The sticks....

[MrTom]

These began as 12 pounds of lean venison trim and 5.5 pounds of pork shoulder and fat. Seasoned with a blend of three different jerky seasonings, they were stuffed into 26 mm collagen casings and brought up to cooked temperature of 152 degrees in the oven. Then they went directly to the smoker where they received about three hours of active apple and cheery chunk wood smoke, then rested while the charcoal died off. They cooled in the smoker shell and then transferred to the lug seen here where they weigh in between 12 1/2 and 13 pounds. They'll rest in the lug for a couple days to allow the smoke to mellow, then get cut to length and vacuum sealed, 10 to a bag.

I should have done 25 pound of these because I love them done up with jerky seasoning instead of stick flavors which have gotten real weird lately. I still have enough venison to whip up a nice batch of polish sausage should the spirit move me, thinking I will, but I need a rest from grinding, stuffing and smoking. The polish sausage will not get smoked but will get finish cooked then will go directly into pickle brine so I can chew on one while enjoying a good cold beer. Nothing on earth beats a good pickled polish sausage and beer.

 

[BuckDoeHunter]

Oh man that looks good! When they rest in the lug for a couple of days, anything special need to be done? What is a lug exactly?

 

[Sideshow]

Oh man that looks good! When they rest in the lug for a couple of days, anything special need to be done? What is a lug exactly?

The pan their in iz called a lug .

 

[MrTom]

Buck.....I either hang them for a couple days in a cool garage or let them rest in the lug for the couple days. Open air. This allows the smoke on the sticks to mellow and loose any bitterness that might come from smoke pooling...too much smoke in an area on the sticks. I tried a stick watching tv tonight and think the sticks will get sealed up tomorrow. I did things backwards as far as smoking and finishing on this batch. As soon as they were stuffed they went straight to a 200 degree oven until they hit my magic 152 degrees. At the temp they are fully cooked and the cure has taken care of any bad bacteria remaining in the meat. When the sticks hit the 152 degrees they went straight into the smoker that was already heated and ready to smoke. The smoke duration was shortened to about 3 hours instead of the 6-7 that it would take had I put the sausage in cold. The reduce smoke time with active smoke reduced the likelihood of the smoke being very bitter, thus shortening the rest time.

I use only charcoal fired wood chunks to smoke and depending on the product I can adjust the timing to apply the smoke or finish the product in the oven, more to get along with the weather. Things came together this morning and I took advantage of what Ma Nature offered and am now enjoying it.

 

[Sideshow]

Buck.....I either hang them for a couple days in a cool garage or let them rest in the lug for the couple days. Open air. This allows the smoke on the sticks to mellow and loose any bitterness that might come from smoke pooling...too much smoke in an area on the sticks. I tried a stick watching tv tonight and think the sticks will get sealed up tomorrow. I did things backwards as far as smoking and finishing on this batch. As soon as they were stuffed they went straight to a 200 degree oven until they hit my magic 152 degrees. At the temp they are fully cooked and the cure has taken care of any bad bacteria remaining in the meat. When the sticks hit the 152 degrees they went straight into the smoker that was already heated and ready to smoke. The smoke duration was shortened to about 3 hours instead of the 6-7 that it would take had I put the sausage in cold. The reduce smoke time with active smoke reduced the likelihood of the smoke being very bitter, thus shortening the rest time.

I use only charcoal fired wood chunks to smoke and depending on the product I can adjust the timing to apply the smoke or finish the product in the oven, more to get along with the weather. Things came together this morning and I took advantage of what Ma Nature offered and am now enjoying it.

Good plan .

 

[MrTom]

On the use of chunk wood for the smoke on charcoal, I am tightly wrapping two or three pieces of wood chunk, 3"X3", in two 18"X18" layers of heavy duty aluminum foil, shiny side in, to lay on the charcoal bed. I make these "bombs", as I call them, to keep the wood from flaming up. There's very limited oxygen able to get into the super heated bundles which creates the best smoke and also makes inserting them and removing spent bundles easily and safely. The remainders inside those bombs is a high grade charcoal that works super good in the Weber kettle and does an excellent job on ribs. I get a better bang for the buck doing my smoking this way.

 

[Sideshow]

On the use of chunk wood for the smoke on charcoal, I am tightly wrapping two or three pieces of wood chunk, 3"X3", in two 18"X18" layers of heavy duty aluminum foil, shiny side in, to lay on the charcoal bed. I make these "bombs", as I call them, to keep the wood from flaming up. There's very limited oxygen able to get into the super heated bundles which creates the best smoke and also makes inserting them and removing spent bundles easily and safely. The remainders inside those bombs is a high grade charcoal that works super good in the Weber kettle and does an excellent job on ribs. I get a better bang for the buck doing my smoking this way.

Smart