Thread: Sausage and Smoke Cooking

Originally Posted by 32t

Good point!

But then again to what temp did they cook it to then?

Without good refrigeration etc. it is better to overcook.

I have a cookbook published in 1887 and for oven temps it might call for a hot oven, moderate oven or a slack oven. Also things like a tea cup of this or a handful of that.

My dad's oldest sister gave it to me and when I asked her about the oven temps she said that if you could put your hand in an oven for only a couple of seconds then it was a 'Hot Oven', I forget the other times for determining a slack or moderate oven.

Here's an example from the book, including the puctuation. It's how to make a Deep Red Coloring;

Take twenty grains of cochineal and fifteen grains of cream of tartar finely powdered; add to them a piece of alum the size of a cherry stone, and boil them with a gill of soft water, in an earthen vessel, slowly, for half an hour. Then strain it through muslin, and keep it tightly corked in a philal. If alcohol is added, it will keep any length of time.

I was doing some online research to see if using a bit of Monosodium glutamate in the chicken luncheon meat was advisable to help bring out the flavor and I stumbled upon this.

Cooks began adding saltpeter (potassium nitrate) — one of the first chemical preservatives — during the Middle Ages. Saltpeter kept sausages from spoiling while also retaining the fresh pink color inside. One common historical source for saltpeter was soaked, filtered bat guano.

I really wish I hadn't have read that When I first got a computer my computer guru buddy told me that anyone could be an expert online and to always question what I read so I went looking.

https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/...-new-braunfels

Oh my! As Madeline Kahn said in the movie Blazing Saddles--Oh it's twyoo, it's twyoo

Interesting article about saltpetre and preserving foods.

https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/hi...n-carnal-urges

Out of sight--Out of mind---

Between with my dry curing sausage on racks in the crisper and being out of sight and having some things going on, I forgot to weigh the chubs on Monday. However it dawned on me that they need weighed this morning so here's the latest:

In frig on 03/08/2021

Original Weights (In Grams):

03/15--143
03/15-- 634
03/15--689
03/15--835

03/22--126
03/22--581
03/22--641
03/22--756

03/29-- 112
03/29-- 532
03/29-- 591
03/29-- 691

04/06--473
04/06--537
04/06--637

04/12--458
04/12--505
04/12--608

04/21--428
04/21--473
04/21--573


So the chub that originally weighed 685 grams has lost about 37% of the weight.

The chub that originally weighed 738 grams has lost about 36% of the weight

And the chub that originally weighed 923 grams has lost 38% of the weight.

All are within the safety guides but after finding the test chub that was about 35% weight loss and the middle being too 'wet' for my tastes I'll make a note to check these in a few more days.

Here's a little something from Malcolm Reed. It's pretty basic---But I like his tip on how to make removing the bones easy and leaving the rib rack whole to make sandwiches with.

OMG That guy likes a little meat along with his sauce.

You couldn't taste the meat in that sandwich....

For myself I believe that the spices should be minimal and accentuate the meat not cover it up.

When I make ribs, that’s how I serve, I turn it over then pull the bones out, if done right, you give it a twist and out she comes and you have a boneless rack. In my method the vinegar that I steam in the firebox really let’s it pull out

Originally Posted by 32t

OMG That guy likes a little meat along with his sauce.

You couldn't taste the meat in that sandwich....

For myself I believe that the spices should be minimal and accentuate the meat not cover it up.

I concur. I was in my 20's before I started adding condiments to hamburgers. Until then they were always Bread, Meat, Bread. And even today I only use a touch of each condiment.

Originally Posted by tcrideshd

When I make ribs, that’s how I serve, I turn it over then pull the bones out, if done right, you give it a twist and out she comes and you have a boneless rack. In my method the vinegar that I steam in the firebox really let’s it pull out

I will have to look into the vinegar thing.

For some reason for myself ribs without bones are not ribs.

Sort of like a boneless chicken wing?

Originally Posted by 32t

I will have to look into the vinegar thing.

For some reason for myself ribs without bones are not ribs.

Sort of like a boneless chicken wing?

I have used the vinegar pan thing with success, however I usually use a spray bottle that has cider vinegar and some red pepper flakes in it to spray on things.

About the ribs/rib-less for a sandwich bones would not be practical. My favorite thing about a 'meatloaf' isn't the initial serving, it's the cold sandwiches the following day.