# Best stuffer for small diameter snack sticks?



## bill ace 350 (Sep 17, 2021)

Motorized or manual.

My LEM 5lb does fine, but my 20lb motorized has a .5 inch tube as the smallest.

Looking for a large capacity,  small diameter stuffer.

thanks


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## SmokinEdge (Sep 17, 2021)

What’s the base size of your tubes? Might be able to find a 3/8” with correct base.


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## bill ace 350 (Sep 17, 2021)

SmokinEdge said:


> What’s the base size of your tubes? Might be able to find a 3/8” with correct base.


i have a 3/8" for the 5lb.

everything I've read says don't go smaller than 1/2 inch with the motorized....


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## SmokinEdge (Sep 17, 2021)

bill ace 350 said:


> i have a 3/8" for the 5lb.
> 
> everything I've read says don't go smaller than 1/2 inch with the motorized....


Huh, LEM says their 20 and 30# stuffers make sticks down to 17mm.


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## smokeymose (Sep 17, 2021)

Definitely manual IMHO.
A 1/2" stainless horn will handle some really small casings. 
How small are you wanting?


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## Fueling Around (Sep 17, 2021)

Find a foot switch to control your motorized unit.  Harbor Freight?
With some creative washers and gaskets you get to the 3/8" horn.


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## crazymoon (Sep 18, 2021)

BA350, I never had good luck using my large stuffers with small snack stick tubes. I always had to make my mix very wet to get it to go easily through the tube,took forever to dry/cook in my smoker. That being said, IMHO you could find tubes that match yout stuffer outlet size?


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## daveomak (Sep 18, 2021)

The ratio of the stuffer piston diameter vs. the diameter of the stuffing tube is a critical number...  The bigger the piston, more HP is needed to stuff the small tubes...  It has generally been accepted that 5# stuffer pistons met this criteria and they were best for small sticks...


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## zwiller (Sep 18, 2021)

Not what your looking for but a jerky gun INSANELY easier to use for sticks than a stuffer.  I need another person to use my Hakka 7l and 10mm SS tube and cranking is HARD.  I had no idea this would be the case.  The gun is easy peasy like caulking.  

 daveomak
 gave you the math and the piston diameter of the gun is much smaller...  Key to the gun is using an ice cream scoop to load it.


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## tallbm (Sep 18, 2021)

If you are doing snack sticks and wanting a 20 pound volume you definitely want motorized and not manual AND you want that motor to be beefy to handle the job.

Pushing 20 pounds of meat through small diameter tubes takes a LOT of force.  When I stuff sausages (not even sticks) in my 22lb manual stuffer it takes 2 people.  
1 strong enough to crank and the other person to guide and work the sausage from the tube.
The cranking cannot be done by a child or a person of lesser strength and stature.  It is a little bit of a workout lol.  So motorized and a strong motor is important.

Just wanted to throw that out there since it is important info to consider :)


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## bill ace 350 (Sep 19, 2021)

Thanks everyone. 

I do want to make a big batch, so looks like I'm gonna go with my 1/2 tube.


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## Winterrider (Sep 19, 2021)

Yep, never had any luck with the bigger motorized stuffer. Get way to much pressure and constant blow-by from the top seal. Damn big mess is all it was. Save yourself the headache and use a smaller one design for it. I spent more time cleaning meat off the top of the plunger than it takes to load the 5# LEM up 4 times for a 20# batch.


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## fseb (Dec 10, 2021)

Stick with the 5lb....its the only way to stuff sticks!


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## poacherjoe (Jan 25, 2022)

zwiller said:


> Not what your looking for but a jerky gun INSANELY easier to use for sticks than a stuffer.  I need another person to use my Hakka 7l and 10mm SS tube and cranking is HARD.  I had no idea this would be the case.  The gun is easy peasy like caulking.
> 
> daveomak
> gave you the math and the piston diameter of the gun is much smaller...  Key to the gun is using an ice cream scoop to load it.
> Agreed! The Jerky gun does a very nice job but when your doing a large amount it can be a PITA stuffing that small tube over and over again. Someone needs to make a larger version of the Jerky gun to take care of this problem.


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