Pepperoni Sticks 1st

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garyinmd

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
SMF Premier Member
Jan 27, 2011
310
17
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Been wanting to make some pepperoni sticks for a while now and finally jumped in, was in Bass Pros right before the new year and bought some Lem seasoning and some casings to try.  Never made this before and was hoping my Jerky Gun would work to stuff the sticks.

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Went to the store to get some burger and found some BOGO, jumped on a couple of packs.  Wasn't till I got home and realized I had one with 80/20 and the other 90/10.  Was not going back so I mixed 2 lbs of each together hoping for the best.

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Used scale for 4 lbs of burger, then added mix and went to work.  Here it is before getting covered and into the beer fridge for the nights rest.

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Found out the attachment on the Jerky Gun was too big, made a quick trip to Bass Pros and found the one shown here and also picked a couple of tubes so I would not have to reload as often, made a big difference.

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Got a couple of tubes loaded and ready to go.

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Put some paper down on the counter and started mixing 2 lbs batches, I also added Citric Acid and mixed up good before stuffing. One thing I learned from reading other posts and I am glad I did is to add a bit of water to the mix to make it go through the tube a bit better.

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Got everything loaded in the MES30 at 2:00, used a mixture of Pecan pellets and dust in the AMNPS.  Had a bag of each almost empty, put the pellets against the heating element.

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The MES30 does not like to hold good temps when trying to stay low, I played with the element on/off and changed the setpoint quite a few times over the course of the day, ended up running at 190 deg for awhile before the IT reached 160, here they are cooling off in some ice water.

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Because the outdoor temp was going to be around 35 deg just hung them over the line on the screened in porch.  Need to thank NEPAS, had a question about the blooming part and gave me some good suggestions.  THANKS NEPAS.  Finished at 10:00 that night, here they are in the morning.

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Next two pics show them after bringing inside then after cutting the ends of to get ready for the bags.

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All packed up ready for freezer, pretty sure they will not last long.

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This one never made it to the bagging area.

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Read a lot of posts on this site about making sticks, I know it made a world of difference when I finally jumped in.  Thanks to all.

Gary
 
great job Gary - I did some this weekend to but had a wreck with trying to use the grinder for

a stuffer, finely went to the Jerky cannon also. Lesson learned. Time to buy designated stuffer
 
Awesome job on the sticks.......... the only thing wrong is you vacuum packed them. a waste of bags because they wont last long...............
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Joe
 
They look delicious Gary! Nice job!
Thanks Al

Looks good Gary, I hope to try some real soon.

        
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Go for it Raptor, they were actually pretty easy, kicked myself for waiting so long.


great job Gary - I did some this weekend to but had a wreck with trying to use the grinder for

a stuffer, finely went to the Jerky cannon also. Lesson learned. Time to buy designated stuffer
The Jerky Gun worked better than I thought, just a lot of work.  I was thinking at the time I can't imagine the people here on the site doing the size batches they do this way.

Looks great!
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Thanks


Awesome job on the sticks.......... the only thing wrong is you vacuum packed them. a waste of bags because they wont last long...............
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Joe
Thanks Joe, I thought about it when I was almost done packing.  I had to leave for the airport as soon as I hit the submit button, will post a smaller batch I did on New Years day later.  
 
Sticks look great, Gary. The 1st batch of sticks I did with a Cabelas jerky pistol (10 lbs). The next day the wife and I went and picked up an LEM 5 lb stuffer. It makes life alot easier.
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looks great Thumbs Up

now you just need to send me a few of them bags :biggrin:
 
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Quote:
Sticks look great, Gary. The 1st batch of sticks I did with a Cabelas jerky pistol (10 lbs). The next day the wife and I went and picked up an LEM 5 lb stuffer. It makes life alot easier.
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While doing these my forearm was really starting to feel it, the stuffer is on my list now too.  Problem is my birthdays in August, wifes birthday is in August, to late for Christmas so we will see what happens.


looks great
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now you just need to send me a few of them bags
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Thanks jrod, too many people here munching so might run short, maybe next time.  
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Now thoses are some good looking sticks you have there
 
Originally Posted by garyinmd  

While doing these my forearm was really starting to feel it, the stuffer is on my list now too.  Problem is my birthdays in August, wife's birthday is in August, to late for Christmas so we will see what happens.
Please do not buy this and pretend it is a birthday present for your wife.
 
Couple of questions from a newbie. What ground beef did you intend to use - 80/20 or 90/10? Are they significantly better than the mass produced Slim guy ones? Did you use a meat probe to detirmine the meat temps (are they effective in such a skinny sausage)?

LOOKS TERRIFIC!

THANKS!

**EDIT* Just noticed, we are neighbors!
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Originally Posted by Bigfoot21075  

Hey neighbor, answered questions in red below.

Couple of questions from a newbie. What ground beef did you intend to use - 80/20 or 90/10 Meant to get the 80/20 but was in a hurry and did not notice, I did see the discount on the receipt which is a bit strange.  If you look at the way a lot of people here make them they will mix in some pork fat with lean beef, not sure how the taste would change but hope to find somewhere to have them grind me some one day.

 Are they significantly better than the mass produced Slim guy ones? Much better, not a greasy, plus now I have done it I can start playing with spices to get some different flavors.

Did you use a meat probe to detirmine the meat temps (are they effective in such a skinny sausage)   From reading other post I was sure it was going to take 5-8 hours at least.  I used my meat probe from the ET732 around the 5 hour mark, when it showed 160 deg I probed a couple of them and they were within a couple of degrees.  Just check in a couple of spots at the casings I used are not that big around.

LOOKS TERRIFIC!

THANKS!

**EDIT* Just noticed, we are neighbors!
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THANKS GARY!

One last question, what does the "bloom" stage do? There are many people here that can answer it better, but basically they are soaked in ice water to stop the temp from climbing and the hung up to dry and cool some more.  I hope someone answers the question better as that is a very short answer.

I appreciate your help!
Gary, Valentines day is next month. Maybe you could sweet talk the wife into a Valentines gift.
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Thanks Johnnie never thought about that, I guess there's hope yet.  Was thinking about sending her the link to Northern Tools http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200449319_200449319  and hope she gives me the 
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.        I think I already know the answer 
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Gary
 
 
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