venison snack sticks

p-ville,

Dont know what "ask the meat man" says, but 16 hours is a long time for those thin little bugars to be in the smoker.

What cooker did you use?

What temp was the t-stat set at?

Are you sure your t- meter is caliberated?

There could be losta answers to your dilemma. We just need more info!

Just made my first batch of vension(w/pork) 19mm snack sticks and his instructions were for a regular smoker with adjustable damper.
1) 2 hrs. @130 with damper open completely (no smoke)
2) 2 hrs. @145 with smoke 1/2 damper
3) 2 hrs. @160 with smoke 1/2 damper
4) after 2 hrs. @ 160 raise temp to 175-180 close the damper to 3/4 and continue smoking until int. temp reaches 160. Remove and cool to room temp

Never got the internal temp to 160 but some were starting to dry out on the edges so I took them out as they looked right and the temp with a gauge was ~145. The ones that had the dry ring were dry but the other sticks were great. I think there must be a better method with the cookshack smoker. Ended up with about 8-9 hrs cooking for 10 lbs. of 9/16" snack sticks. Any suggestions on converting the standard smker method for one to use with the sm-050.

A friend of mine just did a batch of venison sticks. The other half of the 25lb. batch we made the other night. After the disaster we had we tried something different and it worked great. He set the smoker (008) on 180 with the door open 1/2" this kept the temp in the smoker at 140 for 2hrs. Then he shut the door and turned the temp up to 200. He checked them in 1hr. and they had an internal temp of 157 already so he pulled them out. He said they were great. Good flavor and texture. I think we might have something.
Thanks all.

I just did 25# of sticks in my 205. Started with an oven temp of 120 w/o smoke. I let the internal temp rise to 100 before adding smoke. I smoked at 160 with four chunks of hickory for about 6 hours and the internal temp of 145. At that time the sticks were done and they were great however, my buddy suggested cooking them longer for a firmer texture. It worked okay but now for whatever reason the collagen casings seem to slide off after they were vacuum sealed. Normally I use sheep casings and this has never happened before. Any suggestions?

Finman

We do batches from 25lb to 75lbs, we cook them for 2 hours at 200 degrees and they are done.