Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

That was the dang best ribs I've had in my life. How I lived without one I don't know.

 

Looks damn good . Wish could find whole short ribs like that in Hawaii. Would like to try that .

 

Finally done and chilled!

 

What in tarnation is that??

 

Started this Black Forest Maple bacon on 12/14/17 . 2 weeks in cure, 1 week covered maple sugar, couple days of rest them 5 days of smoke totaling 40 hours. Just pulled off the smoker 10 minutes ago after the 40th hour of smoke and now one belly separated into 3 bacons are handing (on my custom bent 304 SS filler wire meat hooks) in the garage for a few days/week at between 30 and 50* to age. This bacon is soooo unbelievably good it could bring peace to the the middle east.

Today I rinsed and maple sugared another 6lb rind off pork belly and tomorrow 10 lbs of jowls are getting rinsed and sugared then rested for 5 to 7 days before 40 hours of cold smoke.

 

Looks like bologna/summer sausage to me. And it looks good.

 

Venison summer sausage. Cut with pork and beef to stretch it. Half venison, quarter each pork and beef. Three types of high temp cheese and a variety of seasoning. Made 42 lbs . Make them every year after I refill my venison stock after my hunting trip. Just got to it a little later this year.

 

42 pounds?

Score.

 

Fuck me to tears that looks good...

 

How’s the batch with the Pitfaced?

 

I see some thin blue smoke rolling!!

 

Cold smoked another batch of cheese last night (some cheddar, jack, swiss, and gouda) and had a question for those who are pretty experienced at the process.

I'm planning to wax it later this week. Right now the blocks are wrapped in saran wrap in the fridge to lock in the smoke for a few days. I've heard that letting them air dry for 2-3 days was a good idea, but I found that my last batch of cheese was slightly dry as I've consumed some of the blocks. I don't have a cold room so I age them in a warm fridge, inside a ziplock with a wet towel to keep the humidity high during the aging process. I'm not dissatisfied with the results but would like this batch to be better than the last. Suggestions?

 

I'm no expert. I let mine dry in a cold fridge overnight, then vac pack them. I havn’t waxed, and have no plans. I let it age in the fridge, and mine has been good.

 

I too Saran Wrap and put in Tupperware then fridge for a couple of days then vacuum seal, then wait..... the longer the better, that’s the hardest part.

 

Haven't tried yet has a noticeable different smell to it though.

Currently finishing up a juice fast

Three more days

 

Cold smoke between 55 and 75*F for 3 hours with light smoke. A billowing blue cold of smoke chuffing out the chimney is not what you are looking for. Once smoked take off smoker and put in fridge or cool place uncovered overnight to flash off. Next day vac pac and rest for at least 2 weeks or 2+ months is better. The day you are ready to eat cut vac pac open and put the cheese back in the fridge for at least 3 hours to let the cheese rest at atmospheric pressure.

Right off the smoker do not wrap you are not saving any good flavors and most likely will have a bit of surface moisture on it that need to dry. Surface smoke mixed with moisture make what some refer to as "acid rain". It is a pungent, acrid off tasting flavor that is not what you want.

 

Thanks. My first batch smoked for 90 minutes, I let this one go 2 hours. I may try 3 hours next time.

I let the cheese rest at room temp for an hour before wrapping to let the surface moisture dry so hopefully I avoided the acid rain. Thanks for the tip.

First batch was in late November. I sliced one of the blocks last night and it's tasting pretty good, plus I have another 6-8 more still aging in the fridge. Looking forward to tasting this batch in a couple months!

Definitely time for a vacuum sealer - seemed expensive at first but the cost of wax adds up quick.

 

I do four hours with hickory, but I've never had anything that was "too smokey". Here is a link to the best thread I've ever found on the matter.
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/mr-ts-smoked-cheese-from-go-to-show-w-q-view.123130/

 

Waxing/larding cheese for storage is great if you have a cheese cave or a fridge set up with the right temp and humidity. If you are waxing and keeping in a regular fridge you could easily wrap the blocks tightly in plastic wrap and putting in a zip top bag with the same results and a lot less work.

I'm currently in the middle of making another 1-1/2lb wheel of cheddar and since I don't have the right conditions I have forgone waxing/larding and just vac pac to age in the beer fridge.