Quick snackstick question...

[Beertooth]

I am doing some snack sticks now & was curious about the shrinkage.

They are 26mm (?) collagen casings.

A friend & I did some a while back & they never got that nice wrinkly shrivel to them.

Do I leave 'em in there 'til they "look" like snack sticks?
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Camp Chef Pro90 Stove w/ Griddle
1985 22" Weber Kettle
CharGriller
18.5" WSM (Stoked)
22.5" WSM
85 Gallon UDS
Weber Smokey Joe/Mini WSM
Cast Iron Cookware
24" Disc Cooker
Masterbuilt 40" Electric
Char-Griller Akorn

[Kevin P]

26mm are on the larger side for meat sticks; generally I use 19-22mm ,but it's a matter of personal preference. Some folks like 'em REAL tiny — Slim Jim style.

My gauge to how long I cook or smoke them is merely by temp, not by any other factor. Once they hit the IT I want, out they come & into a ice bath to cool.

As they dry & bloom, additional 'shrinkage' occurs.
If you prefer less 'wrinkling'— smoke them for a shorter time & finish the in an hot water bath (165°). They'll be plumper and may not wrinkle as much.

Once you refrigerate them, however, they'll continue to dry & wrinkle as the fridge continues to suck the moisture out of the sticks. If you keep them in a container (with some small holes to breath), they wrinkle less.

Another tip: Immediately after the cooling ice bath, a quick plunge in HOT water (a quick dip) also minimizes shrinkage in the casing.

Besides— whats' the matter with a few wrinkles? They add character!

These 19mm cheesy meatsticks I made wrinkled as they bloomed, but had nice mouth-feel, good snap & chew, and were moist.

Kevin

[Beertooth]

Thanks for the reply Kevin.

This was only my second time trying them.

I wanted to use a snack stick kit that I bought from Eldon's Jerky And Sausage Supply. This one here.

I guess the casing is 22mm.

They came out good with a nice snap when you bite 'em.

The last ones we did, we ran out of time. They were up to temp, but had to pull them. I wanted to leave them in to firm up a bit but couldn't.

I'll post pics in a new thread later.
_________________
Camp Chef Pro90 Stove w/ Griddle
1985 22" Weber Kettle
CharGriller
18.5" WSM (Stoked)
22.5" WSM
85 Gallon UDS
Weber Smokey Joe/Mini WSM
Cast Iron Cookware
24" Disc Cooker
Masterbuilt 40" Electric
Char-Griller Akorn

[BBQonICE]

on sausage...when we smoke it at the certain temp...we watch for it Juuuust starting to wrinkle and turn. It is at this time we pull and do a hot bath for 15 min to bring it up to temp and throughly cook them then into ice cold.

when the skin juuuust starts to turn this signals the fat content starting to melt and move the flavour and spices around. Anything more and you will have melted your fat right out and have dry sausage.
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Come on in for a Cool one!

[Harry Nutczak]

The wrinkle you want comes from loss of moisture, it can be loss of fat, or loss of water. You do not want fat loss.

cooking too long or at too high of a temp causes fat loss, and a dry crumbly texture.

After the sausages are smoked, they can spend some time drying at room temps to dump some moisture, this will concentrate the flavors.

Another option is to dry them a bit before smoking, I like to let my large diameter sausages (summer sausage) hand at room temp for up to 48 hours before smoking, and the texture is very firm, but not dry.
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