Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

I didn't notice anything on the chicken from the Traeger pellets...but I did notice it on the pan lids when I took the covered pans out of the Traeger. I will keep an eye on it the next time I cook something (hopefully this weekend).

Later.

 

I prefer the petite upskirt, shaven not furred

 

Tonight my pancetta had been curing for 15 days so it was time to take out of the cure, rinse, dry and coat with more fresh cracked black pepper.


Rinsed and towel dried




Laying on the 1st of 3 layers of cheese cloth with a fresh coat of black pepper on the meat side




Rolled up tight, trussed and weighted out to 1774 grams. Zip ties came in handy for securing the tag ends of the cheese cloth




Pancetta hanged in the curing chamber until it looses 30 to 40% of its weight. To the port of the pancetta is my guanciale that has been drying for about 5 weeks.




Overall shot of the curing chamber filling up nicely. Homemade cheese on the floor and top shelf of the chamber meats hanging in the middle




In another 1-1/2 to 2 weeks I'll also have 2 bresaola's coming off the cure phase and will also be hanged in the chamber for a 10 to 16 week rest.

Also making another wheel of cheddar tonight. Not sure if this will be plain of or include peppers of some sort. I will let the Yuengling Premium be my guide

 

So, we have some vegans coming to my wedding. They have told me not to worry about to much a vegan friendly meal, but given 2 are close friends of my fiancé and the other is literally marrying us, I feel compelled to give them a solid meal.

Any of you guys have a vegan friendly meal? I am going to attempt veggie burgers for the Friday night cook out (we are doing burgers and brats that night). Not sure for the actual wedding night. I have a book with some vegetarian recipes but thought I might see if you guys have crossed this bridge?

 

Not sure if all this is vegan but it was damn good, a co-worker brought it to a lunch potluck, I asked her for the recipe and I'm a carnivore through and through. The tofu sausage in there with all the other flavors totally worked. Not smoked stuff, but...

Ingredients –

• 1 head of cabbage
• 2 russet potatoes (peeled and diced)
• 1 yellow onion
• 2 cups of diced carrots
• 2 lbs. of sausage, cut into chunks (I used Tofurkey sausage from Trader Joe’s)
• 1 cup of broth (I used vegetable broth, but the recipe I followed says to use chicken)
• ½ tsp of garlic powder
• ½ tsp of onion powder
• 2 tbsp yellow mustard
• 2 tbsp rice or white or apple cider vinegar
• Salt and pepper

Cooking steps:

1. Put all vegetables and sausage into the slow cooker (I recommend putting potatoes near the bottom so they cook better)
2. In a separate bowl, mix broth, garlic powder, onion powder, vinegar, and mustard
3. Pour mixture over the vegetables and sausage
4. Add salt and pepper to taste
5. Cook on low 6-8 hours

 

If you google vegan dishes lots of options come up and a lot of them look good. Maybe not everyday good but every now and then good. How about spaghetti squash as noodles with red gravy or eggplant rollatini w/ vegan cheese????

 

That’s a great explanation and I had no idea, have always really enjoyed what I bought but now you have me on the hunt for an outside skirt to try. Really appreciate you taking the time to explain that, thanks!

 

The only thing I can think of for burger night would be something like a grilled/stuffed portabella mushroom. Might be easier and taste better than a veg burger.

http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/portabella-mushroom-burgers-103939

 

Portobello sammiches are awesome

So good with a balsamic kinda glaze

 

Portabella burgers, great idea. They’re damn gud. Make sure you have great fresh buns, that’s half the battle with veggie burgers especially. Any lack of meat will be disguised by how good the bread is.

 

About 6 years ago was in Phoenix with a lady friend and 2 of her daughters. The oldest one was about 35 at the time and a vegan. Or so she kept telling anyone who would listen every 10 minutes it seemed. She wanted to eat at a Vegan restaurant so ended up driving to the other side of the city so she could. I got the intimation beef sandwich which was basically portabella mushroom. They all raved how good portabella was as a beef substitute. I kept my mouth shut, I was in the land of meat and steak yet eating a damn fungi sandwich. To be fair it was better than I expected. There was a lot of portabella based items on the menu.

I often stuff portabella caps with cream cheese and crab or cheddar and bacon when grilling, I chop some of the stems up fine and mix with the cheese. As a side with steak.

 

My MIL says she's vegan. But needs a good juicy cheeseburger every now and then!

 

Yeah the lady I dated was supposed to be along the lines of a vegetarian when I met her. She told me once that she had eaten more bacon since she met me than she had eaten in her whole life. Much of it was homemade so that supposedly was OK. She also eventually told me that she didn't want to eat so much smoked foods and meat, she needed to purge her body of meat. We are still friends, and still talk, but that is it. She asks why I don't invite her over and cook for her anymore

 

Here is a very good video on Tri-tip and how to cook it. For those that live outside of the Tri-tip zone or can now get it but don't know what to do with it.

 

I don’t eat any fungi. There is no substitute for the real thing.

 

I like fungi, it just needs to be with meat.

 

I never got the taste for it.

 

I have a coworker who absolutely says she’s vegan. We went to a group dinner one night and she told the waiter just as much. He went through the menu and she settled on a risotto dish. He came back a short while later and apologized because it turned out to have a chicken stock base. She said, “why did you tell me? You’re not supposed to tell me.”

 

I’d take a plate of fried morels over a fillet mignon in a heartbeat. But in general, I agree. No little sliced up mushrooms on my pizza or in my pasta, please.