hwilson41

Looks great Ron. What kind of smoker is that? I don't think I'd have a prayer of holding mine below 100 degrees, so cold smoked probably isn't a player in this house unless I do some very serious jury rigging. I'm very anxious to hear what you think of the flavor, be it Andouille-like or not. Having a nice supply of smoked sausage is a burden we all should have to bear .

I would like to second that motion. Michael, your comments are invaluable, and we really appreciate your participation and continued input. We're all learning here, which is what eG is all about, and you are miles ahead of any of the rest of us on these topics, so please continue to comment and contribute. I think I speak for the other participants that we're all grateful for your book and your help.

h is just fine with me Ron . I'll be very interested to hear how yours comes out, since you're also familiar with the LA product. I'm not going to get around to it until next week because I'm finishing up bacon for a weekend trip down to our daughter's house and am under strict orders to bring bacon when we come , but I'm going to try essentially Folse's recipe too, with the peppers jacked up a bit and a little shot of allspice added. I can hardly wait, because as much as I love Jacob's and Poche's, by the time I get them to Virginia, they certainly aren't cheap .

We should also never lose sight of the fact that these folks are paid to find things that cause cancer. If one were to go two or three years without finding a single thing that caused cancer, one's career prospects might be considerably diminished .

FWIW, I was pondering the Andouille recipes and questions thereon that we were discussing upthread, and it dawned on me that there is another recipe here that I'd seen earlier. Chef Folse is about as expert on Cajun and Creole as one can get, and I've cobbled together a slight variant on his recipe that I think I'll try shortly for my first attempt at homemade Andouille.

Anna, I think if you want to use the maple syrup variation of the recipe on p. 42, you need to add 1/2 cup of syrup to the 1/4 cup of cure. There is another sweet variation (which I've made twice now) on pp. 83-4, and it uses 1/4 cup syrup and 1/4 cup of brown sugar. I can't speak to whether the recipe on p. 42 works well or not, but the one on p. 84 works like a charm (I added 1 Tbsp black pepper), so maybe for your "sweet" version you might want to consider using the recipe on p. 84 and avoid any ambiguity. Hope this helps.

Beautiful job, Chris, and I'm glad they both taste great. I agree that there may not be such a thing as bad homemade bacon . Did you use the recipe on pp. 83-4? That recipe has drawn rave reviews from friends (who might be trying to be polite) and family (who don't give a damn about polite ), so I think it's a winner for sure. I added 1 Tbsp black pepper, but other than that I don't want to fool with success.

Hmmm...I'm still pondering (always dangerous). If I were to try this recipe today, I'd probably bump up the cayenne, add either pepper or red pepper flakes (or both?), but I would have kept the mustard. Sorry to hear it doesn't add much, but I guess I'll skip that. I love a small bit of allspice, so that is a definite keeper for me, even though from what I can tell by reading the ingredients lists, it probably isn't "authentic". I think it's time for a little pseudo scientific experimentation . I'll report back after I get things going in the la-BOR-a-tory .

I've been pondering exactly the same question. I read...more closely than usual ...Poche's detailed description, including the spices, and the recipes in Charcuterie include a lot more stuff than either Poche's or Jacob's use (assuming their lists are complete, of course). I may edit the recipe a bit before making the sausage, in hopes that I will end up with something similar to the "real" sausage we already know.

Ron, my impression is that water (or beer, or wine, or whatever) is added primarily to keep the mixture moist enough so that it will flow evenly through the stuffer. At least that's how I've always done it, and it seems to work out that way. Based on that, I'd just eyeball it until it seemed right and wing it from there. Re a second grinding, most of the "real" Andouille I'm familiar with is pretty coarsely ground, so you might want to reconsider that also. See Poche's description, and also Jacob's . The latter doesn't even grind theirs at all so they say, and I can attest that it is damned good Andouille . Just a thought.

And back to bacon...again . I'll skip the blow by blow and the pictures because I'm doing almost exactly what I did before with an 11 pound belly from the Amish farmer. When I suggested experimenting with other recipes, spouse person said in no uncertain tones "Don't even let it cross your mind." I guess that means she liked the initial effort . Alas, this will be the last from the Amish farm until October sometime when they start slaughtering hogs again after the weather cools down. Anyway, the lesson I've learned is that once family and friends get a taste of the bacon, you'll be stunned at how quickly 10 pounds can disappear. After giving quite a bit away, cooking up several samples for tasting, and eating it ourselves several times, my 10 pounds is gone!! As in zippo, zilch, nada!! We ate the last this morning with pancakes. My only comfort is that the new bellies already have four days curing on them in the fridge, so I'm only a few days away from being resupplied. Next project, after a road trip next weekend, will be hot smoked Andouille using the recipe Chris used with such spectacular success. I'm planning on using beef rounds for casings, and an enhanced spicing similar to Chris's. And thanks much for all the tips Chris. I'm anxious to see how it turns out in a horizontal smoker where I can't hang the sausages, but based on past experience, I don't think that's going to make any difference. More to follow .

Chris, beautiful work on the andouille. It must taste as good as it looks, and I'm sure you're justifiably proud. I'd be interested in knowing the approximate percentages you changed the spices, and also what size pork(?) casings you used. The only two sources of "real" andouille I've ordered from in LA (Jacobs and Poche's) use beef middle casings, but the last time I ordered casings from the Sausage Maker, it looked to me like they've changed some definitions because they had beef rounds that were smaller than the beef middles, and I *think* it used to be stated that beef middles were the smallest beef casing available. Or maybe my memory is even worse than I think it is . Thanks again for the careful blow by blow. Very helpful to those of us who follow. Re sausage stuffers, I had many problems with my KA stuffer also, and finally decided to spring for one of these from the Sausage Maker. I've only used it a couple of times so far, but it is a dream to use compared to the others I've tried. And I took Ron's advice and soaked the casings for two days. It does make a world of difference compared to only soaking them an hour or two.

I'm anxious to see those pics Ron. I have a side-box smoker, and have trouble keeping the temp below 200F, let alone 100F. Might be time for some Rube Goldberg at my house . Then again, I'll also be very interested in whether or not you think cold smoking is worth the trouble. The hot smoked product I reported on upthread received rave reviews from all who tasted it, including some family members who wouldn't say nice things just to be polite .

One note to an issue raised above: if you're finding salt on the fatback, it is NOT fresh fatback, which is what you really want for most uses in Charcuterie. And now, the topic at hand. I made the Chipotle BBQ sauce on pp. 287-8 tonight. It is outstanding . It is spicy (as advertised), but really, really good. We had it on bacon cheeseburgers tonight (the maple bacon discussed upthread). Highly recommended .

Amen^2 to all the above. I'm working on a recipe for some very spicy sausage, and among other things I needed 3 Tbsp freshly ground pepper. I was using my old Peugeot, grinding my little butt off, and after what seemed like 30 minutes, I had maybe 1-1/2 Tbsp. To say that I was a little pissed is a great understatement. So I ran up to Sur la Table, bought the Unicorn Magnum, came home and went back to work. In less than 5 minutes, I had the entire 3 Tbsp ground. This thing is amazing. Being a colonial decor kind of guy, I'm not overly enthralled with the look of it, but for performance it beats anything I've ever owned by miles. Great product!!!

Ron, you may very well be correct. I wasn't asking to be a smartass. I was asking because I don't know the answer . My gut feeling is that oxygen would enhance the curing process, but I'm not sure. Where are all the SSBs when you need them ? Edited to add comment that might or might not sound semi-intelligent .

And the curing process does not require oxygen?

i think it would speed up the cure. ← The vacuum would speed up the cure? Or am I reading you backwards ?

I would think (based on zero experience) that the vacuum would retard or totally inhibit circulation of the cure liquid. The book says explicitly that the curing liquid should be in contact with the meat at all times.

Most definitely. Fifi and I discussed these way back when, and she remembers about the same thing I do. Sausages, hotter than the hinges of hell, fresh off the smoker. On the first bite, hot fat spurts out, and after that it's just some of the most devine sausage you've ever tasted (provided you can tolerate a fair amount of cayenne ). The funny thing is, most Texans will regale you with their "true" versions of Texas chili or good BBQ (brisket, of course) until hell won't have it, complete with more instructions that you ever wanted to hear. But when the subject turns to hot links, everybody clams up and they'd part with their first-born daughter faster than they'd give you a recipe . Here's a link to a pretty funny article by Pableaux Johnson on the subject. Edited to correct bad link.

Dammit! If I lived a little closer, I'd try to finagle an invitation for myself . Those sound really delicious. I think I'm going to do some pancetta or a variant thereon. I also love savory bacon flavor and might do a regular half (smoked) and a half rolled and hung, both seasoned with the savory seasoning. But I'll have to wait awhile. The one problem with the Amish farmer is that you can only get these bellies at the first of every month (when they slaughter the hogs). I'm also hot to trot on making some authentic Texas Hot Links like I used to get in Ft Worth when I was growing up there. I'm still fiddling with the recipe, but think I'm closing in on it , so that'll probably keep me busy until the next hog killin' time.

Onward and upward with bacon . This stuff is so good that I am amazed it is so easy. Of course, I had some very helpful ground breaking by Ronnie Suburban, for which many thanks Ron. To the point, I started out with one large pork belly bought from an Amish farmer in southern Maryland who raises grain fed hogs. Here is the belly, still in one piece. It weighs 11.5 lbs and measures about 11" x 17", 2-1/2" thick at the thickest part. I cut the belly into halves to fit into the zip locks. Here is one, already treated with the cure from Charcuterie using the recipe on pp. 83-4. The only change made was that I added about 1 Tbsp black pepper to each of the recipes. Note that the 2 gallon bag was actually a bit large, so I used binder clips to make it a bit smaller. Because of the thickness (I think), I had to let the bellies cure for 9 days to get them firm. They didn't develop as much liquid as I expected, despite tha fact that I used a pretty generous amount of cure (3 recipes total, most of which was used up). After 9 days in the cure, this is one of the halves on a drying rack, thoroughly rinsed and ready to go into the fridge for 24 hours to develop the pellicle. Next, into the smoker, fired almost exclusively with apple which was pretty green, but the initial fire was started with hickory to get a bed of coals. Based on what Ron observed earlier, I smoked the halves entirely with the skin side down, and the finished product was very tender with just the right amount of chew to it. It was quite windy and warm on smoking day, and I had trouble keeping the smoker temp below 225F but managed to contain it most of the time. After 2-1/2 hours, the internal temp was 150F, more or less. I checked with two thermometers and got two different readings that were about 3 degrees apart. Anyway, here is a very dark pic of what the two bellies looked like after smoking, now cooling on the racks. And the finished product (skin removed), sliced and about to go into my beloved cast iron skillet. The two unsliced pieces in the pic are half of a half (it slices much easier if the cut the half in half again). After it was cooked, I gave a taste to my next door neighbor, and he had a bacon-gasm on the spot . This stuff is so good, it is remarkable. We had what I think was the best BLT I've ever put in my mouth that night for supper. I doubt we'll be buying much Nueske's again, unless I slip up and run out of the homemade. I'm not quite sure how much bacon we ended up with because my little kitchen scale taps out at 5 lbs and both halves were still over that after smoking, but I'm guessing they weren't much over 5 lbs each. And like Pallee observed above, I thought 10 lbs of bacon would be a gracious plenty, but after giving some away to several friends and eating it twice ourselves, we're down now to about 4 lbs and it's looking like I may have to do this every other month or so. Damn, that's good bacon . Thanks Michael for the book, and thanks again Ron for all the helpful suggestions.

I'm with Ron on this one. I cut my belly into halves and put each in a 2 gallon zip lock. Still didn't produce as much liquid as I expected, but mine were pretty thick. More on this shortly as soon as I get the pics uploaded.

What size zip locks are you using? I used the 2 gallon size, and the 5+ lb halves of bellies mentioned here were a bit small so I had to use clips to reduce the effective bag size. Maybe it is the difference in thickness. I'll know more shortly. The bellies are coming out of the cure today, drying out in the fridge for 24 hours to develop the pellicle, and into the smoker tomorrow. I can hardly wait .

Boy, I wish I was in your neighborhood . Nothing better than a good rare roast beef sammich. Great job, both of you. Beautiful, beautiful roasts.