# Canadian Goose SS/Snack sticks - Ratio Question - Update



## meatstick (Feb 29, 2016)

Hey guys, I have some goose for this past season I want to make for so I can take with us on our spring fishing trip. I am planning to make 25 lbs of summer sausage and 25 lbs (2 -12.5 lb batches) of snack sticks. 

My plan is to use 13 lbs of goose and 12 of pork butt for 25 lbs of summer sausage. For the snack sticks I plan to use 7 lbs of goose and 5.5 lbs of pork butt for the 12.5 lbs which is what the seasoning kit calls for. I do have a couple pounds of pork fat which I will probably just throw in as I am grind up the pork butt. I did read where I should not allow my smoker to go over 180 degrees. Maybe that is where I made my mistake in the past. The first hour I would keep the smoker about 140 with out any wood then I would crank it up to 225 and add wood and start smoking until internal temp reaches 152.

Also, has anyone use regular block cheese from the store? I'm thinking about buying some and cutting it into the cubes like the hi temp cheese and freezing it. I'm just worried it will all ooze out.

Any suggestions are appreciated.... Thanks


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## SmokinAl (Feb 29, 2016)

I'm no sausage guru, so I can't comment on the ratios, but I  do know when your smoking sausage that the smoker temp can't go above 175 or the fat will melt out. I have seen guys use regular cheese in their sausage but I have always used the hi temp cheese.

Since the bulk of this thread is about sausage, I'm going to move it to the sausage forum. I think you will get better answers there. 

Al


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## oberst (Feb 29, 2016)

Don't know on the cheese but am very interested if someone has done it. On the goose, I cut mine into very small  pieces that could not hide a steel shot. Broken tooth could be $500 minimum. Laborious to some extent but trying to avoid a hard shot in sausage. Just following the shot tracks doesn't always work if bird was hit a year previously.  Here's an example if it comes through on phone












image.jpeg



__ oberst
__ Feb 29, 2016


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## smokeymose (Feb 29, 2016)

meatstick said:


> Hey guys, I have some goose for this past season I want to make for so I can take with us on our spring fishing trip. I am planning to make 25 lbs of summer sausage and 25 lbs (2 -12.5 lb batches) of snack sticks.
> 
> My plan is to use 13 lbs of goose and 12 of pork butt for 25 lbs of summer sausage. For the snack sticks I plan to use 7 lbs of goose and 5.5 lbs of pork butt for the 12.5 lbs which is what the seasoning kit calls for. I do have a couple pounds of pork fat which I will probably just throw in as I am grind up the pork butt. I did read where I should not allow my smoker to go over 180 degrees. Maybe that is where I made my mistake in the past. The first hour I would keep the smoker about 140 with out any wood then I would crank it up to 225 and add wood and start smoking until internal temp reaches 152.
> 
> ...


I've never made summer sausage and don't really know anything about it, but those temps seem kind of high for smoking sausage. Usually 180 is the top setting to bring it up to IT after smoking at 120 or 130 for a while.


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## ragnar (Feb 29, 2016)

meatstick said:


> Hey guys, I have some goose for this past season I want to make for so I can take with us on our spring fishing trip. I am planning to make 25 lbs of summer sausage and 25 lbs (2 -12.5 lb batches) of snack sticks.
> 
> My plan is to use 13 lbs of goose and 12 of pork butt for 25 lbs of summer sausage. For the snack sticks I plan to use 7 lbs of goose and 5.5 lbs of pork butt for the 12.5 lbs which is what the seasoning kit calls for. I do have a couple pounds of pork fat which I will probably just throw in as I am grind up the pork butt. I did read where I should not allow my smoker to go over 180 degrees. Maybe that is where I made my mistake in the past. The first hour I would keep the smoker about 140 with out any wood then I would crank it up to 225 and add wood and start smoking until internal temp reaches 152.
> 
> ...


I don't know goose, but I have done wild turkey. I went higher on the turkey (like 70/30 turkey/pork), and paid the price on a dry, tough sausage. Not sure what recipe you'll be using for the SS, but if it mentions nonfat dry milk powder OR soy protein powder, if you have it, use soy. It'll do a better job of holding moisture than the milk in my experience. 

I've used regular cheese, and yeah, it melts into the meat, or it oozes out either during smoking or upon reheating. Never used high-temp stuff, but will in the future. The flavor of the regular cheese remains, but the cheese disappears for the most part.


SmokinAl said:


> I'm no sausage guru, so I can't comment on the ratios, but I  do know when your smoking sausage that the smoker temp can't go above 175 or the fat will melt out. I have seen guys use regular cheese in their sausage but I have always used the hi temp cheese.
> 
> Since the bulk of this thread is about sausage, I'm going to move it to the sausage forum. I think you will get better answers there.
> 
> Al


Goose fat MAY be lower... thought I'd read that somewhere, but not sure.


Oberst said:


> Don't know on the cheese but am very interested if someone has done it. On the goose, I cut mine into very small pieces that could not hide a steel shot. Broken tooth could be $500 minimum. Laborious to some extent but trying to avoid a hard shot in sausage. Just following the shot tracks doesn't always work if bird was hit a year previously. Here's an example if it comes through on phone
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Always a good mantra - WATCH OUT FOR BB's! Small plate on the grinder should capture any of these, but might cost you a grinder blade. Tiny shot, though, might still pass.


SmokeyMose said:


> I've never made summer sausage and don't really know anything about it, but those temps seem kind of high for smoking sausage. Usually 180 is the top setting to bring it up to IT after smoking at 120 or 130 for a while.


Yup. What Mose said. Expect a "stall" around 135F where the internal temp just sits there. Too high a smoker temp just dries everything out, and TOO HIGH a temp just liquifies the fat, and that isn't good.

Good luck! 50 lbs of smoked meat is a lot. If you have time, maybe make one batch of SS or sticks and see how it goes, then make the other? Regardless, looking forward to seeing the results of your effort!


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## meatstick (Mar 1, 2016)

Thanks for the help info guys. Looks like I may have been smoking at to high of temp in the past. 

Yeah, those BB's are dangerous. My wife is a school teacher and I made something a few years ago either snack sticks or jerky and she took it into her principle to try. Unfortunately, he picked the wrong piece and found a BB. She said she was mortified...lol


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## meatstick (Mar 1, 2016)

Do you guys to the ice bath for both snack sticks and summer sausage? I read somewhere and can't remember where that was that they don't to ice bath for snack sticks but they do for summer sausage. How long should they sit in the ice bath/cold water? I just wanted to know what he pros vs cons were.


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## smokeymose (Mar 1, 2016)

meatstick said:


> Do you guys to the ice bath for both snack sticks and summer sausage? I read somewhere and can't remember where that was that they don't to ice bath for snack sticks but they do for summer sausage. How long should they sit in the ice bath/cold water? I just wanted to know what he pros vs cons were.


It's just to cool them down when you hit target temp so they don't keep cooking, I believe, meatstick. They don't have to stay in there long. I'm not familiar with summer sausage, but I do it with any other sausage, including stix.


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## meatstick (Mar 1, 2016)

SmokeyMose said:


> It's just to cool them down when you hit target temp so they don't keep cooking, I believe, meatstick. They don't have to stay in there long. I'm not familiar with summer sausage, but I do it with any other sausage, including stix.


Thanks SmokeyMose... If I remember correctly where I was reading the guy said he doesn't do it because it causing the causes them to shrink and peal off.


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## ragnar (Mar 1, 2016)

meatstick said:


> Do you guys to the ice bath for both snack sticks and summer sausage? I read somewhere and can't remember where that was that they don't to ice bath for snack sticks but they do for summer sausage. How long should they sit in the ice bath/cold water? I just wanted to know what he pros vs cons were.





SmokeyMose said:


> It's just to cool them down when you hit target temp so they don't keep cooking, I believe, meatstick. They don't have to stay in there long. I'm not familiar with summer sausage, but I do it with any other sausage, including stix.


SmokeyMose has it right - it's to stop the cook dead in it's tracks, and also to lock in the moisture, resolidify any fat or cheese, keep casings from shriveling up, etc.

DEFINITELY want to do this with SS, or it shrivels and the casing gets funky.

How long? Until the internal temp gets to around 100F. After that, pull it out, hang it at room temp for an hour or two to bloom, and into the reefer.

Good questions, meatstick!


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## smokeymose (Mar 1, 2016)

meatstick said:


> Thanks for the help info guys. Looks like I may have been smoking at to high of temp in the past.
> 
> Yeah, those BB's are dangerous. My wife is a school teacher and I made something a few years ago either snack sticks or jerky and she took it into her principle to try. Unfortunately, he picked the wrong piece and found a BB. She said she was mortified...lol


Reminds me of a little history trivia. It seems that back in the pioneer days when all the meat you ate was wild game you shot, folks would place a very small glass in the middle of the table so that when anyone came accross a bb, they could just toss it in the glass and they re -used the shot. Hence "Shot Glass".
Sometimes history can be fascinating..


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## meatstick (Mar 3, 2016)

1 more question.... Do I need to add water to the water pan when smoking snack sticks or summer sausage? After everything I have read it seems you want to dry out the casings and meat so adding moisture might not be a good idea... I don't know just thought I would ask.


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## SmokinAl (Mar 3, 2016)

At the low temps you smoke sausage at water will not boil, so no moisture is added to the smoker.

I keep the pan dry for sausage.

Al


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## bfilipowski (Mar 3, 2016)

SmokinAl said:


> At the low temps you smoke sausage at water will not boil, so no moisture is added to the smoker.
> 
> I keep the pan dry for sausage.
> 
> Al



I age





SmokinAl said:


> At the low temps you smoke sausage at water will not boil, so no moisture is added to the smoker.
> 
> I keep the pan dry for sausage.
> 
> Al



I agree that water will not boil, but I use water in the pan just as a heat sink to help regulate the temps inside the chamber. If the weather is right I also might use sand instead of water. Just my $.02


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## meatstick (Mar 7, 2016)

Snack sticks.JPG



__ meatstick
__ Mar 7, 2016






Sorry for the upside down picture... I don't know how to fix it. 

Anyways, I just wanted to say thanks for all the help and give you an update. 

I smoked 25 lbs of goose snack sticks and 25 lbs of goose summer sausage this weekend which turned out really good. I mixed 50% goose to 50% pork butt. Since I am cheap I did not want to pay for the hi temp cheese and figured I would tried regular block cheese. Well it worked!! I took a 1lb block cheese and cut in into cubes then froze it. Right before stuffing the meat into the casings I added the cheese. As you can see the cheese held up and I will definitely be using/doing this again.


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