Meat smoking, sausage making and curing.

[wyoDreamer]

Quote:
How do you like your Big Green Eggs?
I was looking at them in the store one day, hubby looked at the price and said definately not!

We bought a Bubba Keg last fall (on clearance, the company has now updated the design and call it the Big Steel Keg grill) . It is a similar design to the Big Green Egg only it is insulated steel instead of ceramic. We have only cooked on it a couple of times, but haven't tried to smoke anything on it yet... It cooks like a dream on very little charcoal. Pizza cooked on it is fantastic!

 

[wyoDreamer]

Sorry about the double post ..

 

[Meat Hunter]

Hey all. Thanks to all for the nice compliments and such. I got in a bit of trouble by the mods for posting a link to the smoking site. I was wondering about that as I know some sites frown on posting links to other sites but I didn't think a smoking meat site would be a conflict of interest to a chicken site. Oh well, thems the rules.

Anyhow, some of you asked to see pics of my smoker. This first one is a homemade smoker that I built on a budget. Actually, it was a test to see just how cheap I could build one with parts/supplies that I has laying around or given to me. Total investment in this was around 40 bucks. I am not going to show the entire build as there are many many steps but will post a few pics so you get the gist of what I am doing.

The main cook chamber is a used hydraulic barrel off a large industrial truck that I got at the junk yard for I think 5 dollars.

Next I marked out the door with tape and cut it out.

This smoker is what is called a "reverse flow". Meaning, the firebox and chimney are on the same side. Many of the smokers you see are a straight flow, in one end, out the other. The RF use a heat plate, or convection plate on the bottom. The heat and smoke leave the firebox and travel under this plate and reverse direction and go out the chimney. This makes for a very even heat thru out the smoker.
This is the plate I welded up.

Installed in the smoker.

For the firebox I used two old split rims given to me by a buddy. I cut the flange off, welded the two together.

And for some reason or other, I can't find my other pics of this so here it is completed. Not the best pic but....

I used a stainless elbow from a dairy tank as the chimney.

Here is a shot of some goodies smokin up.

Another smoker I built is what is called a UDS, or ugly drum smoker. A very VERY efficient smoker based on many of the vertical smokers you see in the sporting goods stores or home improvement stores.

How this works is inside, there is a small metal basket to which you add charcoal, preferable lump charcoal. You dump a small amount of lit coals ontop of the charcoal in the basket. This is called the Minion Method. It slowly burns down instead of up, giving one burn times of up to 18 hours or so.

This is a drum I built for my neighbor.

Charcoal basket.

Inside the drum, a few holes are drilled and bolt put in to hold the cooking grates, which are just weber kettle replacement grates.

This is a pic of mine. I opted for a domed lid to give me more cooking area. I have 2 grates inside this one, plus I mounted it to a cart where I can prep stuff.

One of the first things I did was make a hanging rack for it and smoked up a brined turkey. This one I placed inside a ham net so the bird would hold its shape.

Another one of my favs. The double smoked holiday ham. Basically, you get yourself a cheap smoked ham from the store and smoked it again. A good rub down of some plain mustard to hold on the rub and score the ham and I tell ya, they are GREAT. I think I finished this one off with an Agave glaze.

And a couple other goodies, some pork shoulders for pulled pork and some bacon wrapped jalapenos aka, ABT's.

Well I think that is enough. I really love the hobby/art of smoking meat and meat curing/sausage making. It is a lost art for sure but one that is slowly making a comeback. If you have any questions at all about this, just pm me, I'll be happy to help ya out. If you want any of the recipes I used in any of the postings here, just ask or if you need help in coming up with your own recipe but not sure what would work best, give me a shout.......

 

[EweSheep]

Meat hunter, I LOVE your upright smoker! Fabulous idea!

 

[Cadjien_De_Louisiane]

Just smoking some deer sausage at my house. I love smoking new things, everytime I fire it up I like to throw something different in there.

 

[Meat Hunter]

Quote:
Ahhhh, nothing finer than some venison sausage. There is a great amount of satisfaction in harvesting your own game and turning it into something like this. Rock on!!!!!

 

[The Burg Peeps]

How do you like your Big Green Eggs?
I was looking at them in the store one day, hubby looked at the price and said definately not!

We bought a Bubba Keg last fall (on clearance, the company has now updated the design and call it the Big Steel Keg grill) . It is a similar design to the Big Green Egg only it is insulated steel instead of ceramic. We have only cooked on it a couple of times, but haven't tried to smoke anything on it yet... It cooks like a dream on very little charcoal. Pizza cooked on it is fantastic!

I love the eggs.

The do everything from smoke to sear to pizzas. And they do it all really well. They're super flexible and quick. At first I thought that the charcoal would be a giant pain, but after using it now for 8 or so months, it's not a pain at all. We don't even notice the "inconvenience." We have smoked things over night and come morning it has held its temperature... even in the winter... it only lost 2 degrees overnight.

My husband did conside the Bubba Keg, but couldn't find one locally, and he got a good deal on the eggs, which are what he wanted anyhow. I'm sure the Bubba cooks similarly to the BGE, so if you have any questions ask, I'm sure my DH will be more than glad to help.

If you like cooking pizza there is a great book I got for my DH called "Pizza on the Grill" by Elizabeth Karmel and Bob Blumer. Its a fantastic book with great recipes and ideas. http://www.amazon.com/Pizza-Grill-F...0065/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311090375&sr=8-1

Happy Cooking!

 

[quercus21]

I tried making my own sausage a last year. No one talked to me for a few days after we "tired" some. They all threaten to gang up on me and put me through the grinder if I tired it again. My hat off to all who can make edible sausages.

 

[wyoDreamer]

"The Burp Peeps" do you use regular Kingford charcoal or do you use the hardwood chunk charcoal?
DH says that the hardwood chunk heats up the Bubba Keg too much and he can't keep the temp low enough to grill on.
For pizza we use the chunck, 5-7 minutes on the pizza stone and the pizza is perfect (cheese is metled and the crust is crunchy).

One nice thing with the Bubba Keg is the hitch set-up so we can take it camping with us.

Unfortunately, at 7400+ feet in elevation, we have to use charcoal starter fluid to start the charcoal. We always used newpaper and a charcoal chimney back in Wisconsin.

 

[Meat Hunter]

Quote:
Any smoker that you want to run charcoal in, air flow is the key to maintaining steady even temps. And by airflow, I mean the only airflow that should go in is the air coming in thru the draft. Smokers must be sealed up tight. No leaky doors. Both the Keg and the BGE are GREAT smokers/grills.

Using hardwood lump is the only way to do, BUT, not all hardwood is the same. Royal Oak is probably the most common out there and is readily available. BUT, unlike traditional methods of using charcoal where you just like a pile of it, it is best to use what is called the "Minion Method" for burning it. Google that term.

It gives you far better control of your fire AND you don't use nearly as much fuel. I can get my temps down to 150 degrees and hold it there all day if need be.

Another advantage of using lump vs. briquettes is ALLOT less ash.