Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

us too, but we've transitioned from canned pre-made spaghetti sauce to build our own sauce. We prob should eat a salad with it but typically its just the spaghetti and sometimes bread

 

We do fair amount of spaghetti. How much time I have depends on if I used a high end jarred sauce and doctor it up or make my own. Usually make it with meatballs or make a meat sauce to get some protein into it. Make some garlic/cheese bread and at times we do a salad with it. I actually just bought a 6 pack of noodles from Sam's the other day, it's an italian pasta, imported by Sam's. Pretty good and like $6 for the 6 1lb packages.

I've been trying to think up a good recipe for a smoked spaghetti, my little one doesn't like BBQ sauce so I need to come up with a good sauce for it.

 

We have spaghetti Tuesday every Wednesday in our house.

If you want to add smoky deliciousness to your spaghetti, smoke the meatballs. I also finish them at a high temp in the oven or on the smoker to brown the outside, then dump them in the sauce to distribute the delicious meaty flavor.

 

Pro tip.. Before you boil the noodles, toast them in the oven until light brown.

 

Nice I will have to try this and see how it comes out.

 

I really like sketti, but it is just a carrier for good Parmesan cheese

When I go out on a date especially the first one will go to a high end Italian restaurant in town here. And always start with a hard Italian roll, olive oil and a pile of Parmesan. Some of the best Parma I ever have had. Found out where they get it from in Wi. and when ever I am over on that side of the river pick some up. Slightly aged, but not over 2 years so it doesn't have crystals in it. But the flavor, oh my....

 

PSA: Clean your gas grill at the end of the summer/fall and again in May or risk getting your grease to flash while you're cooking burgers on a 70* day in Feb in New England...The burgers don't come out that great...

 

I feel as though there should be a pic...

 

Is this a real thing?

 

Ya I'm a parm junky also. When we go to TDB they have a huge wheel of it that they scrape out, I always put a ton on my plate and eat it with the prosciutto.

 

Yeah.

https://food52.com/blog/16313-roast-pasta-before-cooking-it-really

 

So not smoked meat but surely will be smoking hot....I've been on a cheddar cheese making kick as in ever Friday or Saturday for the last 8 weekends. Making an 1-1/2lb wheel each time. Its labor intensive taking about 8 hours but I am finding its a relaxing to end the work week. Drink beer, listen to music and make cheese for 8 hours. What could be better?

So with a backlog of regular cheddar aging its time to start experimenting. I have a gallon bag full of dehydrated Habaneros my daughter and I grew so its time to put some of them them to use.

21 seem like a good number and it weighed out to 15 grams so easy enough to remember if to hot or to mild. So into the Ninja bullet and mixed with the salt. In about 3 hours right before the 1st pressing I'll all the habanero salt mixture and let the fun begin. Actually this will get smoked as well before putting to rest so in about 150 days from now I can tell you how it turned out.

I can picture it now a slice of jalapeno summer sausage topped with a wedge of smoked Habanero cheddar and a smear of peach Habanero jelly to add a bit of sweetness. Chased with a ice cold Yuengling. YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I also have have a quart of Jalapeno and a quart of cayenne peppers fermenting into hot sauce that will be 11 months old when this cheese is ready. Maybe a dab of fermented hot sauce will be the pièce de résistance?????

I'll be an orgy of flavors!

 

Got any cheese making links for the process?

 

Follow the yellow brick road



2 gallons whole milk (do not use ultra pasteurized milk)
1/8th tsp calcium chloride diluted in 1/4 cup water (only used when using pasteurized milk)
1/4 tsp rennet diluted in 1/4 cup cool chlorine free water
1 pack of cheese culture

Heat milk to 85* stirring frequently. While the milk is heating up add in dilute calcium chloride. Once milk hits 85* add in cheese culture stir in an up and down motion for 30 seconds. Then cover and let sit for 1 hour undisturbed. Since I have a Sous Vide cooker I moved the milk to a water bath that is set to 85* so I do not need to cover.







After one hour stir in diluted rennet (daughter lending a helping hand) using an up and down motion for 30 seconds and let rest undisturbed for another hour. This is were the curd will set.



After 1 hour the curd will be set so its time to cut the cheese. With a sharp knife into 1/4" squares.

After the cheese is cut over the next 30 minutes raise temp of the cheese mass to 100*. After it reaches 100* keep there for 30 minutes to cook the curds. Gently stirring periodically (every 4 to 5 minutes) as they will want to sink and stick together.

Note is using a SV cooker I ramp the temp to 111* so that the curd mass and whey will reach 100* within 30 minutes.

After the curds cook for 30 minutes stop stirring and let alone for 20 minutes for the curds to sink to the bottom of the pot. After the 20 minute rest drain curds into colander and place the colander over the cheese pot to continue to drain off more whey for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes turn chees mass onto cutting board and slice into 5 or 6 equally thick pieces.

Now the cheddaring process. Place the slices back in to the cheese pots and float in 102* water bath. Every 15 minutes for the next 2 hours drain the accumulated whey from the bottom of the cheese pot and flip the curd slices over. At the end the curd slices will be shiny and firm.
After the cheddaring process its time to cut the cheese again. Cube the cheese into 1/2 squares then put them back into the cheese pot for 10 minutes floating on a 102* water batch. After 10 minutes stir gently stir the pieces. Do this twice more. After the stir add 2tbls of kosher salt and gently stir to evenly distribute the salt.
Load cheese mold with single layer of cheese cloth, fill mold and load into cheese press
Press cheese for 15 minutes at 10lbs. Remove cheese from press/mold remove the cheese cloth. Then gently flip over the loosely pressed cheese and cover with a new piece of cheese cloth. Put the the mold back into the press and press at 40lbs of pressure for 12 hours.
After 12 hours at 40 lbs remove cheese from press/mold flip over and cover with a new piece of cheese cloth and put back in the mold at 50 lbs of pressure for 24 hours. Then remove from mold and let air dry for 1 to 3 days. After air drying vacuum pack, label package w/ date, put into fridge and forget about it for 4 to 6 months.

This was a pic after the initial 10lb pressing. The additional presses will make the cheese more solid.


Notes:

The Sous Vide cooker made the process so much easier by being able to set the water bath temperature and forget it. Last time we made cheddar we baby sat the water bath making micro temperature adjustments with a tea kettle of hot water. This required standing at the sink for 5 hours to watch a thermometer. While it is possible to make cheese w/o a SV in the future I will not.

2 gallons of whole milk will net out about a 1-1/2lb block of cheddar

The Sous Vide has made such a difference in easing the process so much so that since making the cheese above my daughter and I made 2 more wheels last weekend (one Friday evening and another Sunday afternoon) and we'll probably make another this Friday.

 

also theres a cheese thread I havent been too active in it though..

 

Here it is after the 40lb pressing. Me thinks it'll be a wee tad HOT!

 

Thanks for the details. That’s a lot of work and time.

 

Looking now.

 

There’s a fog warning in my area.