Chris Amirault

That is wicked smaht, Johnny. I'm such a chowdahead!

A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one....

Oh, and Elie: The recipe looks great, Elie. I think I'm going to start with the (non-smoked) pastrami salmon, though -- that's what I wanted the recipe for, man!

Those magnificent links, my friends, are not only the best sausages I've ever made -- they're the best I've ever eaten. He shoots, he scores! Ok, enough with the crowing. Here's the blow-by-blow: The entire smoking process was pretty painless, save for the puck problem discussed above. I used hickory; I wanted a strong smoke to pair with the strong spicing of the andouille. I set the Bradley at medium-high, brought it up to 180F, and it stayed between 150-180F for the duration of the smoking; whenever I checked, it was at 180, but it dropped down, of course, whenever I opened the door (to check the puck situation). The smoke generator worked great, and even though it was a bit windy, I was able to maintain a solid blanket of smoke in the "tower" (Bradley lingo). The sausages smoked for 2 hours total. I had my new Maverick remote working swell, and that indicated a couple of plateaus, the last one around 135F, on the way to 150F. Then a quick douse in the water bath, which firmed them up really nicely and quickly. All in all, pretty straightforward for a first crack -- and compared to the rocket science of past excursions into barbecue on the Weber Kettle? A paper airplane. One major puck-up: I didn't separate the sausages sufficiently, which meant that a couple didn't have smoke along a portion of sausage that was in contact with another. That means lighter areas, which means less smoky areas. Something to think about next time. The Charcuterie recipe was great. I made a couple of changes, primarily increases to the level of spicing (more cayenne, Colman's mustard, allspice, thyme). I was absurdly careful about keeping everything cooold, and the finished product shows: good juice, firm texture, and a terrific, round mouthfeel. Honestly, the more obsessive I am about temperature, the better the sausages are. Which brings me to my question: how is it that, after all that care around temperature, a two-hour room-temperature hang to develop the pellicle doesn't screw them all up? That confuses me. One more thing: friends, that smoke and heat transform the skins into the snappy, delicious porky pastry that only natural casings provide. Make these and you'll never use collagen again. I'm happy to say more, so ask away. Meanwhile... I looked first for paper clips, Susan, following your lead! Couldn't find any, though, so.... I don't understand, Abra. It seems that starting drinking at 9a would extend the drinking while smoking. But perhaps I've misunderstood something.... The KA -- and, yes, I have this very problem myself: I also think that I really have to be careful to soak the casings well, bc they need to be good and slippery for the tube. Mine were sticking to the horn and tearing at one point .

Round one of smoking with Charcuterie: andouille sausage. It's no exaggeration to say that one of the main reasons I wanted to get the Bradley was because of my craving for and inability to find good andouille sausages. One of my earliest cooking experiences revolved around Paul Prudhomme's first two books, and his gushing descriptions of andouille really took hold of me. I couldn't get anything decent up in the northeast, and my mid-1980s trip to NOLA confirmed that I was missing out. So I'm very excited -- anxious, really; I've been tearing up my thumb picking at it nervously all day -- to be kicking the Bradley off with these sausages. Following the recipe in the book and the good advice in this thread an in the sausage cook-off, I diced up my crunchy frozen shoulder, mixed up the spices, ground the meat with my KA, and stuffed the sausages. I had my first real problems with casings this time around; they tore a bit and were generally fussy. Even with those problems, I ended up with quite a few nice links: I wanted two shots to indicate the Ikea Frost clothes drying rack clearly; I've used this a lot for pasta drying and it worked like a charm for the sausages as well. Dirt cheap, too. I had to figger a way to attach the links to the baskets, and found a few safety pins, which were very handy: And here's the little beauty sitting on a table outside: The racks with the sausages inside the Bradley: Turns out that my Bradley wanted to send seven or eight pucks through at a time, so I lost some extras to the little bowl. I called the 800 number and got a helpful person right away (Katie, in case you need her), and we're seeing if things are all set now. Meanwhile, I'm now trying not to drink too much as I await the results. I've got an ice bath ready for the sausages as soon as they hit 150. More soon! edited to fix typos -- ca

Sadly, Gerhard had to end his foodblog a bit early. We'll leave the thread open until midnight EST for thank yous and final comments.

Your spouse is a meathead.

Katie, you are wonderful. Thanks.

Must... have... ratios....

I've written exactly the same thing in my foodblog about the cheese -- but then I went to Fairway in NYC recently, and even Steve Jenkins is wrapping his cheese in plastic wrap.

I'm bumping this up to bitch profanely. I've been working with the butchers at one of the WFs in my town (University Heights, if anyone cares), and they've been very happy to sell sausage casings for not too much and drag stuff out of the back that isn't in the case. Swell. Today I went in to get a whole turkey breast and a pork butt for smoking (click), and talked with the butcher about their source for pork. I know that one source is Niman Ranch, and I believe the other is Pederson's of Colorado. I've been dying to get a Niman Ranch pork belly in order to cure some bacon with it. Here's the thing. This WF gets Niman Ranch pork. They can special order things. Niman Ranch sells pork bellies. So why can't I buy a Niman Ranch pork belly from WF on special order?!? No way -- no explanation, mind you, but no way. Can anyone explain this? It seems utterly absurd to me.

I walked into school today and, sitting across from my desk, all proud and eager, was my new Bradley Smoker!! I put in my half day of work today and then started my four-and-a-half days of a smokin' vacation! After a quick stop at Whole Foods for more meat, I hustled home to unpack, fiddle, and season the Bradley. It was a breeze to assemble, though it took a little while for me to figure out the bisquette feeder thingie -- it kept pushing the damned pucks directly into the water, one after another, without actually burning any of them. Once I had the hang of it, I seasoned it for a couple of hours with some alder and hickory. It seems just about as easy as pie to use, in fact, and with my other new toy, the Maverick remote thermometer, I think I'm ready for some serious smoking. My two bellies curing in the fridge need another night before drying, so I brined up a whole turkey breast and bought some pork butt for sausage making tomorrow. I'm thinking that I'll make some chorizo and some andouille and then give them a bit of smoke. I also found a wonderful soft, artisanal gouda made in Western Massachusetts that seems to be crying out for some smoke (my wife is a big smoked gouda fan). but I wasn't sure what sort of cheese takes best to smoke. Any ideas? More, probably much more, over the next several days.

I'm a very long time LC fan, but I have to admit that this recommendation makes great sense to me. If I were starting over, I'd grab that dutch oven pronto.

I've had the same experience and thoughts. Cooking this bacon actually produces an astonishing fond bc there's just no water coming off of it. It's particularly remarkable for lardons, bc they crisp up yet maintain their meaty, thick texture. They don't turn into brittle Bac-Os.

Sorry, that was shorthand, Abra. I noticed that with my first two batches the one that had an equal meat:fat ratio cured more effectively; the one that was more meat than fat had a more canadian-bacon feel to it. Perhaps the ratio effects the cure? That would make some sense, after all, given the importance of the ratio in sausages, emulsified and otherwise.... What do folks think?

Abra, I'm noticing that your ratio of meat to fat is quite a bit higher than the 1:1 that Ruhlman and Polcyn suggest -- and, I'm sure, that itself is higher than the ratio on most US bacons. Perhaps your husband just wants more fat?? No insult, intended, of course. This is, after all, eGullet!

Over in New England, we've been having discussion about Legal Seafoods for a while.

Great stuff, Marlene! I'm interested in the buttercream blues. What happened? What were their instructions, and how did it fail? Inquiring minds...!

Elie, that looks great. Since it's a modified version of two recipes with your own input, it sounds like a great Recipe Gullet candidate -- and I can guarantee that I'll make it! Whadaya think?

Looks great. What gnocchi recipe did you use?

Just a few weeks ago, several of us opined about a particular category of stinky food in this footastic thread.

What a fantastic post! Thanks for sharing those wonderful photographs.

Clam cakes: recipe here and photos here!

Fantastic as always, Ah Leung. This simple approach to using black beans seems ingenious; instead of making a little sauce before steaming, this method allows the steam to make the sauce. Thanks as always!

Those shells are mighty heavy, actually. Of course, if you're suggesting that the chef ate more than 1/4 pound while preparing the meal... well, I throw myself on the mercy of the court.