New member and a question about Snack Sticks

[steel4sam]

Hey guys, 

   I live in Central Oregon and have smoked jerky and fish for years, in the past 3-4 years I have dabbled in bacon, hams, summer sausage and now pepperoni snack sticks.  I use a Traeger pellett fed smoker that will smoke as low as 100 degrees. 

I made some Elk Pepperoni sticks today, I will be smoking them tomorrow. My question is this, I packed some links pretty darn tight, should I worry about them splitting in the smoker?

Thanks! 

Sam 

 

[boykjo]

First off welcome to SMF Sam and were glad to have you aboard...Can you swing over to roll call and introduce yourself so we can give you a proper welcome and don't forget to fill out your location in your profile........

Thanks and happy smoking

Joe

You;ll be fine. Keep your smoker temp below 175. Start out around 120 for 2 hrs then bump up 10 degrees every hr till you hit 175. Take the sticks to It of 154. USDA says 160 for food safety. Give them a cold water bath then hang to bloom or fridge overnight