Smokefire Beef Sticks

[Lew Newby]

I have made Jerky for years but in Dec. 2020 I broke a front tooth biting through a piece. I decided to learn how to make beef sticks to replace my Jerky fix. I happen to prefer mine in Collagen casings and to get the casings right the sticks need to spend a few hours at 150 and below or they get rubbery. My Smokefire won't go that low and I didn't want to buy an Electric smoker that would only be used for that. My solution is to temporarily use the cook chamber as an electric smoker. The addition of a hot plate, a smoke tube, and plugging the 3 vents does the job well. I use ground beef, season it, and rest it before stuffing the casings with a LEM Jerky Cannon. After 5 hours as an electric smoker I remove the hot plate and the vent rags and crank up the grill for 1 to 3 hours to finish the job. The sticks are much easier on my old teeth..

 

[Bob H.]

I have made Jerky for years but in Dec. 2020 I broke a front tooth biting through a piece. I decided to learn how to make beef sticks to replace my Jerky fix. I happen to prefer mine in Collagen casings and to get the casings right the sticks need to spend a few hours at 150 and below or they get rubbery. My Smokefire won't go that low and I didn't want to buy an Electric smoker that would only be used for that. My solution is to temporarily use the cook chamber as an electric smoker. The addition of a hot plate, a smoke tube, and plugging the 3 vents does the job well. I use ground beef, season it, and rest it before stuffing the casings with a LEM Jerky Cannon. After 5 hours as an electric smoker I remove the hot plate and the vent rags and crank up the grill for 1 to 3 hours to finish the job. The sticks are much easier on my old teeth..View attachment 50603View attachment 50604

Looks great Lew!

 

[Tim Campbell]

This is a really cool process, Lew!

 

[Brenda T]

Those look really good, MacGyver!