woodburner

Does anyone hear how they will be cooking, at the new location? I believe they use woodburing pits in Syracuse, but will they be able to obtain the necessary permits in NYC/West Harlem to cook with wood. I've been to both places in upstate NY and thought the bbq meat taste, flavor, was more than acceptable. woodburner

Some people eat with thier wallets. I like to cook from my heart. To me the most satisfing memories are the family sitting around the kitchen table, smiling, laughing, and filling my gullet, with incredible tasting foods. wooburner

I am amazed at the small percentage of people making thier own homemade sausages/franks. Personally I started out buying ground pork, mixing my own spices into the meat, bought a hank of casings. Then when stuffing part came, I found the perfect tool. An old fashion metal cookie press. I could fill the canister up with about 1 lb of seasoned meat, added the largest plain tip that came with the kit on the end, and forced my casing over the tube. As I screwed down on the plunger, out came the seasoned meat into the casing. I twisted off the sausages every 7 inches or so, and let them dry in the refrigerator. Most important part of the entire process is cleanliness, but you can at least control the amount of fat, and spice measurments to your own enjoyment. Only differnce with hot dogs is that the meat is emulsified. woodburner

I believe it is. The growing till maturation is extremely long. Here in the Northeast, it plants in the fall (October) to develop a good root system. Growing resumes again during the very early day's of spring. I am speaking of course of the hardneck varieties. Maturation is late July, early August, and then a two week dry time. It stores well in a cool place for about 4 months. I've read that if cloves are seperated and then froze, they could keep years, and retain freshness. woodburner

No expert here, fifi, just my experiences: Most Supermarket stuff, is the softneck varieties. I'll compare it too buying supermarket chile powder, and then toasting and grinding your own chiles into powder. It's night and day. One huge diffrence between the hard and soft varities is when it's roasted. Soft neck cloves will be just about impossible to remove from the head, and render almost tasteless. On the other hand, the hardnecks are extremely aromatic while roasting, with a smooth mellow flavor when spread on a thick crutsy hunk of Italian bread. If you have the ability and means to grow some, it's well worth your while. I've planted 30 lbs in the fall and harvested almost 100 lbs in August. woodburner

Holly hit the nail on the head regarding rib eye. But could prove to be a bit costly for some. What I do may seem a bit unconventional, but works good for me. Here is my procedure for the beef part: I purchase NAMP cut #168, Beef Round Top, Separated from the knuckle and bottom round, the top round is the inside portion of the round primal, with all bones, cartilages and exposed lymph glands removed. The cut, is located here click I slowly roast it over a woodburning fire at 200F until the internal temperature is about 120F, measured in the center of the cut. External seasoning of the roast is optional, but I use a Montreal Steak type concoction. By slow roasting at this temperature I have found the the internal part of the roast will be fairly even in doneness, from side to side an top to bottom of the roast. After I allow the roast to cool, I slice it, on a commercial meat slicer at just about the thinnest control setting, Vacuum pack into 1lb packages and freeze. When we feel like Philly type steak sandwiches for lunch, I open a defrosted package of meat, and quickly saute/fry on a griddle. Add some onyons, to the mix, and serve on a nice hogie type roll with the hot whiz. Easy huh? woodburner I should add, I have some digital pictures, of my cooking process if some kind soul would like to host a site to post them.

Whew??? That entire statement brings sweat to my forehead. The first qoute is that judges are not allowed to judge a smokeing. And I am completely familiar with the judging requirements, and then you add that judges do act upon a smokering. Then the addition of 1/4" is ideal???. Sounds like an unbalanced judging criteria to me. Straighten out the rules, or throw the judges out. woodburner

That article is award winning. Thank you for sharing. woodburner

I have a local grower that raises free range Chickens and Turkey's. He also raises a breed of chicken that matures at 15lbs, which are succulent. Small in size, the turkey output from the farm is about 800 or so. I'm also in the corner in reagards to supermarket birds, being just about tasteless. woodburner

Thank you for being part of the welcoming committe. My post was meant to reasure guajolote, that my rendition of kraut was her/his adaptation, on steriods. In no way was it meant to override the terrific information that was previously introduced into evidence. I'm pretty sure with a blessing from guajolote, we could find a way to post some pictures of my endevour. To cut to the chase, I would be happy to inform anyone with a visual, as long as it stays on the same thread. I get touchy about infringing on others great information. woodburner

Ahh, a fellow krautmiester! Four of us, construction type guys get together the first week of October to pound our cabbage's! Typically we start with two full cases of locally grown cabbage, shred with an authentic "Krauthobel", which consists of a small wooden box, which slides on two wooden rails, that has razor sharp blades that cuts the cabbage's into perfect thin slices. We have four or five, ten gallon ceramic crocks that we start to fill with the perfectly cut shreds. We use the assembly line approach, one person stripping the outter leaves of the whole heads, coring, and cutting each head into quarters. Worker #2, takes the quarters and skillfully wacks the krathobel back and forth, leaving nothing but fine cabbage shreds in the crocks. Worker#3 with the aid of a sawed off baseball bat, pounds his bat up and down, into the shreds releasing the savory juices from the shreds, adding just the right proportions of salt, during his pounding. Worker #4 is the pivot man, spelling each worker from thier exhaustive tasks, periodically. At the end of the evening the crocks are filled to the top with whole leaves that were previously removed and the whole kibbodle is weighted down. Crocks are covered with a wet muslin cloth, and the fermenting process begins. Two weeks later we all reassemble to can ten cases of quarts. I have a killer recipe for Sauerkraut crackers, I'll have to dig out. woodburner

cheftoad Yes, after searing, I monitor the internal temperature with a digital remote. I use a final check with my thermapen, instant read. I like to use 135 as my goal for this roast, just past pink. Enjoyed reading your caul fat technique. I have heard from others it is a terrific procedure. woodburner

Fifi, Buying the entire loin, like you did saves some hard earned dollars. We do the same thing, then cut to our liking and vacuum save the other roasts. Click here for Double Butterflying Technique. Cutting Detail Woodburners Brine One Gallon of Natural Spring Water 3/4 cup kosher salt 3/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup orange juice 1/3 cup cooking oil Add salt to water, stir until dissolved Then add remaining ingredients Lay the pork out flat in a non-reactive container and completely submerge the loin with brine. Keep in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours. Spinach Stuffing Package of frozen spinach, defrosted and well drained 1/2 cup diced onions 2 Tbl. finely chopped garlic 1 cup bread crumbs 3 Tbl. Honey Saute the onions in a bit of oil until translucent, add the garlic cook for just a few minutes then add the spinach, and just blanch. Remove from heat, add honey and mix in bread crumbs, until combined. Remove the Pork from the brine, spread entire mixture over the loin. Roll the loin up back into a roast, and tie with kitchen twine ever few inches. For cooking, I preheat the oven to about 325f, and in a large skillet, I use cast iron, brown the roast on all sides on top of the stove. Then move to the oven for cooking. I cook this type of loin until it hits an internal temperature of 135f. Eat. woodburner

I've just recently discovered the ease of preparation and glories of devouring, stuffed Loins. After the loin was butterflied, it was easily brined, because of it's thickness. It was overstuffed with a spinach/honey stuffing, rolled and tied. Searing the outside was done in a skillet and then roasted in the oven until al dente. Anyone have any similar experiences? woodburner

I've had no problems ramping the cooker temperature up to over 300F, with pork butts, if guests are starting to get hungry. Not allowing yourself enough time, is the most common bbq, cooking miscalculation. Here is the sauce I like most: Pulled Pork Vinegar Sauce 1/2 cup White Vinegar 1/2 cup Cider Vinegar 1 tsp. Kosher Salt. 1 tsp. Freshly cracked black pepper 1 tsp. Hot pepper flakes 1 good shot of Tobasco Sauce 1 tsp. sugar Heat Vinegars to a low simmer, add remaining ingredients, remove from heat and allow to cool. Allow to cool to room temperature, and pour off into a squeeze bottle and store in refrigerator until ready to use. Happy Birthday! You done good in the gift department. woodburner

I start my pork butts right around 7p.m or so, and they are ready to come off about noon time the next day. You can very easily cook them hotter to make it go quicker. To me bbq is a bit like Viagra, it keeps me up, all night. If your not quite ready to spend your hard earned money for a new cooker, you might consider constructing an opened end box from 2" thick, rigid, foundation insulation. Keeping the open end to fit over your cooker, and slightly propped off the ground to allow, just a bit of air in. Then cut a small opening in the side/ top for smoke exhaust. A very neat little cooker is available in the North East from most TrueValue stores made by Weber, called the, Weber Smokey Mountain. They can be had for less than two hundred, and perform very well. woodburner

When I bbq Boston butts, the bone will pull out from the meat freely, an indicator that it is now at the pullable stage. Then I double wrap in foil and set the meat into a empty ice cooler for about two hours, before pulling it apart. BBQ is an art, not science, but here are some general guidlines I follow for pork butts. Ensure the meat reaches 140F, within the first four hours of cooking. At or around the 160F mark, the temperature will plateau, for upwards of two hours. Stick with it, it will move up to the target temperature of 195F. Just about every other item in between these couple of guidlines is fair game, to suit the pitmaster. woodburner