Beef n Cheese Pepper Sticks

cream cheese

🥗Healthier: Greek yogurt

💰Cheaper: ricotta cheese

Greek yogurt reduces calories while maintaining creaminess

cheddar cheese

🥗Healthier: low-fat cheese

💰Cheaper: monterey jack

Monterey jack is often less expensive and melts well.

ground beef

🥗Healthier: ground turkey

💰Cheaper: ground pork

Ground turkey is leaner and healthier.

bread crumbs

🥗Healthier: oats

💰Cheaper: crushed crackers

Oats are healthier and can be used in a similar way.

Begin by preparing the beef, using a lean beef knuckle and adding fat trimmings to reach about 30% fat content.

Mix together the spices for the beef: 100 grams of salt, 50 grams of black pepper, 10 grams of onion powder, 10 grams of garlic powder, 20 grams of white sugar, 1 gram of ground cloves, and 11 grams of pink cure number one.

Add 60 milliliters of worcestershire sauce to the spice mix to enhance flavor.

In a separate bowl, combine the spices with 1 cup of water to dissolve the cure.

Put on gloves and mix the beef with the spice and water mixture thoroughly for about 10-15 minutes until it becomes sticky.

Prepare a test patty to taste the mixture and adjust seasoning if necessary, adding more black pepper if desired.

Refrigerate the beef mixture overnight to allow the cure to work.

The next day, mix in high temp cheese to the beef mixture, ensuring it is evenly distributed without breaking up the cheese chunks.

Stuff the mixture into 21 millimeter collagen casings using a sausage stuffer.

Hang the sausages in a drying area with a fan for about an hour to help the casings dry out before smoking.

Smoke the sausages at 100-110°F for about an hour to dry out the casings further.

Increase the smoker temperature to 140°F and add smoke for 2 hours.

After 2 hours, raise the temperature to 150°F and continue smoking for 1 more hour.

Once the sausages have a nice color and are drying out, increase the temperature to 180°F and cook until the internal temperature reaches 155-160°F.

Prepare an ice bath to cool the sausages quickly after cooking to stop additional cooking.

Once cooled, air dry the sausages with a fan and refrigerate overnight before serving.

Cooking Techniques

Equipment Needed

Spice Level:

Allergens