1.5in X 12in Mahogany Pre-Stuck Fibrous Casing is what I used ground pork shoulder for meat , smoked and cooked to 165 in cabinet with water pan for moisture. Water bath until cooled down, left out for hour at room temp, then to fridge. Casing is rather smooth coming out of smoker cabinet then thru cooling take a wrinkled set. We slice it and then slit it and the casing rarely strips away clean it pulls a small bit of meat usually. FYI mixed meat in Weston 44lb power mixer, did add some super gel to the mix, good tight stuff and hog ringed. Followed your recommended thermal processing schedule. Have I missed something??

Jonathon I will say this the time before this which was my first run at summer sausage the result was the same. That time I use the Sodium Erythorbate additive no sure gel was added, it used a not pre stuck casing from LEM I think 2" or 2-1/4" size. I didnt have my powered mixer so that was done in my 22lb Weston manual mixer, so it defiantly was not over mixed. We did a 80% pork/ 20% chicken breast mix and a reverse of that 80% chicken breast/20%pork. Both was close in flavor tough casing removal was equal.

Parksider Yes I mention that in the thread and Jonathan questioned and I clarified it was cold water bath, changing when warmed up.

Jonathon Cant quote the exact amount off the top of my head , but I followed the Sure Gel instructions to the “T”

Jonathon 32 lbs of ground pork shoulder, mixed for 7 minutes, last minute added encapsulated citric acid per instructions. It was sticky I dont think I over mixed it, didnt realize that you could over mix. Not ice water bath, it was cold tap water bath and I kept changing the water as it warmed up from the cooling process.

Matt Mihalakis As I understand it the humid environment helps with the stall you usually get at around 150 temp range. When I smoke these and cook to done internal of 165 it takes close to 12 hours. Most of the stuff I have read has processing times way less than that. My temp schedule is fully automated and controlled very closely top to bottom in my cabinet along with air circulation top to bottom passing that air over the water pan before going back to box.

1.5in X 12in Mahogany Pre-Stuck Fibrous Casing is what I used ground pork shoulder for meat , smoked and cooked to 165 in cabinet with water pan for moisture. Water bath until cooled down, left out for hour at room temp, then to fridge. Casing is rather smooth coming out of smoker cabinet then thru cooling take a wrinkled set. We slice it and then slit it and the casing rarely strips away clean it pulls a small bit of meat usually. FYI mixed meat in Weston 44lb power mixer, did add some super gel to the mix, good tight stuff and hog ringed. Followed your recommended thermal processing schedule. Have I missed something??

Has anyone smoked their Summers in the smoker then finished in SousVide bath? If so did you vac bag them or immerse directly? Water temp used? Approx cooking time in water bath?
Also if you have soaked your casings to use and not use them up are they still good to let dry back out?

I just opened a new pack of Collagen 21mm casings and they are stick and smell like old veg oil???Why?

Jonathon We have made them for a few years now. I use skinless bones less breast, thighs, & pork shoulder pretty much 33/33/33 mixed. used super bind in last batch habenaro seasoning and ghost pepper cheese the turn out very well. Wifey and I are dieting so just wanted to reduce the fat as much as possible. Making the bigger smoker with blower to equalize air temp in cabinet and to keep sticks hanging well above heat source. I will install my Bradley biscuit feeder in the side of it should work out well. control the temp with my Auber controller.

so I have a two part question, when making snack sticks do I add more water for the super bind I added or just the 2qts to 25lbs ratio? I usually do chicken breast and 20-30% pork shoulder. Going to try 100% chicken breast next time, after initial drying at 20 do you think in the later temp stages I should introduce water pan for humidity? to help keep from drying out. Building new smoker from stainless steel warming cabinet with internal blower should eliminate hot spots associated with my bradley.