# Bearcarver's Pepperoni Beef Sticks



## justpassingthru (Jun 30, 2010)

I used Bearcarvers recent recipe for them, I ground up a chuck and went 90% chuck/10% bacon, only thing I did different is I used my jerky gun, they're  wife and children friendly, meaning they not too hot or spicy, in short they're excellent.








When the gun is full it's easy to shoot a straight line, as it empties I tend to shake a little, I went from right to left, about  3/4 of the way through it got a little hairy, I shot them on to fiberglass window screen that I use in my solar dehydrator, sure made it easy to take them out of the smoker.

I smoked them in my GOSM using a low BTU propane hot plate that I set on the wood box rack, I started at 130° and progressively raised the temps to 185°, smoke took 8 hours and I took them out when they passed 160°, truthfully they smelled so good and the fact that I snitched a couple when they were at 155° I couldn't wait any longer, I downed a handful right out of the smoker, just wiped the excess oil off.

I started with 5 pounds of meat and the finished weight was 3 1/4 pounds.







Thanks Bear, this recipe is definitely a keeper.

And thanks all for looking at my Q-view,

Gene


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## daddyzaring (Jun 30, 2010)

Those look great, I wounder if I could do something simiular with my grinder?


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## Bearcarver (Jun 30, 2010)

They look great Gene, and I know they taste even better!
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Like mine, they aren't nice & straight & smooth, but that's because they aren't stuffed inside a casing. That's also why they are probably the best tasting beef sticks you ever had, because there isn't any skin blocking that wonderful smoke flavor.

I really try hard to make all of my best recipes "Step by Step", because I look for that kind of post when I want to try something new, and there seems to be very few posts like that. I'm really glad you like them. 

I wish there was more room in our "signature" area. I started putting a few "Step by Step" recipes in there, but I think we're only allowed about 4 or 5 lines. I was going to put a list of all of my smoking toys there, but I figured it was more important to help others by putting links to my easy to follow recipes there.

Maybe the forum should have a special place for "STEP by STEP" Recipes. If it's not completely step by step, it's not allowed there. That would avoid having to read 30 threads to figure out how to make something, because one doesn't say the temp, one doesn't say the mixture, the time, the water pan, cure mix, the time in fridge, etc, etc, etc.

Sorry to steal your thread, I just figured it would be a good place to mention this, because I know you liked my step by step recipe, and the more people who find out how easy I make it to follow, the better I feel about putting the time into the description. When I make something that really tastes good, I want others to be able to make the same thing without having to go through all the trials I went through. Why should we all have to go through that?

You might as well get ready to make your next batch----It won't last long!
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Thanks for showing,

Bearcarver


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## walle (Jun 30, 2010)

Awesome post.

I love meat sticks... dammit BC!  Now I'm off to dig up you recipe.

Great job JPT!


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## beer-b-q (Jun 30, 2010)

Those look great Gene...


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## mballi3011 (Jun 30, 2010)

Now those sticks sure look good too there Gene.


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## nwdave (Jun 30, 2010)

BC, they'll probably say that your step-by-steps belong in the WIKI.  Seems reasonable and that's the way it seems to be drifting.

JPT, those are fine looking sticks.  Worse thing about them is that they're addictive.


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## Bearcarver (Jun 30, 2010)

NWDave said:


> BC, they'll probably say that your step-by-steps belong in the WIKI.  Seems reasonable and that's the way it seems to be drifting.
> 
> JPT, those are fine looking sticks.  Worse thing about them is that they're addictive.


Yeah,

I've been to the WIKI to find a complete step by step for a simple Chuckie. I couldn't find any that were step by step with everything included. I read about 20 different chuckie posts & consolidated all the things I needed. Took forever. I know there aren't many steps to a Chuckie, but I couldn't find one post that left no questions. Jeff makes some really good step by steps, but I couldn't find a Chuckie from Jeff. I'm not saying there isn't one---I just couldn't find one. I ended up making one, and it was very good, but not good enough to do a serious step by step.

Bear


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## justpassingthru (Jun 30, 2010)

*daddyzaring, *thanks, I don't know if it would be feasible, seems like you would have to move the stuffer or the rack, maybe it's it's a good excuse to buy a jerky gun.

*WALLE,  *thanks, try'em you'll like 'em.

*Beer-B-Q,* thanks Paul.

*mballi,* thanks.

*NWDave,* thanks, yep, their addictive, I've already ate about a pound of them this morning, (while I'm typing this).

*Bear, Bear, Bear,* what can I say my friend, I'm suppose to be losing weight and now you have introduced me these wonderful bites of mana. 

Ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters in this smoking addiction, Bear said they were AWESOME and he is RIGHT!!!  Long time ago I remember buying these thing in convenience stores and throwing them away before they were completely eaten because of all of the preservative junk in them and the thought of I was probably eating cow's lips and steer ears.  Not so with these, I know exactly what is in them and they are delicious!

I agree, your step by step instructions are easy to follow, these should be a wiki and your're the one that should do it.

Thank you Bearman for making my stay in Tahiti more pleasurable.

And again, thank you all for looking at my Q-view,

Gene


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## Bearcarver (Jun 30, 2010)

JustPassingThru said:


> *daddyzaring, *thanks, I don't know if it would be feasible, seems like you would have to move the stuffer or the rack, maybe it's it's a good excuse to buy a jerky gun.
> 
> *WALLE,  *thanks, try'em you'll like 'em.
> 
> ...


Gene,

Thank You for those kind words. That makes me feel great!

I'm wondering if you found the same thing as I did the hardest part. I only made 5 pounds---two racks. I found the hardest thing was laying them out in my little MES 30, without allowing any of them to touch each other. Next time I'll use the top three racks, instead of only the #2 & #3 positions. That way I should be able to do about 7 lb or 7 1/2 lb. I don't like to use the bottom position, because it is so close to the heat---Just me I guess.

Go easy on them---They're very addictive,

Bear


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## mythmaster (Jun 30, 2010)

Those look mighty tasty!

And, yes, Bear, please put this step-by-step in the WIKI so the rest of us can more easily find it when we get ready to try this.

Thumbs up to both of you!


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## daddyzaring (Jun 30, 2010)

Well I was thinking I could make them in my grinder so they'd be more the size of pizza pepperoni.  I think I could control the legnth by how much I put in the grinder, and I am thinking of doing it on a long smooth surface like out kitchen table, and taking a roll of wax paper, lay the roll under where the meat will come out, pull out just enough for it to start on, and just let it unroll the wax paper as it comes out.  ?

 


JustPassingThru said:


> *daddyzaring, *thanks, I don't know if it would be feasible, seems like you would have to move the stuffer or the rack, maybe it's it's a good excuse to buy a jerky gun.
> 
> *WALLE,  *thanks, try'em you'll like 'em.
> 
> ...


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## Bearcarver (Jun 30, 2010)

daddyzaring said:


> Well I was thinking I could make them in my grinder so they'd be more the size of pizza pepperoni.  I think I could control the legnth by how much I put in the grinder, and I am thinking of doing it on a long smooth surface like out kitchen table, and taking a roll of wax paper, lay the roll under where the meat will come out, pull out just enough for it to start on, and just let it unroll the wax paper as it comes out.  ?


daddy,

Then you might want to use this recipe & step by step. It is for a bigger diameter, but uses basically the same recipe. I like the smaller sticks better, I think because they pick up a lot more smoke, but this was excellent too.

Have a look at this one:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forum/thread/94897/pepperoni-cured-smoked-and-qviewed

LOL---Guess I covered all the bases on this one,

Bear


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## nwdave (Jun 30, 2010)

Well, I was going to put this in a separate thread but, since it's drifted this direction, I'll post it here.

Last week, I made Bear's pepperoni sticks with a few variations to suit my setup.  I followed his timeline as fairly as possible. 

I grind my own hamburger so I really know what's in the meat.  It was chuck, kinda lean, about 90/10 which I found too lean.  Next time it'll be about 80/20.  I kept it beef, no bacon or other pork, just the beef, man.  My first grind of chuck was in a Weston 8# grinder, coarse plate.  I mixed in the "BC magic dust/spices" (except I used Instacure #1)  and ran it through the medium plate.  Into the fridge overnight) back on the BC schedule.   Next day, 3/4 stuffing tube on the Weston, pushed caseless onto the dehydrator grid.  Sticks were about 13-14 inches long.  Nice shape.  I've used the gun and I gotta tell you, the grinder with a floor switch is the cat's meow.

I use a GOSM instead of BC's MES, so I started the process in my Excalibur at 100 degrees for 1 1/2 hours. No smoke of course.  I got the GOSM fired up, down to about 120 or a little less (needle valve sure made the difference).  I have the Amazin-N-Smoker (Thank you very much, Todd) and had it primed with hickory, full load, both ends smoking for the duration.  I followed the timeline for temp increase and pulled when the temp hit 165 internal.  Immediate cold wash (after I sampled some pieces and knew it was a winner.  Wiped down.  Didn't bother freezing any as I knew it wouldn't last.  Cut them in half and placed them in some leftover oyster jars for refrigeration.  Samples given out to one and all and all agreed, this is a winner.  Next time (tomorrow actually)  I think I'll start the process in the smoker for about an hour with just the AMNSmoker, no heat, just smoke flavor, then into the dehydrator for about 1 1/2 and then into the timeline.

Daddyzaring, I have one of those all-around jerky makers (they're OK for their intended purpose, ground beef jerky, and yes, they adapt to the Weston) and they use the wax paper layouts.  You have to draw the wax paper out as the meat feeds out as the meat has enough fat to slide over the paper if you don't help it.

In the near future, now that I'm use to the expected taste is to do a salt substitute (Alsosalt) and see what it turns out to.  I'll post the results after the smoking (Yes, this time I'll do a QView, so you all will know it actually happened).  There's too many of us that have to go the no salt route (I'm still on the low salt regimen) so it's time to start experimenting to find the answers.  I will die with a smoked sausage in my stomach if I have to, but.......I'd prefer to stick around a while to try out more recipes.

In conclusion, BearCarver, thanks for a great recipe.  You've added a great item to our daily needs. 

JustPassingThru:  you say you're suppose to be losing weight?  Well, as far as I'm concerned, if you eat these beef (ALL-BEEF, mind you),  instead of chips, snackies and whatever else, you will lose weight.  Well, I do anyway.


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## justpassingthru (Jun 30, 2010)

*Bear,* the hardest part for me was/is not eating them all today!  I used the fiberglass window screen, laid it on top of the rack and just squeezed the trigger, no problems there.

*mythmaster,* thanks,

*daddyzaring,* looks like NWDave answered your question better than I did.

*NWDave,* cool, I believe ya, Bear suggested the bacon because our chucks are "skinned," not any fat left on them, they come in Cyrovac from New Zealand. Man, I wish it was that easy, losing weight, I don't eat "junk," I eat healthy, drink sugarless juices and water, smaller portions, no between meal snacks and I still tip the scales at 100 kg (220 lbs).

Smoke on brothers,

Gene


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## Bearcarver (Jul 1, 2010)

I'm just glad everybody likes this stuff. It pleases me very much to have another winner.

Next time I'm going to try my new stuffer that should be here in the next week or so.

Don't forget guys, one of my reasons for writing them up so completely step by step is because I'll need it next time, and the next time, etc, etc, etc........

Bear


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## alien (Sep 22, 2010)

I live in Ontario,Canada any idea where to get a jerky gun.


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## meateater (Sep 22, 2010)

Here ya go, that's where I got mine. Be prepared for heavy use. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/s...=10001&langId=-1&CMID=TOP_SEARCH_GO&x=10&y=13


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## smoke_chef (Sep 22, 2010)

Those look awesome!


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## alien (Sep 23, 2010)

Thanx for the info about the jerky gun Meateater


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## stircrazy (Sep 23, 2010)

Alien said:


> I live in Ontario,Canada any idea where to get a jerky gun.


London drugs sells them.

Steve


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## sawzall (Oct 1, 2010)

Alien said:


> Thanx for the info about the jerky gun Meateater




Alien if you have not got one yet, I picked mine up at my local Peavey Mart.


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## watlow (Oct 4, 2010)

Bear

 Just saw this post and gotta reply. One of the reasons I found SMF was doing some surfing one day found your recipe for pepperoni and said, huh, looks pretty good, going to give it a try. Have done several times in past few months just a little more hot stuff ( guess Im not the only one after reading post ) and smoked pretty much exact. The only thing I found was different parts of stick had alot more flavor than others,let it sit spiced for a couple days, and sure I mixed and mixed till I couldent mix anymore, boy I was tired. But anyway, had to let you know and going to try dry cure when I do soperssata. Any ideas?
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





   And a BIG Thanks  







Not bad for your health, loads of fun, and its legal!!


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## watlow (Oct 4, 2010)

Bear

 Just saw this post and gotta reply. One of the reasons I found SMF was doing some surfing one day found your recipe for pepperoni and said, huh, looks pretty good, going to give it a try. Have done several times in past few months just a little more hot stuff ( guess Im not the only one after reading post ) and smoked pretty much exact. The only thing I found was different parts of stick had alot more flavor than others,let it sit spiced for a couple days, and sure I mixed and mixed till I couldent mix anymore, boy I was tired. But anyway, had to let you know and going to try dry cure when I do soperssata. Any ideas?
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





   And a BIG Thanks  







Not bad for your health, loads of fun, and its legal!!


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## watlow (Oct 4, 2010)

Watlow said:


> Bear
> 
> Just saw this post and gotta reply. One of the reasons I found SMF was doing some surfing one day found your recipe for pepperoni and said, huh, looks pretty good, going to give it a try. Have done several times in past few months just a little more hot stuff ( guess Im not the only one after reading post ) and smoked pretty much exact. The only thing I found was different parts of stick had alot more flavor than others,let it sit spiced for a couple days, and sure I mixed and mixed till I couldent mix anymore, boy I was tired. But anyway, had to let you know and going to try dry cure when I do soperssata. Any ideas?
> 
> ...


Almost forgot, got chuckie yesterday. Give ya a yell in a couple days when the wind is right.


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## Bearcarver (Oct 4, 2010)

Watlow said:


> Almost forgot, got chuckie yesterday. Give ya a yell in a couple days when the wind is right.


Never did Sopressata, but I noticed there are a lot of finds, if you do a search, including "ehow".

LOL--I'll be waiting for that day of sniffing!

Bear


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## watlow (Oct 4, 2010)

Sorry for Any Ideas, so close to soperssata, already have, what I find to be a pretty good recipe. Was wondering any thoughts on pepperoni flavor different throughout? Going to try your recipe when weather gets a little colder as dry cure along with soperssata.

  Soperssata 

10# pork butt

3.5 oz salt

2.5 oz paprika ( not hot )

3/4 oz crushed red pepper

3/4 oz coarse blk pepper

1 1/2 oz fennel

2 tsp cure #2

Grind thru 1/2 or 3/4 plate, season, mix, refrigerate overnight, stuff into casings ( I use pork casings ) can use beef if you like. Smoke at 120 to 130 for 2 hrs to dry, I like light smoke too. Remove and let hang for approx 30 to 35 days ( up to 8 wks if using larger casings) @ 50 to 60 Deg F and I try to have humidity around 70%,(I use humidifier sometimes but dosent always stay real good) until 30% of weight is lost. I will stick casings with sterile bobby pin through out and check the drying. Thought you might want and try sometime.


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## Bearcarver (Oct 4, 2010)

Watlow said:


> Sorry for Any Ideas, so close to soperssata, already have, what I find to be a pretty good recipe. Was wondering any thoughts on pepperoni flavor different throughout? Going to try your recipe when weather gets a little colder as dry cure along with soperssata.
> 
> Soperssata
> 
> ...


That #2 stuff, with the long time hanging scares me. It's in my Rytek book too, but I stick with my TQ recipes & if needed cure #1.

Getting too old to get too fancy.

Thanks anyway though,

Bear

PS: Don't forget the sniffing alert!


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## judaftboy (Oct 11, 2010)

I am new to this great site. I just purchased my first smoker (masterbuilt xl / propane). I took the seasoning of a new smoker advice and it turned out perfect. My first thing in the smoker was Bearcarvers pepperoni sticks. Two thumbs up to Mr. Bearcarver!! Awesome recipe!! Plan on making some more in the near future. Thank you for sharing the recipe, and the posts on seasoning of a new smoker.

Juda


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## Bearcarver (Oct 11, 2010)

Judaftboy said:


> I am new to this great site. I just purchased my first smoker (masterbuilt xl / propane). I took the seasoning of a new smoker advice and it turned out perfect. My first thing in the smoker was Bearcarvers pepperoni sticks. Two thumbs up to Mr. Bearcarver!! Awesome recipe!! Plan on making some more in the near future. Thank you for sharing the recipe, and the posts on seasoning of a new smoker.
> 
> Juda


Thanks Juda,

Every time somebody uses & enjoys one of my "step by steps", it puts a smile on my face.

Thanks,

Bear


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