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Well, I'm out of snack sticks. I know, it's a disaster. Well, I guess it's time to do something about that.
Here is the plan, making a 7 pound batch of beef sticks with my favorite go to recipe. A modified version of AC Legg #116 spice mix with 80/20 ground chuck. This is the recipe I'm using for a 7 pound batch. I sometimes mix a little ground pork in, but today it is just 80/20 ground chuck from Sam's Club as I did not feel like defrosting whole meat and dragging out the #12 grinder.
Modified AC Legg #116 Snack Sticks
Cure #1 measured and ready to mix with water (container on right), and the other spices are in the container on the left (except the ECA which gets mixed just before smoking). If you don't have a gram scale that will read in 1/100th of a gram, I highly recommend one. It's pretty much impossible to do recipes like this with any degree of accuracy without one. Most of the larger scales have a 0.5gram to as much as a 2 gram +/- accuracy (that's a 1 to 4 gram range).
Tried mixing the meat in a rimmed pan. Bad idea. 7 pounds was just too much for this pan so I ended up transferring it to my usual stainless steel bowl. Here is the meat/spice mix/cure mix in the pan. I mixed about 50% at a time in batches for more even distribution. With the addition of phosphates the meat *WILL* get very sticky towards the end, so expect it.
All mixed up and into a storage container to go back into the fridge to rest overnight. I like to give the spices 24 hours or so to "meld" with the meat. Tomorrow, I will add the ECA and stuff into 21mm collagen casings right before smoking. The ECA is *NOT* in the ingredient photo above as I'm not mixing it in today.
For those who have not used ECA before, it needs to be added right before smoking and must be mixed by hand. The CA part (citric acid) of ECA is Encapsulated (hence the "E" part of ECA) inside a little bubble of fat. CA will cause meat to turn grey and have a mealy mouth feel if you mix it ahead of time and let it sit. If you over work the ECA mixing it by using a mechanical means to mix, such as a mixing tub with a crank handle or using a grinder to stuff the casings, you can also break the encapsulation open too soon and cause problems with the quality of the meat. The fat encapsulation is meant to melt at around 143-145* and release the CA into the meat after the meat is basically set (but not fully cooked). This adds the twang flavor you would get by a bacterial fermentation of the sticks. Another method to add twang is to use Fermento or Cultured Buttermilk Powder (Sacco brand from the grocery store). Short of truly making fermented sticks with cure #2, I like ECA as I think the flavor is closest to the traditional stick flavor. But the other methods will work (and cure #2 with true fermentation is the true 'old school' way, but it takes a lot longer and involves many more steps).
One more note about ECA. If you have the LEM brand (and several others), the recommended rate is 3 ounces for 25 pounds of meat. The Butcher & Packer brand of ECA recommends 1.5 ounces to 25 pounds of meat. This batch will have a little of both brands. I can't tell the visual difference between them. I've also seen the recommended range of 2 to 3 ounces per 25 pounds of meat on other brands. My thinking is the ECA is probably the same product and it's a 1.5 to 3 ounce per 25 pounds, or to taste. So I'm sticking with my usual ratio that is the equivalent of the 3 ounces to 25 pounds or 23.81 grams for this batch of 7 pounds. I will report if it's overkill or taste like my usual sticks do.
More to follow tomorrow with the stuffing and smoking.
Here is the plan, making a 7 pound batch of beef sticks with my favorite go to recipe. A modified version of AC Legg #116 spice mix with 80/20 ground chuck. This is the recipe I'm using for a 7 pound batch. I sometimes mix a little ground pork in, but today it is just 80/20 ground chuck from Sam's Club as I did not feel like defrosting whole meat and dragging out the #12 grinder.
Modified AC Legg #116 Snack Sticks
- 7 pounds - 80/20 ground chuck
- 146.85 grams - AC Legg #116 snack stick spice mix
- 7.94 grams - Cure #1
- 8.16 grams - Jalapeno powder (from Savory Spice Shop - good stuff)
- 15.88 grams - Butcher & Packer #414 special binder (phosphates)
- 1/4 cup - warm water (to dissolve cure in)
- 23.81 grams - ECA (encapsulated citric acid - for that fermented twang flavor)
Cure #1 measured and ready to mix with water (container on right), and the other spices are in the container on the left (except the ECA which gets mixed just before smoking). If you don't have a gram scale that will read in 1/100th of a gram, I highly recommend one. It's pretty much impossible to do recipes like this with any degree of accuracy without one. Most of the larger scales have a 0.5gram to as much as a 2 gram +/- accuracy (that's a 1 to 4 gram range).
Tried mixing the meat in a rimmed pan. Bad idea. 7 pounds was just too much for this pan so I ended up transferring it to my usual stainless steel bowl. Here is the meat/spice mix/cure mix in the pan. I mixed about 50% at a time in batches for more even distribution. With the addition of phosphates the meat *WILL* get very sticky towards the end, so expect it.
All mixed up and into a storage container to go back into the fridge to rest overnight. I like to give the spices 24 hours or so to "meld" with the meat. Tomorrow, I will add the ECA and stuff into 21mm collagen casings right before smoking. The ECA is *NOT* in the ingredient photo above as I'm not mixing it in today.
For those who have not used ECA before, it needs to be added right before smoking and must be mixed by hand. The CA part (citric acid) of ECA is Encapsulated (hence the "E" part of ECA) inside a little bubble of fat. CA will cause meat to turn grey and have a mealy mouth feel if you mix it ahead of time and let it sit. If you over work the ECA mixing it by using a mechanical means to mix, such as a mixing tub with a crank handle or using a grinder to stuff the casings, you can also break the encapsulation open too soon and cause problems with the quality of the meat. The fat encapsulation is meant to melt at around 143-145* and release the CA into the meat after the meat is basically set (but not fully cooked). This adds the twang flavor you would get by a bacterial fermentation of the sticks. Another method to add twang is to use Fermento or Cultured Buttermilk Powder (Sacco brand from the grocery store). Short of truly making fermented sticks with cure #2, I like ECA as I think the flavor is closest to the traditional stick flavor. But the other methods will work (and cure #2 with true fermentation is the true 'old school' way, but it takes a lot longer and involves many more steps).
One more note about ECA. If you have the LEM brand (and several others), the recommended rate is 3 ounces for 25 pounds of meat. The Butcher & Packer brand of ECA recommends 1.5 ounces to 25 pounds of meat. This batch will have a little of both brands. I can't tell the visual difference between them. I've also seen the recommended range of 2 to 3 ounces per 25 pounds of meat on other brands. My thinking is the ECA is probably the same product and it's a 1.5 to 3 ounce per 25 pounds, or to taste. So I'm sticking with my usual ratio that is the equivalent of the 3 ounces to 25 pounds or 23.81 grams for this batch of 7 pounds. I will report if it's overkill or taste like my usual sticks do.
More to follow tomorrow with the stuffing and smoking.
worthy
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