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The bread making thread got me thinking

A friend of mine’s sister would raise a few pigs each year for personal butchering. She always had one for him, and he would split his with me. We would do a group butcher in late December after the weather cooled down in Wisconsin. It was an area with lots of apple orchards, so the pigs were feed dropped apples for a month or two, from the local orchards. It really helped to sweeten the meat. I still follow with the apple idea. When making pulled pork, I smoke the butts with a mix of apple and pecan wood. It’s a lot milder smoke. I give them about 6 hours in the smoker, because they don’t take on more smoke beyond 3-5 hours. I then transfer the meat into a large nesco roaster with apple juice for moisture. I continue cooking until the shoulder bone will pull out of the meat by hand. Then shred the meat and let soak up some of the apple juice, and package in vacuum seal bags. Everyone is amazed at the taste!

Damn! That does sound amazing. I keep telling myself I need to invest in a smoker.
 
Man that sounds like the way to do it.

I have a couple Pork shoulder roasts, whats everyone's favorite pulled pork recipe? How about your favorite sauce recipe? I have always wanted to make my own sauce but don't have any idea where to begin.
Also, I make my own recipe for dry rub that I call magic dust. I’m one of those people that believe that good Q doesn’t need sauce. I’ve considered making my own sauce, but don’t really use enough. So when I do use some, Stubbs spicy is about all that I like.
 
Damn! That does sound amazing. I keep telling myself I need to invest in a smoker.
I run several different units, depending on what I’m cooking. I have a Masterbuilt electric for fish, shrimp, stuffed peppers and smoked prime rib! I’m not sure if Academy Sports are in your area. They carry Old country smokers. I have their over/under unit for wood. It’s great for even heating in the cook chamber.
 
I run several different units, depending on what I’m cooking. I have a Masterbuilt electric for fish, shrimp, stuffed peppers and smoked prime rib! I’m not sure if Academy Sports are in your area. They carry Old country smokers. I have their over/under unit for wood. It’s great for even heating in the cook chamber.

Yeah, we hit the big time a few years ago when we got a Tractor Supply in town. Our local Ace Hardware sells the Traeger units but every time I look at one I think to myself that I could buy a really nice rifle for that kind of coin. When a nice tax return comes around the Wife decides she needs new appliances or a remodel of some sort.
 
We enjoy soups and stews, eat for a couple of days and freeze the rest. Pasta with homemade sauce using whatever you have on hand is always tasty. Whenever I get fresh fish the old Outer Banks fish stew using onions, potatoes, and salt pork is excellent. All these incorporate multiple flavors into a single dish vs the conventional meat and veggie meal. Plus a freezer full of elk will go a long way.
 
I wish that I could add pics here. Q view always helps get the idea across. I’m going to give a couple more amazing things that I’ve made. Ever have a bacon wrapped fatty or armadillo eggs? The armadillo eggs are basically like a jalapeño popper, but instead of wrapping with bacon or batter. They are wrapped with a layer of pork sausage, then smoked for a couple hours. The bacon wrapped fatty takes a little work, but well worth it. 1 lb of bacon weaved into a sheat. 1 1/2 lbs of pork sausage put into a gallon zip lock bag, get all the air out and seal. Flatten the sausage out to size of bag, then cut the sides of bag to reveal the square layer of sausage. You can add any filler of choice. I chop onion, green chili pepper and cheese. Layer that on sausage then roll up like a hostess ho ho. You take the sausage log and wrap with the bacon weave and smoke for 3 hours. You can look these up on Smoking meat . Com.
 
Damn dude. I bet your neighbors either love you or hate you for making all of that good food they have to smell.
 
I smoked pork butt ,7 1/2 pounder on Sunday. Eating it for 3 days. That`s the first time I guarded the smoker with an AR15. Can`t be to careful. These old people get cranky when they`re hungry.
 
About 40 years ago my bud got me started on smoking salmon. Have used many different smokers and a myriad of brines since then. I have settled on a method that is simple and produces a superior product every time, no fail.

Smoked Salmon

Brine: I use a dry brine consisting of dark brown sugar, canning salt and garlic. The ratio is: 4 cups of dark brown sugar, 1 cup of pickling salt and 10-15 cloves of garlic (you can substitute dry garlic products, 1 tsp per clove). This makes enough brine for about 10-12# of fillets. That's about 6 sockeye or coho fillets.

Salmon: I used to catch my own, but the MFWICs turned a world class fishery here in Washington into a mere shadow of what it used to be. It is actually cheaper now for me to buy it. I wait til sockeye or coho go on sale, say $7.99 a pound. Steelhead works too as does Chinook, but I'd rather save those for the grill. Pretty much all salmonoids work well including trout and char (brookies, lake trout, etc) as long as they aren't oily like Pink salmon.

Blend the brine ingredients. Use a non metallic container. Put a layer of brine on the bottom of container. Add fish, skin side down. Cover that layer in brine. Add new layer of fish, flesh side down. Add layer if brine. layer flesh to flesh, skin to skin. Refrigerate over night. The brine will become liquid.

In the morning, rinse off the fillets/chunks with cold water, just enough to remove any chunks or blobs of remaining brine. Dab dry with paper towels. Place fish on racks, skin side down and sprinkle with fresh ground pepper. Let the fish set at room temp till the pellicle (a translucent skin like layer) forms, 4 to 6 hours or so.

I now use a Bradley smoker with auto feed and temp control. Use what you have. Preheat smoker to 130*. Add racks of fish. Get the smoke going. Use Alder and Apple. I use alder for ~ 1 1/2 hours then apple for ~1 1/2 hours. Go another 2 hours without smoke for a total of ~ 5 hours. I then run the temp up to ~ 160* to kill any remaining bacteria. About one more hour. I let the smoker cool off overnight and in the morning, I have a bunch of salmon candy.
 
About 40 years ago my bud got me started on smoking salmon. Have used many different smokers and a myriad of brines since then. I have settled on a method that is simple and produces a superior product every time, no fail.

Smoked Salmon

Brine: I use a dry brine consisting of dark brown sugar, canning salt and garlic. The ratio is: 4 cups of dark brown sugar, 1 cup of pickling salt and 10-15 cloves of garlic (you can substitute dry garlic products, 1 tsp per clove). This makes enough brine for about 10-12# of fillets. That's about 6 sockeye or coho fillets.

Salmon: I used to catch my own, but the MFWICs turned a world class fishery here in Washington into a mere shadow of what it used to be. It is actually cheaper now for me to buy it. I wait til sockeye or coho go on sale, say $7.99 a pound. Steelhead works too as does Chinook, but I'd rather save those for the grill. Pretty much all salmonoids work well including trout and char (brookies, lake trout, etc) as long as they aren't oily like Pink salmon.

Blend the brine ingredients. Use a non metallic container. Put a layer of brine on the bottom of container. Add fish, skin side down. Cover that layer in brine. Add new layer of fish, flesh side down. Add layer if brine. layer flesh to flesh, skin to skin. Refrigerate over night. The brine will become liquid.

In the morning, rinse off the fillets/chunks with cold water, just enough to remove any chunks or blobs of remaining brine. Dab dry with paper towels. Place fish on racks, skin side down and sprinkle with fresh ground pepper. Let the fish set at room temp till the pellicle (a translucent skin like layer) forms, 4 to 6 hours or so.

I now use a Bradley smoker with auto feed and temp control. Use what you have. Preheat smoker to 130*. Add racks of fish. Get the smoke going. Use Alder and Apple. I use alder for ~ 1 1/2 hours then apple for ~1 1/2 hours. Go another 2 hours without smoke for a total of ~ 5 hours. I then run the temp up to ~ 160* to kill any remaining bacteria. About one more hour. I let the smoker cool off overnight and in the morning, I have a bunch of salmon candy.
My smoked salmon recipe is very close to yours.
Take a large pyrex baking dish.
I make slices in the flesh about every 3/4" but dont cut the skin.
Apply kosher salt, opening up cuts to recieve salt and brown sugar.
Drizzle with honey,chop up thai chilies.
Cover with saran wrap and put in fridge for 3 days.
I add a lil more brown sugar and thai's before placing in smoker, cooking slow and low heat
4-5 hours later for a chinook salmon filet.
 
This forum is better then the Food Network. Keep it up guys. I never thought in my wildest dream we would be sharing recipes. Guns and smokers unite!!! I can just see the headlines. Jeff
 
My smoked salmon recipe is very close to yours.
Take a large pyrex baking dish.
I make slices in the flesh about every 3/4" but dont cut the skin.
Apply kosher salt, opening up cuts to recieve salt and brown sugar.
Drizzle with honey,chop up thai chilies.
Cover with saran wrap and put in fridge for 3 days.
I add a lil more brown sugar and thai's before placing in smoker, cooking slow and low heat
4-5 hours later for a chinook salmon filet.
Bc's Great recipes. I have the rats near the front door to keep the riff raff away. Take care. Jeff
 
I've started eating organ meats, but the taste is a little--"peculiar". So I make jerky out of it. Everyone has their own recipes, I just tweeked mine to include apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, and a lesser portion of molasses instead of sugar or honey. I still use soy sauce and worcestershire sauce (homemade) in it also. I use the cheap dehydrators that utilize blow dryer technology.

Fermented vegetables is another easy to accomplish way to store some good foods. i have 3 quarts of sauerkraut almost finished.

I started another batch of beef bone broth last night. I only use bones from sources known to feed their cattle entirely from grasses.

I went to a super expensive restaurant in pinehurst, NC. The chefs speciality was organ meat, specifically from naturally hunted elk that he killed himself. It was $200 a person for a 5 course meal, not including wine specially paired with each dish. The first 4 were organ meat plates and then a desert. I couldn’t do it. It was too overpowering of a flavor. It was the best / worst meal I’ve ever had, If that makes sense. The chef would come out at every dish and I had to lie through my teeth. He went all out too. I felt bad. Never eating organ meat again.
 
About 40 years ago my bud got me started on smoking salmon. Have used many different smokers and a myriad of brines since then. I have settled on a method that is simple and produces a superior product every time, no fail.

Smoked Salmon

Brine: I use a dry brine consisting of dark brown sugar, canning salt and garlic. The ratio is: 4 cups of dark brown sugar, 1 cup of pickling salt and 10-15 cloves of garlic (you can substitute dry garlic products, 1 tsp per clove). This makes enough brine for about 10-12# of fillets. That's about 6 sockeye or coho fillets.

Salmon: I used to catch my own, but the MFWICs turned a world class fishery here in Washington into a mere shadow of what it used to be. It is actually cheaper now for me to buy it. I wait til sockeye or coho go on sale, say $7.99 a pound. Steelhead works too as does Chinook, but I'd rather save those for the grill. Pretty much all salmonoids work well including trout and char (brookies, lake trout, etc) as long as they aren't oily like Pink salmon.

Blend the brine ingredients. Use a non metallic container. Put a layer of brine on the bottom of container. Add fish, skin side down. Cover that layer in brine. Add new layer of fish, flesh side down. Add layer if brine. layer flesh to flesh, skin to skin. Refrigerate over night. The brine will become liquid.

In the morning, rinse off the fillets/chunks with cold water, just enough to remove any chunks or blobs of remaining brine. Dab dry with paper towels. Place fish on racks, skin side down and sprinkle with fresh ground pepper. Let the fish set at room temp till the pellicle (a translucent skin like layer) forms, 4 to 6 hours or so.

I now use a Bradley smoker with auto feed and temp control. Use what you have. Preheat smoker to 130*. Add racks of fish. Get the smoke going. Use Alder and Apple. I use alder for ~ 1 1/2 hours then apple for ~1 1/2 hours. Go another 2 hours without smoke for a total of ~ 5 hours. I then run the temp up to ~ 160* to kill any remaining bacteria. About one more hour. I let the smoker cool off overnight and in the morning, I have a bunch of salmon candy.

I also go for smoked fishes - having lived in Alaska for 2 years and Washington state for more years than I care to remember I smoked silver salmons rock fishes and dolly vardens (char) frequently. Those were the good old days the limit for silvers was 5 per day then and much more for the char fishes. Upon moving back to the east coast for 2 years, I smoked striped bass and occasionally blue fishes (more fun to catch than eat - faux crab cakes?) and mackerels. My procedure was very similar to yours - I used kosher salt and only bottled water and dried out the sugary brine with a fan to form a glaze - alder or apple. Now when living in far landlocked Montana I smoke the rockfishes, red and silver salmons - hides on, bought from the super market. I really miss the thrill of a hit on a 7-9 inch sluggo (especially at night) or spinning herring. I also cast flies because of the need to be sociably accepted.

Garlic is a critical element in the kitchen.
 
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After a disappointing trip to several local supermarkets to see no flour on wide empty shelves, I went on-line to King Arthur Flour and bought 10 lbs. of unbleached all purpose flour (limit 2), 1 lb. of Bakers special whole milk powder and 1 lb. of Red Star Active Dry Yeast (limit 2). Most likely, flour will re-appear in the super markets soon before the stuff from King Arthur arrives.
 
Never eating organ meat again.

I would have said that once, but given the price hikes on quality beef, I looked at this web site and was surprised at the differences in nutritional values per equal weights of raw liver, heart, and top round.

https://www.nutritionvalue.org/

Top round is what I used to make jerky for summer/camping (minimal cooking). Since beef liver and heart are substantially cheaper than top round and have higher vitamins and minerals %'s than equal weights of top round, I decided to give them a try as jerky. The heart has some yield loss due to ventricles/valves/sinew and fat, but it is still nutritionally superior and cheaper. The fat could be rendered once you get enough, and the other stuff could make good dog food if you had a dog and Rover would eat it.

A full sized cow heart is about 5#, they usually chop them into about a pound per package. I have no idea how large a cow liver is, they usually slice it thin and into pieces and the packages weigh about a pound. A whole lamb liver, if you can get one, is about 1 1/4# and is preferable for slicing, and nutritional values are comparable to beef liver. Lamb heart is too small and has too large a percentage of dog food quality tissue compared to beef.

I might try kidney some day, and kidney suet is supposed to be the best for making tallow
 
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Carnitas, for street tacos, burritos, etc:

1 large pork shoulder, cut into 3-4" sections/cubes placed into a covered foil pan. Cook at 325-350º for 3 1/2 to four hours. It should pull apart easily with a fork when cooked.

The shoulder should be heavily dusted with a mix of:

Oregano
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Chili Powder
Cumin

Salt to personal taste

Fill the foil pan with a 50/50 Orange juice & water mix plus a 1/2 cup of Apple Cider vinegar, so that the shoulder cubes are sitting in a bath, but not 'swimming' in it. Uncover the foil pan for the last hour of cooking, so that the steamed shoulder will brown up.

Pico de Gallo:

diced Roma tomatoes
red onion, peeled and finely diced (go easy - they can overpower quickly)
chopped cilantro
minced garlic
salt to taste
lime juice - more is better in my opinion

Mix the ingredients in a glass bowl, 2-3 hours before serving.Cover and refridgerate.

Use the Carnitas and Pico, mixed into a bowl of rice, and your preference of beans (red, white, or black, or all three). Top with a hard fried egg, add a piece of crumb led up bacon, and wash it down with your favorite Cerveza mas fina...
 

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