Awesome!
The Bloody Mary Snack Sticks turned out great, but still can’t beat Willie’s. This was my second time using the hot water bath method. That’s the way to do it! I use a bull rack with my Jim Bowie GMG and can get all sticks on 3 trays without crowding. Smoked for 5 hours rotating trays every 30 minutes. Then into electric roaster with water at 170 for about 1 hour. Ice bath and then set out to dry for about an hour, then in the fridge for about 24 hours.
My first time using the hot water bath, I didn’t watch it and didn’t realize how quick it would finish. My water temp jumped to 185. Stick internal temp was at about 174 before I realized it. It seemed I had a little fatting out, and the sticks kind of plumped causing a different texture on that batch. This batch was perfect though.

I’ve enjoyed all the episodes, but really enjoyed the info and topics covered in this one. Keep it up!

Hey all. Sorry if this has been addressed before. I was wondering if there was a way to save (or mark, or favorite) particular posts on here? I often find myself remembering seeing a post about a technique or recipe but then have problems finding it or wading through the search results. It would be great if I could somehow save individual posts that I could easily come back to when I need them. Is this possible?