Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

Will have to ask the wife .

But it is tortellini, heavy cream, peas, asparagus, bacon, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper. Really tasty!

 

That's a good looking spread right there!

 

Scottalot starter pack...

 

Like butter

 

To be honest, I've never heard her say it before. It kind of took me by surprise.

 

With my second batch of Bresaola in the 15th day of the 21 day curing process I though it time to start a new project. So yesterday at BJ's Wholesale club I picked up a 9+ lb pork loin for right around $16.00

Lonzino

5-27-18

Step 1. Pork loin unpacked toweled dried, cut in half and trimmed of fat cap and loose pieces. Meat also weighed to calculate spice/cure amounts.

I ended up with pieces weighing:

1758g
1524g
905g of trimmings



Step 2. Gather spices and cure.

Critical items are Cure #2, salt and sugar. All the other spices I base on my Bresaola and can be adjusted or omitted per your liking.

Cure #2 - 0.25%
Kosher salt - 3.00%
Brown sugar - 0.05%
Black pepper corns
Granulated garlic
Ground thyme
Juniper berries
Dried rosemary
Fennel seed
Whole clove
Crushed red pepper

I also toasted the pepper corns, fennel and juniper berries prior to grinding in the Ninja bullet. Then I mixed in the rest of the spices and cure related to the individual cut of mean and gave them a quick spin in the Ninja to blend thoroughly.



Step 3. After blending the spices I put them into a cup with the weigh of the corresponding meat on it to keep from getting things mixed up. Cut a vac bag to length label with what you are making date and weight.

Before spicing the meat I like to put a payer of parchment paper on the counter prior to for easier cleanup. The parchment paper will want to roll up on you so to keep this from happening sprinkle a little water on the counter and it paper will stick to it and lay flat. I also like to keep a dough knife handy to scrape up all the spice/cure that doesn't stick so I can collect it and put it in the vac bag with the meat for the curing process.




Step 4. Rub the meat with spice/cure mixture all over. Collect and spice/cure mix that doesn stick and put it i the vac bag.



Step 5. Vac out about 80% of the air and seal the bag. You want a little air space in the bag so you can swish the cure around in the coming weeks. Put in a overflow pan (bus pans work great for this and curing bacons plus they are inexpensive and food safe) in case a bag leaks and into a 38 to 42 degree fridge for at least 2 weeks flipping every 1 to 3 days.

Note you can also put a weighted cookie sheet or something flat on top of the vac packed meat to press it flatter if you desire. Something in the 5 to 10lb range will work.



See you in a couple weeks

 

s

so not air cured?

 

Technically nothing is air cured. 1st step in the process is to cure the meat with cure, salt and sugar (spices are only there for flavor). After the meat is cured then it is air dried (under controlled conditions) until it loses 30 to 40% of its moisture. Lowering moisture content makes it so bacteria have a harder time establishing and growing and also you are intensifying the flavors through enzymatic breakdown an spices.

 

so not air dried or is that a next step thing

 

Biscuits on the grill. Simply amazing and doesn't heat up the house on a really hot day.

 

http://www.cc.com/video-clips/ix0jqj/key-and-peele-kobe-beef-burgers

Pretty funny

 

Ah I see @scottalot is picking up the rest of his Charcoal order

 

That's funny even stole the dog!!!

 

Air drying is one of the next steps.

1. Cure.
2. Rinse
3. Inoculate with molds
4. Let mold establish 24 to 48 hours
5. Hang in curing chamber to allow controlled air dry

Step 1 is a 2 to 3 week process depending on the meat thickness

Steps 2 thru 4 occur within about 2-1/2 days

Step 5 anywhere between 4 to 12 weeks depending on how your curing chambers is set up and the thickness of the meat.

 

I was wondering if anyone has been using a Oklahoma Joe smoker and how they like it. My current smoker was really cheap and is going down hill fast. Originally I was looking at something a little nicer than Oklahoma Joe, but I spent my smoker money on suspension.... and tiers.... and sliders. So now I need to think a lot cheaper for a new smoker.

 

Probably cheating, but smoking on an electric smoker.

 

Angus beef short ribs going on the smoker early tomorrow. Never tried them before!

 

I use the MES myself. Works great so far

 

I have some for tomorrow, too! Mine were actually the scrap from prepping tomahawks, so they're boneless, but the same meat. It's gonna be tasty. Yours are proper short rib; you're going to love them!