No piccies this time though.. if I get a chance I'll put up a shot of the subject of this particular update, but it seems anything more than 4-5 pictures in a single blog and everything starts to mess up. Annoying, but I guess that's what you get for a free service :/
I've been playing for a few years now with the idea of smoking meat and other edible goodies. A few years back my Mom gave me a small outdoor roaster/smoker for Christmas and while it actually works quite well, it's intended for larger, solid roasts. My attempts at jerky in it resulted in jerky dust and other not so edible tidbits.
So when I changed out the dishwasher in the house, I saved the old shell (steel with a burner at the bottom) and was working on converting it into a smoker when up popped a full size one on Freecycle. I jumped at the chance, and had it home in the yard the next day.. It's a full size metal fridge, with a metal interior and fiberglass insulation. The only thing that was plastic was the transition pieces between the interior and the exterior, and they were pretty badly warped, so I pulled them out and instead used anodized steel flashing and high temperature silicone (and screws) for a much better job overall. The burner is out of an electric hibachi, and the smoke tray is an old 2 part roasting tray I found at the Salvation Army for a buck :)
Overall, I think the results are super after some trial and error. Lethbridge meat and seafood had bulk jerky cure (salt, sugar, sodium nitrite, sodium nitrate) for $4 a kilo. This was handy as you have to use it for all slow cooked meat. The nitrate/ite is present in very small amounts, but it kills off botulism, which has a nasty way of living in meat cooked slowly at lower temperatures.
Meat wise, Costco is proving a great source. $20 is good for either a whole eye of round (#1 choice) or a Sirloin tip (#2) and you get approximately 1.5 kilos of jerky from either of them. Now consider this... at the store, 120g of jerky is $8-12... so that would be $100+ worth of jerky for $20.. not too shabby :) Same goes for Salmon.. hot smoked salmon is $37 a pound (the cheapy stuff is chum salmon.. it's ok, but it's not great.. and it's been frozen :/ ) but $16 nets you about 3 lbs of premium salmon.
Processing is easy enough. Cut into 1/4" thick slabs, then cut to size and remove all the fat. Fat doesn't smoke, it just goes rancid after a few days, so the vast majority of it has to be removed. Then mix up your seasoning and jerky cure, rub it into the meat, pack in a glass container, cover and store for a day. Jerky cure penetrates at a rate of 1/4" per 24 hrs, and then it's into the smoker. For jerky, I find that long metal skewers work the best. I can hang a dozen or so pieces on each one, then drape them through the metal grilling racks so they get full exposure to the smoke.
For wood, I've been using mostly apple, hickory and pecan (love the smell of pecan!). I've tried mesquite but it's a very strong flavour. So does alder (oops.. pause for Backyard Monsters.. 6 million resources looted overall.. not too shabby!) and I haven't found a decent price for cedar chips in town yet, but I'd imagine it's the same line as pecan. 30 minutes soaking in water so they don't flare up, then on the burner they go!
Jerky : Variable amount of whole muscle meat, less fat the better.. I haven't tried ground meat yet as I need some more jerky screens before I try.. that and a pound of lean ground beef is $3.25 and a pound of eye of round is about $2 :P Not a hard choice.
- 1 1/2 tsp jerky cure per pound
- 1 tbsp jerky seasoning per pound of meat (this varies manufacturer to manufacturer.. I find 2 tbsp per lb gives a better flavour.. or.. I do a sea salt and cracked black pepper.. 1 tbsp of each per 3lbs of muscle meat)
- slice the meat into 1/4" strips, cut to width
- Lay out on cookie sheets, coat one side of the meat with the cure mix
- put all jerky into a large bowl and turn by hand, adding cure mix until everything is evenly coated
- put in sealed glass container, tightly packed for 1 day per 1/4". If your slices are a bit thick, add 12 hours of cure time
- remove, and skewer pieces so they can hang and absorb flavour
- Soak your chips and put them in the pan on the burner
- Hang the jerky, and smoke for 4 hours at 177 degrees Farenheit. A bit hotter won't hurt, but try to not go cooler.
- Allow to cool, store in the fridge. It will probably keep at room temperature, but why take the risk?
Salmon : Variable amount of Salmon. Deboned is better, but if you have to, use needlenose pliers to pull out the pin bones.
- cut to desired size, again try for 1/4" thickness
- 1 1/2 tsp jerky cure per pound
- Mix up a bowl of 3/4 cup water, 1/2 cup soya sauce, 1/2 cup maple syrup (or maple flavoured syrup), 4 tbsp brown sugar. Add your jerky cure to this
- Place fillets in a glass container, and coat fully with the brine mix. If you have to, add a bit more water and soya to the empty bowl to dissolve the sludge at the bottom, then pour it in. Make sure the fillets are fully covered. Seal the container and refrigerate for 24 hours.
- 3 to 7 hours before smoking, remove salmon, place it on a cooling rack over a cookie sheet and lightly cover with tinfoil. The air will cause the surface to form a coating that will preserve moisture.
- Soak your chips, start up the smoker, place the chips on the burner.
- Place the fillets on greased racks in the smoker.
- Smoke at 200 degrees Farenheit for 4 hours.
- Remove fillets, wrap tightly in tinfoil, then wrap in a large towel while still hot. This allows the meat to rest, and the juices to flow back in.
- Store in the fridge afterwards
Cheese : Variable amount of your favorite cheese
- slice into blocks no more than 2 inches thick in 2 dimensions.. 2x2x4 for example
- soak your chips, and start up the smoker with the chips on the burner
- Smoke at _NO MORE_ than 100 degrees Farenheit for 2-6 hours.. 80 degrees is better, but very hard to maintain
- Once finished, put the cheese into a freezer bag and seal it, then put that bag into another bag and seal it too. Toss it in the fridge for 8 days. This allows the smoke flavour to penetrate deeply.
- This has the added benefit of letting the cheese live longer in the fridge it seems. The last I tried was aged cheddar, and smoked it over a month ago. As of now, there are still no fuzzies growing on it or discoloration, so I'm thinking the thicker skin that is created when you smoke the cheese is quite beneficial!
Pastrami : 2 pre-made corned beef briskets (Wal-Mart, Superstore and Safeway have them here in Lethbridge)
- wash the briskets in cold water! The corning process makes them obscenely salty, so you need to get rid of some of this first. If this still isn't enough, soak them for 4 hours in cold water to draw some salt out.
- Trim all the fat off. Each brisket usually has a large fat pad on the bottom. Ideally, buy the ones that don't have as much of a fat pad.. you get more pastrami that way :)
- Tenderize each brisket by stabbing the heck out of it with sharp meat fork
- Prepare your pastrami rub. 3 tbsp cracked black pepper, 3 tbsp ground coriander seed, 3 tbsp garlic powder, 3 tbsp brown sugar
- Lay each brisket out on saran wrap and coat all over with mustard (any kind works.. it doesn't actually flavour the meat at all)
- Evenly coat the briskets with the rub on both side, make sure you get the ends too.
- Tightly wrap in saran and store in the fridge for at least 12 hours.
- Soak your chips and fire up the smoker with them on the burner.
- Smoke the pastrami directly on the racks (lightly oiled) for 3 hours at 200 degrees Farenheit.
- Remove, wrap tightly in tinfoil and replace. Cook for 2 more hours.
- Remove and wrap tinfoil packets in a towl, let stand for 1 hour.
- Refrigerate and enjoy! (Much easier to slice when cold btw)
That should work for now :) More recipes and pics to come in the immediate future :)
