Post by Derek on Jan 17th, 2026 at 6:57pm
Well today was a learning day for me. I made some Twiggy Sticks which really are a cross between smoked jerky and beer sticks without skins.
It was learning because 1. I had to learn how to do them and the second batch were much better than the first and 2. I had to learn and understand how to moderate the heat way down on the Weber Kettle.
The recipe is not new and certainly not mine and there are plenty around but all very similar.
First off I bought a large aluminium caulking gun from Bunnings for $12.50
Ingredients
1kg of minced beef
2 teaspoons of kosher salt
1 tablespoon of black pepper
2 teaspoons of garlic powder
1 tablespoon of smoked paprika
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons of light brown sugar
2 tablespoons of worcestershire sauce
Method
The mince was standard beef mince from Woolies that the label says is 20% fat.
Mix all the ingredients together until the mix’s feels sticky.
Fill the caulking gun with the mix (after fully washing it first). Cut the end of the nozzle to your desired size. Squeeze the trigger and lay out lengths on your wire tray.
Now this is where I went wrong. I had too small a nozzle and when I squeezed it out I pulled it and so stretched the mix.
As you can see in the photos they pulled apart when cooked.
For the kettle I put 25 heat beads in just one of the baskets and lit them. When they were ashed over I moved the tray to one side and dropped Hickory chips on top. I pretty well closed all the vents right down and managed to hold the temperature under 100 degrees.
I added more chips about every 20 minutes and cooked them for two and a half hours.
That was the first batch and let me tell you they are beautiful.
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IMG_5495.jpeg (244 KB | 36
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It was learning because 1. I had to learn how to do them and the second batch were much better than the first and 2. I had to learn and understand how to moderate the heat way down on the Weber Kettle.
The recipe is not new and certainly not mine and there are plenty around but all very similar.
First off I bought a large aluminium caulking gun from Bunnings for $12.50
Ingredients
1kg of minced beef
2 teaspoons of kosher salt
1 tablespoon of black pepper
2 teaspoons of garlic powder
1 tablespoon of smoked paprika
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons of light brown sugar
2 tablespoons of worcestershire sauce
Method
The mince was standard beef mince from Woolies that the label says is 20% fat.
Mix all the ingredients together until the mix’s feels sticky.
Fill the caulking gun with the mix (after fully washing it first). Cut the end of the nozzle to your desired size. Squeeze the trigger and lay out lengths on your wire tray.
Now this is where I went wrong. I had too small a nozzle and when I squeezed it out I pulled it and so stretched the mix.
As you can see in the photos they pulled apart when cooked.
For the kettle I put 25 heat beads in just one of the baskets and lit them. When they were ashed over I moved the tray to one side and dropped Hickory chips on top. I pretty well closed all the vents right down and managed to hold the temperature under 100 degrees.
I added more chips about every 20 minutes and cooked them for two and a half hours.
That was the first batch and let me tell you they are beautiful.
IMG_5486.jpeg (237 KB | 31
)
IMG_5488.jpeg (238 KB | 29
)
IMG_5491.jpeg (231 KB | 36
)
IMG_5493.jpeg (182 KB | 32
)
IMG_5494.jpeg (207 KB | 30
)
IMG_5495.jpeg (244 KB | 36
)
