Using my CSG when making snack sticks

[marknb]

Hey all,

Just a question about my smoke daddy big kahuna, or cold smoke generation in general. I've only used the unit once, while making pepperoni sticks (19mm, smoked colligen casings). On my MES 30". Now the Thin Blue Smoke is easily obtained when smoking ribs at 220 using the chip tray, but for smoking sausage I got the Smoke Daddy cuz the chips in the tray won't ignite at the lower temps. The smoke I got wasn't in any way thin or blue, though I think I got it to the point where the valve was as close to shut off as I could get it without snuffing out my chips/pellets in the SCG.

The end product was marginal, it all got eaten, but was kind of creosote tasting. Did I just leave the CSG go for too long, or am I not fiddling with the controls just right? I see from some recipes that you shouldn't smoke snack sticks too long, a few recipes recommend an hour or less. I think I let it go for about 3 hours. Is the color of the smoke a worry when cold smoking? I've heard some people cold smoke for days and days, what are they doing to prevent that yuck taste? Is it the smoke density?

Thanks again,

Mark B

 

[thadoc]

I too have only used my smoke daddy once for snack sticks. They turned out great, I let it smoke for roughly 4 hours and then cut the smoke and cranked up the heat to around 165 or so. I smoked with the smoke daddy running constantly with the top exhaust vent wide open, if you close the vent you will trap that smoke and get that bad taste. I installed a small needle valve on my smoke daddy and ran it half way open to get the TBS. I think it also depends on weather or not you let the casings dry before putting the smoke to them and, what kinds of wood you used for smoking.
For my sticks I used a combination of apple, pecan, and hickory. The final result was great not too much smokey flavor but just enough to give it that great color and smoke ring. I might suggest doing a trial run with the smoke daddy to get just the right amount of smoke you are looking for that way you dont ruin any meat and you can work out all the dos and dont while using it. I think once you figure out how to adjust it and get it running how you want you will like the results every time. Good luck!

 

[nickelmore]

I have something similar to a smoke daddy and very rarely see thin and blue. They tend to create a different kind of smoke, more like light white an billowy. I have never had a creosote issue, although it did cross my mind when I saw the amount of smoke it creates.

The other thing I do is use an adjustable air pump. Crank it wide open when lighting and then throttle it down after a while.

never did slim Jim's but 3 hrs seems like a lot of time.

 

[marknb]

Thanks for the responses, guys. I'm making 10lb of Kielbasa this weekend, and I will have to fiddle with the CSG again tomorrow night before using it for real Saturday. FYI, vent is always wide open on my smoker, unless I'm warming it up. Also, I used a combo of the pellets that came with the smoke daddy (maple maybe? I forget), and some maple chips. I think this time I'm going to try chips only, hickory or maybe cherry.

 

[rambler]

I can get all the smoke I want with my MES. I did not at first, then discovered that the bottom of the chip tray had to be "sandwiched" with the bottom of the tray and the piece of metal attached to it around the heating element.

 

[marknb]

That's the way mine is set up too, but when smoking at 130-160F, the element doesn't come on often enough to keep the chips ignited.