Rob: You are delving into relms I have barely even thought of here. We did
some sausage making in school, and I admit the idea does kind of appeal to
me, but I know nothing about cold smoking, and the prospect of trying to
stuff the sausage mixture into the casings is one I am afraid of. I wish
you all the luck in the world with these goals. It's too bad I don't live
closer so I could try some of this stuff. What is it about modern sausage
making practices that puts you off? As far as having an animal being
butchered for you, it makes me miss the days when our family could have this
done for us. We knew someone up in Idaho that had a small slaughter house
and would cut up a beef any way we wanted it. All we had to do was go up
there and bring it back. With my grandparents gone and no one in the family
willing to make the trip anymore, those days are behind me for now. I admit
I have never heard of a packer's brisket before. I can get a brisket that
is about 10 to 12 or so pounds at one of my local meat markets here, but my
understanding is that the whole brisket is made of two different muscles
which each cook and eat somewhat differently. The smokiest piece of meat
I've ever had was a brisket I made myself on my smoker many years ago. I am
always disappointed when I go to most barbecue restaurants with how little
genuine smoke flavor is in the meat. So many of these places focus so much
effort on the rub or the sauce, when it's the smoke we really want.
Jon
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rob" <captinlogic@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <blindcooks@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, August 22, 2017 3:01 PM
Subject: [blindcooks] Meat Curing and so on
This summer I have been playing a lot with different meats trying to find
smoke nirvana.
Yesterday I cooked a green ham. I had to jump through hoops to get it, for
some reason the nearest meat market would not sell me a green ham, only
cured. That market also would not get me a packer's cut brisket. They didn't
even know what that was. For those on list who also don't know, this is the
whole, untrimmed beef brisket, which is about 12 to 18 pounds. It's a huge
honking slab of meat. The briskets you find in the store in those neat
little packages have been trimmed to within an inch of their life, and it's
only one part of the brisket. They don't hold up well to long and slow
smoking due to their lack of fat pack, as I have discovered. you have to
baby them a little bit in order to make them good. But I managed to get my
hands on a whole brisket, and will be cooking that next month as part of my
coming out party. It will be the first time my barbecue has come to the
public.
So anyway, I had to go to another meat market ten miles away to get my
brisket and my green ham. And then when I got it, the thing was mostly bone.
I orderd an eigh pound ham and maybe four of it was bone. I felt kind of
ripped off.
Well other than that, it was pretty darn good. I let it rest in the fridge
for twenty four hours with a wet rub consisting of cider vinegar, brown
sugar, kosher salt, pepper, and some other spices. Next time, I may try
brining it and see what that does. I scored the ham all over in a crosshatch
pattern to let the rub seep in a little bit. Then I fired up the smoker and
cooked it about eigh hours low and slow over hickory, flipping twice.
I would like to try curing a ham and making sausage as I discussed on list
here before. However, I have done a little research and discovered that old
fashioned methods of curing meats such as the way I would prefer would not
work with modern meat processing practices. There is too much cross
contamination due to the fact that the slaughter houses run through
thousands of animals each and every day. The only way I would be able to
cure and cold smoke sausages and hams is if I had direct control of the meat
from farm to counter. I may have a way to get this done; a friend of mine
has another friend who knows someone that will sell you a pig and help you
process it. For about 225 dollars. If this happens next year, I may be in
for a treat with real salami and a nice, month long cured ham.
