Thread: Sausage and Smoke Cooking

Well. Done
Thanks for the pics

Well I've started slicing and packaging the bacon today. It's a great day to be indoors as the outside air is filled with more smoke that ever!

It's a bit of slow going as even though my made by the C. H. Ina Company slicer does a decent job I've found that getting the bacon nearly frozen makes for the best slicing. So slice for awhile, the put the meat back in the deep freezer to firm back up, package and then get the meat out and repeat. I do like having the slices come out fairly even/much more even than slicing by hand.

Sliced:



I figure 1 pound packages will be a good size.

Packaged:

This is only the second time I've cured and smoked bacon and it's also only the second time I've used my electric slicer to cut the bacon into strips so it's been a learning experience.

The platform for the slicer to hold whatever you wanted to slice isn't large enough to hold a side of bacon so I had to start it by hand, then once the remainder would fit I'd drop it down and finish the slice.

I quickly found that the slicer worked best if the bacon was really cold--BUT with the bacon just cold the cuts weren't clean and I ended up making a cut with the fat side down then flipping it over and making a cut with the fat side up. It was a major pain in the ass.

So today I ended up putting the pieces in the freezer until they were almost frozen and the while the slices were very nice and even the pieces were way too firm to want to bend so I ended up cutting the pieces in half lengthwise so they would fit without needing bent.

This worked out very, very well! The pieces were almost hard but the slicer had no problem and I didn't need to turn them over and over.

I don't think anyone will mind the shorter pieces.

I'll be coming by for breakfast, Roy-let me know which morning to drive up from South Carolina lol. I can make some grits to put a southern spin on it.

In a more serious vein, I've been thinking about all you guys around all those fires out West-just unbelievable, almost. Be safe, and try to stay out of the smoke.

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

I'll be coming by for breakfast, Roy-let me know which morning to drive up from South Carolina lol. I can make some grits to put a southern spin on it.

In a more serious vein, I've been thinking about all you guys around all those fires out West-just unbelievable, almost. Be safe, and try to stay out of the smoke.

A. Aron; You my friend are welcome here at the Boars Nest anytime--Breakfast, Lunch or Supper. A days notice to get things in order would be nice--But not necessary.

The forecast doesn't look there will be any rain to help with these frigging fires in the near future/maybe a 20% chance for a couple of days in a week or so. Damn we could use a week of nice steady rain. 99.99% of the wheat farmers are done and I'm sure that the wine makers could use rain for the grapes.

It does seem like the entire United States Pacific Northwest is ablaze.

Roy that looks so freaking good! We used to take a whole cow or pig and make a feast for relatives and friends. When we sould break down the animals certain cuts were used for chorizo or longanisa and many others. Some of the best food in the world IMHO, nothing is better than home made. I have eaten in some of the most well known restaurants in the world. While they are very very good, I remember thinking wow this tastes like our food but I like ours even better.

Seeing that beacon and how you smoked it sparked that memory! Thank you and enjoy!

Stay safe and cool, Cuda!

My father was born and raised on his grandfather's homestead. Great Grandfather registered his brand (the Diamond D) at the Alpowai Post Office on December 20th 1887 in the Washington Territory. Washington didn't become a state until 1889.

Dad use to talk about the cured and smoked hams, bacon, and he'd almost start to drool. They didn't make smoked sausages only a fresh bulk breakfast sausage. The problem was that when he was a kid he HAD to help with the butchering and all but he didn't WANT to help so he never learned how make the items.

So 30 years or so ago I decided to learn how to make those kind of items along with smoked poultry, fish and others. I have the recipes written down and all three of my children have helped make everything (with the exception of the bacon) and they all could pick up a recipe and make the items. I'm sure that the instructions for the bacon are easy enough that they could make that as well.

When I was working I'd bring in samples for my manager and have them in the produce cooler/which he would have to pass by to get to his rig when he left.

I'd tell him that there were treats in the cooler but nine times out of ten he'd forget by the time he was going home so I started leaving a note on the exit door saying something like "I'm having smoked sausage with my beer are your"? Sometimes I got to witness him stop, read the note and turn around and head to the cooler. When he'd see me he'd smile wave and yell Thank You!

I started cooking in Boy Scouts when I was 12. My patrol leader Carl was four years older than me and would become not only my oldest but best friend. Carl did and still does love to eat. While the other patrols would be having hot dogs, we'd be having a beef roast, potatoes, carrots and gravy all cooked in a Dutch Oven, sometimes over the fire but other times buried and covered with coals.

The adults never cooked for themselves, they drew lots to see who ate with what patrol and they would always want to eat with us.

I loved cooking for my family and still do. These smoked items are always a big hit and I try to have a big variety for their Christmas presents. Thanks to Tim (32t) this year will include several varieties of smoked cheese.

My oldest daughter hosts a Christmas Eve supper and present exchange and I'm thinking of seeing if I could provide a smoked turkey as the main attraction. It's been awhile since I've cured and smoked one but they are damn good.

Roy, though I have never tasted your cooking, I am 100% certain it is delicious (and I am married to an awesome cook too). It's wonderful that in passing on these traditions, you are keeping your family connected to a time when people were more honest about their food and its origins. I think the farm to table movement does this to a degree, though it tends to be a bit pretentious with all the artisan marketing.

I did manage to get my grandmother's buttermilk cornbread recipe before she passed on (if you can call it a recipe-she never measured anything). I'd probably have to fight any number of my cousins for saying this, but I think I've improved on it over the years just by experimenting. On a cold, raw day, that and a pot of beans with a big old ham-hock swimming in it are hard to beat.

Thanks for posting your adventures in the kitchen-they are very inspiring!

I harvested my honey today. At least I have the supers off the hives.

My wife sent me this link and now I have a new project!

https://www.vindulge.com/smoked-honey/

You are very welcome my friend. I am a firm believer that family should be passed on and by that I mean things like remembrance of events, cooking, celebrations etc.

Funny you should mention your grandmother's cornbread. While my family never seemed to be into using buttermilk both sided loved cornbread. I had made cornbread since the scouting days and it was decent but I couldn't get it to taste like my maternal grandmothers so when I was in my early 20's I decided to ask her for her recipe.

I called her and asked her for her recipe and she said to get a pencil and a piece of paper and she'd be right back with the desired recipe. I already had the pencil and paper. When she got back on the phone and read me the recipe I carefully wrote it down and read it back to her to confirm that I had it right and I did.

A day or so later I decided to make red beans and ham along with some cornbread. It was then that I found that my grandmother's cornbread recipe was word for word off of the Albers Corn Meal Box.



Then I realized that there was one 'Secret Ingredient' that I couldn't add and that was A Grandmother's Love.

Over the years the only thing that I do different than my grandmother did and that is she always baked her cornbread in a a cake pan and I now preheat a 8" cast iron pan and then pour the batter in. Damn nice crunchy top and bottom.

Now back to buttermilk:

If the buttermilk you purchase is a 'Cultured Buttermilk' you can make more at home. It's similar to making yogurt. I've made Butterhalf and half. I just add store bought buttermilk to the regular half and half then put it up in a cupboard overnight and Viola! It's Butterhalf and half. I use it to make Tc's Irish Soda Bread instead of adding cream to richen the dough. Yes it will work with any fat percentage milk.