Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

I'm not sure you put brown sugar or that other crap on it either

 

Ha I wasn't sure anyone even watched it. In that one Brown said something like 30 sec. a side. In the newer ones I have been watching he says 1 minute a side. And uses a blow dryer first to blow off any ash right before the meat on. I need to look harder for a skirt steak. -10 right now though, so I'm not in a hurry

 

Check Groupon, I got our Costco membership from there this summer. With the gift card and free stuff coupons I think we paid like $5 for the actual membership.

 

I get the coals going a hot as possible then right before putting the steaks on I stir the coals to knock off any ash. I use lump so bricketts might act differently.

 

Wife is looking into it. We passed on it a while ago as the store wasn’t operational at that point.

I looked up directions and distance, Costco is only 3 miles and a few extra minutes from Sams for me. May have to do this.

 

hopefully they warranty it...how do you suppose that happened? Chopping on something?

 

I’m not sure yet. Ill contact them today; I was just hoping someone here had a bit of knowledge or experience to share.

Probably while I was separating the chicken wing sections. They all came apart pretty easily - I keep the knife very sharp and I was careful to avoid the bone - but I know for a fact it wasn’t like that before I worked on the chicken.

 

well if they dont warranty, not something you would want to hear but you might have to grind down past that damage. Maybe not ideal but I think it would come back even if you had the wrinkle taken out. Could be a heat treat problem as they would say on forged in fire

 

I just sent Wusthof an e-mail. Hopefully they can help out.

If not, there’s a guy in town who does knife sharpening and did a great job repairing my knives after fishing season this year. Chopping salmon and halibut can really do more than normal wear and tear on a knife and he made them look almost new again.

 

maybe they will give you a new one

 

Dangit! I'm getting confused on the bacon cure thing. Wife bought Tender Quick, not curing salt. I also have kosher salt and pink Himalayan. Suggestions on how to proceed please.
Google is full of info, and most of it is conflicting.

 

Salts and Curing Salts - The Science of Salts

The Science of Curing Meats, With Calculator

Good guide to first time Making Bacon

I would read all 3 before attempting to use any curing salt personally.

Several good books out there on it too. Personally I prefer #1 pink curing salt which is salt and sodium nitrite. Tender Quick is also a curing salt. But has sodium nitrate in addition to sodium nitrite. You don't need sodium nitrate to make bacon. When people talk about the "bad" effects of cured meats it is usually the sodium nitrate that is the culprit. But a lot of people use it for everything from jerky to bacon. Me, not so much.

 

Thanks! Looks like I have more studyin' to do.

 

Do not use pink Himalayan when curing meats as it contains iodine and contain no cure.

Do not use kosher salt unless you are using it in conjunction with a curing salt

Do use Mortons Tender Quick at a rate of 1 level tablespoon per 1 pound of meat.

If you are weighing out the Morotns Tender Quick 1 tablespoon equals 1/2 ounce or 14 grams.

Cure # 1 is also known as:

-Prague Powder #1
-Pink Salt
-Cure # 1
-Instacure #1

Cure #1 is 6.25% nitrite and 93.75% salt. Since nitrite can be poisonous in small doses manufacturers mix it with salt to make accurate weighting/measuring out possible. I magine trying to weigh 6.25% of a teaspoon you would need an incredibly accurate small value scale. Cure #1 is used at a rate of 1 teaspoon per 5 lbs of whole muscle meat.When using cure @ 1 you will also have to add additional salt.

Morton's Tender quick is actually a mixture of 3 items:

1. 0.5% Nitrite (cure #1)
2. 0.5% Nitrate (cure #2)
3. 99% salt.

Since TQ is basically highly diluted cure it is used in higher amounts to achieve the same cure to meat ration of 26 ppm. Salt is not a cure only nitrate/nitrite.

So it works out like this if you are using Tender Quick:

For example you have a 8.75lb belly you will use 122.5 grams of Tender Quick (8.75 x 14 = 122.5) or 8 tablespoons + 2-1/4 teaspoons.

Important notes:

1. More or less cure is not better use only the proper amount.
2. Never mix cures to come up with your own ratios
3. If dry rubbing and not wet curing you cut a larger piece of meat into 2 pieces you now have 2 pieces of meat to individually cure. Each piece must be weighed separately so that you can calculate the cure for that and only that piece. While curing these pieces will need to be in their own separate container/bag so the right amount of cure stay with that piece of meat.
4. Nitrite/cure sole purpose in life is to ward off botulism. That way after curing these meats can safely be smoked at temperatures that would normally be in the "danger zone" for long durations.
5. For portion out cure it is by far more accurate to go by weight than it is by volume. Small value scales are readily available at Harbor Freight and any gas station that sells "tobacco only" water pipes. They cost less than $20 and make life easier.

If you have any additional questions or want someone to verify the amount of Tender Quick you should be using PM the weight of you bacon.

 

Nitrate cannot be discounted as it is need in certain instances depending on the product, bacon not being one of them.

 

Thank you so much! Looks like I have the 'cure'. I have a couple more questions, if you don't mind I'll ask the here as it may be beneficial to someone else.
The belly is 11 pounds. I'm thinking of cutting it in 4 pieces and adding different spice to each one. I have scales to weigh them, to get the right amount of cure. Good plan or no?
If using TQ do I still cure for 5 days or a week or whatever? I'm still a little confused on the 'quick' part.

@Cold Iron I haven't read those links yet, but I will.

Is TW a great place? YES!!

 

One more question lol. I'm not sure all 4 pieces will fit on my GMG for smoking.I haven't unbagged and unfolded it yet. The belly is fresh, not frozen. Not a problem to just freeze a piece or 2 and cure, smoke later, right? Dumb question, I know.
I lied. 2 questions. One will be Cajun, 1 peppered. Suggestion for the other 2? I have real maple syrup but I'm not a fan of maple bacon.

 

Yes weight each piece of meat individually and use the correct amount of TQ per slab along with your seasonings. When I have multiple pieces I clean the counter and disinfect it with 50/50 white vinegar/water then lay out the cuts of meat. Place a zip top or vacuum bag and coffee filter in front of each piece of meat. Weight the meat and write it on the corresponding bag. Then weight out the cure and spices and place them in the coffee filter. Now rub down each individual piece of meat and place it in its bag. Make sure to collect all spice/cure that didn't stick and make sure it gets in the bag with the meat. That way you can assembly line it.

As far as cure time I go 10 days minimum and usually more like 14 days. The nicety is you really can't over cure so if you can't fit everything in the smoker at the same time whatever you can't leave in the bag and let it continue to cure.

You can also freeze portion of the belly but do not put anything on them. Freeze then with no cure or spices just raw.

If you don't like maple bacon don't use maple anything. I personally don't like maple syrup but Black Forest Maple Bacon is killer (unfortunately my process take upwards of 40 days to make it). A great everyday bacon is the proper amount of cure and salt. Since you are using TQ you will need no additional salt. Then brown sugar at about 1 tbls per pound of meat and lots of black pepper. Rub the belly 80% goes on the meat side 20% on the rind/fat side. Let that cure for 10 days or so flipping periodically. After cureing is done then take out of the bag pat dry and sprinkle another 1 tsp per lb of brown sugar again at 80/20 and let that sit in the fridge on a rack over a drip tray uncovered for 1 to 7 days to air dry and let the sugar absorb. Right before smoking another liberal coat of course ground black pepper then onto the smoker.

Are you going to cold or hot smoke?

Either will get things done. I prefer cold smoking lots of cold smoking. My jowl last jowl bacons got seven ten+ hour smoke sessions until I go them where I wanted and all other bacons get a minimum of 40 hours with a fridge rest after every 10 hour smoke session. As a rule 8 to 10 of hot smoke will give the same smokiness of 40 hrs of cold smoke. The bid difference in hot verses cold is the texture of the end product. Hot smoke bacon is technically cooked and can be eaten with no additional cooking. Cold smoked bacon is raw and needs cooked prior to consuming.

 

Tonight's dinner. Country Ribs with PF rub from @bvbull200 and honey baked beans with PF rub in them.

 

Thought I'd share this...dope ass best man gift!