I've still been messing around with shelf stable snack sticks and trying to sort out some of the problems I've run into in the past with the collagen not adhering to the meat and a few other things. As it seems, one question seems to lead to another but I think I have conquered the adhesion problem with collagen casings and I'm almost convinced it is due to inability to shrink past a certain point because this batch turned out perfect but there were a few other things that now has me scratching my head. But that's the fun of it eh?
Anyhow, this is a concoction I came up with which I have called Chihuahua Sticks because it has a nice beefy taste to it but with a tiny bite at the end just to be sure you are paying attention.
I've prepared a pretty detailed account of what I did. Some of it has reason and some doesn't. In the end, it turned out very good I think but they don't have as much acid bite to them as I expected but this might be because my culture was several months old or I may not have let the meat ferment as long as I should have. Either way it was still good but I would have preferred more acidity. Just a touch.
Meat - Beef Chuck
Salt 2.1%
Cure 1 0.25%
2.35%
Spices
Ginger 0.10%
Celery Seed 0.12%
Onion Powder 0.15%
Mustard Powder 0.15%
Black Pepper 0.75%
Chili Powder 0.50%
Paprika 0.60%
Corn syrup solids 1.2%
Ice Water 10.0%
NFD milk 1.0%
Soy Protein Blend 1.0%
Culture F-RM-52 1/2 tsp to 1/2 cup water for every 10 lbs meat.
Procedure
Trim meat of any silver skin and any hard fat.
Cut into chunks.
Add seasonings to the ice water and add to the chunked meat.
Grind meat through 3/8`s inch plate.
Mix well adding F-RM-52 as you mix.
Put in freezer again if necessary. Needs to be real cold else you`ll get a poor grind and pay for it at stuffing time.
When real cold grind again through fine plate.
Stuff into 15 mm collagen casings and hang in smokehouse.
Ambient Temperature 72F and humidity 84%
After a day hanging the pH has dropped to 5.2 and the weight dropped from 143g to 125g or a loss of 12.5%
Morning of day 2 so in 1.5 days pH is 5.14 with a weight of 117 gr or weight loss of 18.2%
Began laying cold smoke on meat at 9:00 a.m. After an hour, turned heat up to 100 F
At 10:00 a.m increased heat to 125F and apply heavy smoke for an hour.
11:30 a.m gradually increased the heat to 175F and keep supplying heavy smoke.
1:15 pm Internal temp reached 152F turned off heat but continued to apply heavy smoke.
Pulled a control stick and it weighed 92 grams showing a 35.7% shrink. pH is 5.12. Water Activity = 0.94
According to AURI:
To be considered shelf stable, meat products must achieve the following:
*** pH of less than 5.0 or
*** Water activity of less than 0.91; or
*** pH of less than 5.2 and a water activity of less than 0.95
http://www.auri.org/wp-content/assets/l ... 0Meats.pdf
Which this makes these sausages shelf stable when vac-packed at this point but I decided to let them hang in the smokehouse to cool till they reach ambient temperature and this should cause them to dry more and take on a little more smoke flavor.
Cold smoked sticks in heavy pecan smoke till 5:30 pm. Water activity had dropped to 0.91.
Final Shrink 42.48% shrink and Aw = .91 and pH 5.17
Though these should be shelf stable as they are, they are still plenty moist so I plan on letting them rest at room temp till morning and maybe they will dry a little more since I'd feel a little better if the pH was a point lower and not so close to the threshold. If it the water activity will drop to .90 I'll feel much better since the pH is close to the 5.2 mark.
Overall, I think this is a pretty good tasting stick. The flavor of the beef isn't overwhelmed by spices yet their is a small bite toward the end from the black pepper. Just a nip. The collagen bound to the meat very well even on sticks that weren't packed very tight so I think my hunch may have been right about the usefulness of a binder. I had assumed I'd have gotten more tang but this could be from the use of old culture. Am going to have to purchase some more to be sure and would be interested in any suggestions on other cultures. I just used what I had on hand.
Oh and upon request I made some stocking stuffers for three children. Just hope they have long stockings because these are every bit of four feet long.
Chihuahua Sticks
- Butterbean
- Moderator
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- Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2012 04:10
- Location: South Georgia
Sticks look great Butterbean! Could probably do the same recipe with pork and turkey. For more tang you probably needed more sugar. Corn syrup solids have anywhere from 30 to 50% of dextrose and while your milk powder contains lactose, it is not digested by all lactic bacteria. In fact, lactose is the least efficient sugar for fermenting.
Thanks for taking the time and posting the recipe with pics and details. We will add this to the members' index.
Added to member Index under "Snack Sticks"
Thanks for taking the time and posting the recipe with pics and details. We will add this to the members' index.
Added to member Index under "Snack Sticks"
Last edited by redzed on Wed Dec 16, 2015 17:03, edited 2 times in total.
Those really look good BB. Is the fine plate that you use a 1/8 or 3/16 ?
I would consider F-LC its a great all round culture that can be fermented at a range of temps and also has the benefit of Listeria protection.Butterbean wrote:Am going to have to purchase some more to be sure and would be interested in any suggestions on other cultures. I just used what I had on hand.
- Butterbean
- Moderator
- Posts: 1955
- Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2012 04:10
- Location: South Georgia
I'll try that Bob, thanks.
Redzed, what you say makes perfect sense. When coming up with this recipe my mind was fixated on the bind with the collagen and I was trying to use some amounts of things from three tests I had done on some other sausages that clung well to the collagen. As luck would have it I was short on milk powder so - thinking only in terms of binding water - I substituted Soybean concentrate blend for what I lacked in the milk powder not giving any thought to the reduction in sugar and what it would do.
I think next time I'll use dextrose for the acidification and then the soy bean concentrate for the binding instead of the milk powder. This, I think, might be simpler for me.
Hung them in the kitchen overnight with ambient temp of 63F and relative humidity of 73%. The Aw dropped to 0.88 and the total shrink ended up being 48.37%. With the aw being well under 0.91 I know they are shelf stable even if I might possibly have an error in my pH measurement of 5.17. This number was just too close for comfort for me and my ignorance at this time.
After hanging and drying more it seems the sticks have a better bite to them and it seems the flavor has actually intensified. I don't know, but they taste better today than they did yesterday but I do wish they had a little more tang to them but they are good nonetheless.
Thanks for your help and advice.
Redzed, what you say makes perfect sense. When coming up with this recipe my mind was fixated on the bind with the collagen and I was trying to use some amounts of things from three tests I had done on some other sausages that clung well to the collagen. As luck would have it I was short on milk powder so - thinking only in terms of binding water - I substituted Soybean concentrate blend for what I lacked in the milk powder not giving any thought to the reduction in sugar and what it would do.
I think next time I'll use dextrose for the acidification and then the soy bean concentrate for the binding instead of the milk powder. This, I think, might be simpler for me.
Hung them in the kitchen overnight with ambient temp of 63F and relative humidity of 73%. The Aw dropped to 0.88 and the total shrink ended up being 48.37%. With the aw being well under 0.91 I know they are shelf stable even if I might possibly have an error in my pH measurement of 5.17. This number was just too close for comfort for me and my ignorance at this time.
After hanging and drying more it seems the sticks have a better bite to them and it seems the flavor has actually intensified. I don't know, but they taste better today than they did yesterday but I do wish they had a little more tang to them but they are good nonetheless.
Thanks for your help and advice.