Ham Snack Sticks

[TentHunteR]

The H.S. band has a trip to Chicago coming up next week and I want to take some snacks sticks along for the trip.  I hadn't made ham sticks in quite a while, so I figured I'd make up 5 lbs to share on the bus.

For the ham sticks half will be Honey Ham and the other half Maple & Red Pepper. Both are mixed and resting in the fridge for a day or so before stuffing into casings.

 
Maple & Red Pepper: Ground pork, Water, Salt, Cure #1, Maple Syrup, a little brown Sugar & a little ground Fenugreek seed (to boost the Maple flavor).


Honey Ham: Ground pork, Water, Salt, Cure #1, Honey and a little Sugar.


The test patties tasted pretty good. I'm looking forward to these.

[teesquare]

I am hoping for a recipe .....

I love the sound of both of these!

[TentHunteR]

I am hoping for a recipe .....

Let me see how these turned out. I'm taking a different approach this time. Usually I brine-cure strips of pork into ham first, then grind that into sausage. This time I'm starting with ground pork.

[Smokin Don]

Sounds good, especially the maple, red pepper!!! Don

[africanmeat]

I will keep my eye on this one .

[HighOnSmoke]

Another interesting one that I am looking forward to seeing the end results.

[sliding_billy]

Does the band need a 40 something guitarist? 

[muebe]

Does the band need a 40 something guitarist? 

And I can be the "really late thirties" guy carrying the flag

[nepas]

Looks like a winner batch of sticks.

Have you ever used the ham base powder? you may have to adjust the salt content in a recipe. I see the powder in plastic container in the soup isle

[Scallywag]

Does the band need a 40 something guitarist? 

I can play a pretty mean bass guitar as well if ya need me! I will work for food...

[Sailor1]

Keeping an eye on the progress.  They look like a home run!

[TentHunteR]

Have you ever used the ham base powder?

Yep, I've check it out and unfortunately can't use it; contains hydrolyzed soy protein. 

[Las Vegan Cajun]

Off to a good start cannot wit to see the finished product. 

[spuds]

Watching.....

[TentHunteR]

I soaked some sheep casings so I could stuff the snack sticks Friday evening, while I had a chance.


Ham sticks stuffed and ready to go.


Into the MAK rolling some Hickory smoke with the Pastrami & pepperoni sticks.  After an hour I bumped the temp to 215° for an hour, then to 225° until an I.T. of 152°.  It was cold so I just shut down the grill and let them sit in the grill overnight to bloom & cool.


Done and cut into sticks. Maple & Red Pepper sticks on the left, Honey on the right.



Last time I made these, brine curing the ham first, then grinding made for a very wet mix. Part of this experiment was to see how they'd turn out starting with plain ground pork. I am extremely happy with how these turned out. They have a great hammy taste & texture.  I will DEFINITELY be doing these from ground pork from now on. It was much simpler.

The only changes I will make will be in tweaking the flavors:

Honey Ham sticks: I will drop the sugar and go with straight Honey next time.

Maple-Red Pepper Ham sticks: The Fenugreek definitely helped to boost the maple flavor a bit over last time, but I still think it could be a little more prevelant. Next time I will drop the brown sugar, go with straight Maple syrup and add either a tad more Fenugreek or by then I should have my Imitation Maple (Fenugreek) Extract done.


Thanks for sneaking a peek!