I’m intrigued with this method but have a few questions. I see Jon said smoker until internal temp of 130 then place into the sous vide. Do I need to vacuum seal or put them in naked? 2. My sticks are usual about 2 feet long so can I just put them in a meat lug with the sous vide? What size of sous vide what I need? I assume I give them the normal ice bath when they reach 160 i.t.? I do about 800 pounds of venison a year for friends and family and this process seems like it could save me a ton of time. I prefer to use natural casing for my snack sticks and sausage. Does this method affect the snap of natural casings? Thank you in advance!!!

30 pounds of venison snack sticks completed for my uncle.

Well johnathon has me convinced to try finishing snack sticks sous vide style. I had 2 500 watt aquarium heaters, a pid control, and a aquarium wave maker. I put it in a big cooler and I’ll give it a shot this weekend. I tested it today and it held water at 177 perfectly.

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Smoked and finished these turkey ribs on the grill. Delicious!!

That was great!!! Had a stressful day at work today and listened to the Podcast on my way home. Put a new perspective on my day. What a great guy!

Austin Merry Christmas!

I tried that here in Northern Michigan when I first started making sausages and salami’s. I found that the snow will melt away from the casings and the snow then traps the heat. If it’s the only option I found that if you lay them in the snow and sprinkle them with snow and continue this process flipping them often so the bottom side is in constant contact with the snow the thermal process stops much faster. I verified this by leaving one salami with a meat probe just covered in snow and one with a meat probe laying in the snow and “sprinkling” it and flipping it. I don’t remember the exact time difference but it was much faster.

I use sheep 21-24mm. Pretubed from waltons. I found their casing are the most consistent. I have a photo but I’m not sure how to paste it here.

twilliams
I just pulled this pack out of the freezer.

That was great!!! Had a stressful day at work today and listened to the Podcast on my way home. Put a new perspective on my day. What a great guy!

Smoker. In the sous vide the fat will melt.

I didn’t use encapsulated citric acid on this batch but that is good to know. So when I do,I think holding them between 130-140 for a hour before pulling from the smoker would be best?

Did 20 pounds of snack sticks finishing sous vide. Had the temp set at 173. Pulled from smoker at i.t. Of 130 took 15-20 minutes.
Pros:
Takes hours off finishing them in the smoker.
Flavor seems to be there immediately after ice bath
Consistent firmness
Great snap ( used natural sheep casings)

Cons:
Only one I can think of is you better be ready to move fast it is quick!

Conclusion:

Should of tried this years ago!

It is so much fun trying to come up with creative ways to make things easier.

Well johnathon has me convinced to try finishing snack sticks sous vide style. I had 2 500 watt aquarium heaters, a pid control, and a aquarium wave maker. I put it in a big cooler and I’ll give it a shot this weekend. I tested it today and it held water at 177 perfectly.

I wasn’t able to watch the livestream either but just finished watching the recording. Loved this one! I see a diamond steel in my future. Great job Jonathon