deplorablenc1
I always eat my mistakes.
Nobody can find them that way. :smiling_face_with_open_mouth_closed_eyes:

It depends on how much you are grinding.
If just a pound or two, a dinner plate might do.
But for larger amounts you may need a platter, or even a tub.
Since I use my wife’s Kitchenaid, I do my first grind into the mixing bowl (5 pound batches), then mix in the fixins.
After chillin the villin in the cooler, I will regrind but usually right inta the stuffer can.
Then roll out the big longin.
So yeah, plate size matters if you want your meat off the table.

Got to be careful or somebody like me will give you a really silly answer…

deplorablenc1

Ha, Ha, I still have my beer on hand.
I do remote monitoring. I have 3 different thermometers that remotely report what’s going on. (But I usually only use one of them at a time.)
But now I sit at the computer, or TV, and watch the temperatures.
But I’m not one to go traipsing off shopping for underwear or other items while cooking.

Beer is an important safety accessory for BBQing. It is important to have a “cold one” on hand in case of burned fingers.
You can immediately grab your cold can of beer to take the heat out of a burned finger.
Beer has natural anesthetic properties, and can have a numbing effect before the actual accidental burning. So there is that two-fold advantage of cold beer in hand.
A side effect of Beer at the BBQ is it can make you more entertaining to your guests. Especially if they, too, imbibe.
So the next time your spouse complains about having beer with your Bar-B-Que, point out the safety advantages of cold beer on hand.
To me, being safety conscience, it was important enough to put my Curing/Beer Fridge at my Outdoor Kitchen. Because I find my beer has a tendency to evaporate. So having more on hand where it is apt to be needed quickly made sense.
And the little fridge is a good place to put my smoked Bacon to age after smoking to mellow out. Having a ballast of 12 ounce mini kegs for temperature balance, the mini kegs also take on the wonderful aroma of smoked bacon.

I think having separate monitoring is better because if it fails, replacing the thermal probe, or the entire thermometer is better than fiddling with built in sorts of units.

I’m Mr. Smallbatch. I mostly make things for me.
So in reality, 5 pounds is a big batch for me.
I am a pig, so I do gobble it up. But 5 lbs. is a big amount for an old guy who mostly eats it myself.
So… I use the wife’s KitchenAid, make 1-5 pound batches, stuff with a 5 pound stuffer.
So I only use the stand mixer as my grinder/mixer.
I like Willie’s Snack Sticks Mix, but also like home mixed ingredients, and Hot Italian Sausage Mix for snack sticks.
But the underlying theme for me is I do smaller batches. So I cannot justify to myself having the mass quantity type of equipment for my piddly needs.
Being retired, I tend to have more time than money or volume needs.

The MB’s I have start at 100° F, and Range up to 275° F.
But the controllers are not very accurate, nor reliable. But if allowed to run for hours, they will tend to stabilize and run more consistently.
In my experience’s smoking my snack sticks, I can get better results using my PID controller to get better temperature controls. And leaving the vents wide open.
Having the vents wide open allows the moisture to vent out better, and lets the smoke travel in and through better. But my MB’s are both highly modified. I use what is called a “Mailbox Mod”, and dissolve my pellets into sawdust and burn it in a tray. It makes a much better, milder smoke flavor, and a much thinner blue smoke. The smoke is cold, and most creosote and tars get condensed out in the “mailbox” and the aluminum dryer vent tubing connecting my “mailbox” to my smoker.
I use this modification all the time to make the smoke, and my PID controller so I can do cold smoking of a variety to things like Bacon’s, nuts, seasonings, fish, and such.
I don’t use Liquid Smoke, but rely on seasonings and real smoke for flavoring.
I also add enough cold water to my mixing to make my meats into a paste consistency, and rely on the heat to dry that moisture back out. I generally judge my finish point on the casing beginning to wrinkle.
After pulling, ice water bathing, and drying, the snack sticks will often smooth back out to a point.
For my Jerky though, I use my dehydrator and rely on the marinading for the flavoring of the end result.
Two different products, two different procedures, But great tastes.

A 5 pound batch of Willie’s Snack Sticks…

mikeihuntr OK, that helps explain the color of the sausages.

For most of my days I’ve made one sort or another of home grown smokers. So I have a natural appreciation for home made smoke boxes.
Early last year I ran out of Bradley Pucks for my Brinkman UDS converted to a Bradley smoke generator, I did order a box of my favorite, (Hickory) pucks, but I did not like the price.
Long story short, I’ve gravitated into Masterbuilt Smokers, but after my first attempt, I modified it into a working smoker.
Where I am now, I should have, again, built my own smokerbox. But it’s nice having what I have.
I see you have a double electric hotplate and burn your chips on one side. I did that for decades, too.

I came to be here because I’m gravitating into Snack Sticks, and hopefully Kielbasa in the future. And Walton’s has everything I’ll need as I sink into the mire of a new vain in smoking meats.
I’m sitting growing spider webs on my elbows waiting for FedEx to drive their 20 mule team from Kansas to California with my first order.
My intended first trial will be some Willie’s Seasoning Snack Sticks in 19mm, Pork Shoulder.
I also Cure and Smoke my own Bacon’s (Slab and Canadian).
But I have a hare brained idea to make a Pork Belly Bacon into Snack Sticks. (I cold smoke my bacons after curing. So basically be seasoning and grinding a slab to stuff.) Hense, a Hare Brained Idea. LOL!

Enjoy your Home Grown Smoker Box. I really like it!

Jonathon
Hi Jonathon!
Yes, it is entirely possible to blow up a mixers gearbox. A friend of mine did that when he added ice to meat he was grinding.
Destroyed the gearbox of his wife’s mixer.
I tend to err towards the other side, and I’m very careful to not over tax the KitchenToy mixer. I run it at the lowest to lower speeds.
Still learning, (always learning) I’m not in a hurry, but so far the mixer has worked great for my micro brew batches.
And the wife has been cool about it. She actually suggested I look into a grinder attachment for it. I found a stainless steel aftermarket I liked and got that.
I’m always mindful to avoid forcing it.
A Friend of mine once told me, “A Poor Man has Poor ways. But they can work.”
I did catch some of your live stream, but unfortunately, it was moving to slow for me to stick around. Hint, hint…

deplorablenc1
Yep, the MB’s are a natural for using 3" venting tube and dryer discharge vent hose.
I had the 30" as my first (ever) commercial made smoker. For over 50 years all my smoke boxes were adaptations of re-purposed things. Large electrical equipment boxes, Porcelain interior refrigerators, or modified bar-B-ques.
I wished I had a 40" MB, and one day a guy posted (elsewhere) he had a 40" with a dead control to give away. It was Providential, he lived about 10 miles away. I scored a 40", and put my PID to control it, and use it as my Cold Smoker to do…
Well… cold smoked stuff. Bacon, Nuts, anything I don’t want to “cook” while smoking.
No matter what short-comings there are with MB’s controls and electrics, the boxes work fine.
They should market boxes, sans any controls, for folks that want to DIY a smoker with heat and controls that actually can work.
If I knew now, what I didn’t know then…

But for me, using dust definitely gives me the flavor I crave, and the control I require.

rhjbarney

Interesting. I ripped the guts out of my two Masterbuilts because the gap between the chip pan and the element failed to keep the wood chips smoldering.
But going to a modification has allowed perfect smoke control, and perfect temperature control.

The word Perfect being used very ambiguously here. Nothing is perfect, that is why engineering spec sheets are nice. It gives you the tolerances outside of middle of the broad brush strokes.
Most “Consumer Grade” anything is going to be ballpark at best. And bare in mind that ballparks have fields of room for errors.

Congratulations Joe!
Awe sum work you put in there man!
And awesome pictures, too!

It depends on how much you are grinding.
If just a pound or two, a dinner plate might do.
But for larger amounts you may need a platter, or even a tub.
Since I use my wife’s Kitchenaid, I do my first grind into the mixing bowl (5 pound batches), then mix in the fixins.
After chillin the villin in the cooler, I will regrind but usually right inta the stuffer can.
Then roll out the big longin.
So yeah, plate size matters if you want your meat off the table.

Got to be careful or somebody like me will give you a really silly answer…

JohninPa said in Stuffing snack sticks?:

I have a lem #12 grinder , believe the smallest tube it came with is a 5/8" will that work with the 19 mm casings?

If that is the O.D. (outside diameter) it should. 19mm equals 3/4".
Personally, I would want a smaller stuffing tube than 5/8" for snack sticks.
https://www.metric-conversions.org/length/millimeters-to-inches.htm

But LEM may not want the back pressure a smaller tube could cause.

I did some snack sticks with my grinder on a KitchenAid, but quickly realized the value of a dedicated stuffer.
I use a 5 pound stuffer because I’m Mr. Smallbatch. It’s a lot easier to use a stuffer so you can control the feed rate.
I’m also pineing over a real grinder to do that step. But doing well enough doing my grinding and mixing with the kitchenaid.

When you are a Mr. Smallbatch, 19 mm casings tend to use up your hard won stuffin.
So I think I’ll stick around the smaller casings, and Willie’s Snack Stick mix.

chippewa

I went this way on Ebay. https://www.[link removed]/itm/1-9-16-x-3-8-Snack-Stick-Tube-AND-17mm-Casings-for-Sausage-Stuffer-LEM-606/152809566253?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

Works great for me on my 5# LEM stuffer. No problems at all.
I use Willie’s Snack Stick Mix, and still using the Collagen casing that came with the tube. (Because I’m Mr. Smallbatch.)

Congratulations Joe!
Awe sum work you put in there man!
And awesome pictures, too!

I second Jonathon’s advice.
Willie’s is a great taste by itself, and how to is right here.

I like to do a 50/50 Beef/Pork Shoulder mix.
Course grind, mix in the Willie’s, Refrigerate over night. (Gives the cure time to cure.)
Then regrind with a 3/16" plate.
Refrigerate for a couple hours to rechill. Then put the batch in my 5 pound stuffer and make rope.
At that point, into the smoker to smoke and bake to 165° IT. Ice water bath. Then whack into ~8" sticks and package in 5’s.

I like 17 mm collagen casing for mine. Gives it a “snap”.
I use Apple Wood as my smoke. I typically eat a package of 5.
That’s why I like 5’s. If I did 10’s, or 20’s, I’d likely eat them all.
And since I share, my dog would get to danged full.

Jonathon, could you please give him the link to the reducing page for lesser than 25 pounds of meat? Thanks!
(I’m off to go drag a trailer around in L.A. traffic.)

I guess I’m just not that adventurous.
I smoke and cure meats for preservation reasons.
Adding water, with a pan or any other device seems counter productive.
People I’ve seen with curing chambers do not use a humidifier like that. They use what is more like used in a humidor for cigars. (Think a large storage, walk in refer sized chamber.)
A vaporizer like what I see in that picture is going to mold your sausage.
And Lord Knows, us guys don’t want to let our sausages mold.

Carry on…

Didn’t cook nothin.
But I did start more sow belly curing.
I’m maken Maple Bacon for the 6 YO Grand Daughters request.
Two slabs, all I had on hand.

It’ll see the pan in 4 weeks.

johnsbrewhouse said in Kitchenaid mixer for 5lb batches of sausage?:

The corkscrew is a doughhook and won’t mix well.

Well, it would probably mix dough ok.