dougal

In N/W US ,the wood would be alder...(apple sounds good however) Alder is a member of the Poplar,aspen,cottonwood family (I think...) Its all I use on Salmon, mostly cause I build furniture, etc out of it ,and have tons of it for free... Bud ← Not to actually disagree, but aren't there two things being confused here: - an appropriate wood for smoking salmon and - the relative strengths of different flavoured Bradley pucks (and their strength/time comparison with more traditional 'thin' cold smoke) By implication, the question is also raised as to the relative 'smoke flavour intensities' (and hence timing differences) when using different woods as chips or dust, rather than as Bradley's proprietary "bisquettes". Which is something I'd be interested in learning about!

Yes, if you want them fresh, leave them on the tree until you need them! Once you have even a small bush, the problem becomes keeping it small! Even putting prunings onto the charcoal of the barbecue, one can easily still have a problem of overproduction. Interesting that there is a market for such things. Now... how could I effectively address that target market? Oh well, another fragrant bonfire, I fear...

Joesan - I'm sure you'll honour a fine fish. Would it be worthwhile to do a trial or two with small bits of lesser fish? The great thing with doing these things oneself is that one can adjust towards the result that provides maximum personal satisfaction. One of the things about cold smoke is that it affords the possibility of an intermittent smoking. Erlandson suggests one cuts off the odd slice of ham every few days during wispy cold smoking, just to see how its going... The smoke needs to be given a bit of time to permeate the flesh, so maybe taste it the day after giving it a bit of smoke, and decide whether, for your taste, it could do with a bit more... I'm not completely convinced that a quick intense blast of smoke can be truly equivalent to a longer milder exposure - but I'll look forward (enviously) to hearing of your results.

That's a tricky and contentious question! Lets just start by saying: it ain't the same, so its different. The nitrate is broken down (over time) to give you more nitrite. So the first effect is that you are putting in more than you think you are. A second aspect concerns nitrosamines. The FDA deprecates (doesn't seem to forbid in absolutely all circumstances) the use of nitrate in bacon. Nitrosamine seems to be associated with residual nitrate. Nitrate is in No2 in order to provide what Ruhlman calls "time release" nitrite. To have botulinum-zapping capability in the long term. No 2 exists for its intended use in long air-curing of sausages, particularly those intended to be eaten raw. Salami. My opinion, for what its worth, having started curing with Traditional saltpetre, is that, *except* for where residual nitrate would be a positive benefit, one is safer to cure with Nitrite alone. Throughout the book under discussion in this thread, Michael Ruhlman does not use either saltpetre or No2. He is curing with NitrIte only. No NitrAte at all.

Michael Ruhlman's recipe (p96/7 in my first edition) is fairly close. Perhaps he's rather heavy on the cure (and maybe its additional flavourings) and light on the smoke... I'd suggest rather less curing time (than the 36 hours suggested), and maybe longer in rather thin smoke. Step 3 is important to create a sticky "pellicle" on the surface to hold the smoke. Be sure you are using Atlantic rather than Pacific salmon - the results of curing and smoking emphasise the difference, IMHO. Strangely enough, classic British "smoked salmon" is given a "London cure"... Forman's, who supply Fortnum & Mason, cure with pure unflavoured salt. And smoke lightly for 8 to 10 hours over oak (with a significant weight loss - intensifying the flavour!) The Bradley is by design a hot smoker. For British cold smoked salmon, you need to cool the smoke, certainly below 20C, before it gets near the fish. The web has various suggestions for using a cardboard box as a chamber to give increased residence (cooling) time between the bradley smoke generator and the food compartment. A £5 piece of aluminium tumble-dryer exhaust ducting from B&Q should lose the heat quite well on a cool day. (But its not rugged stuff, and won't last forever.) Remember also that it is temperature difference that 'draws' the smoke into and through the food chamber. Being a hot smoker design, the Bradley seems to produce lots of smoke (I don't have one, just going by pictures). Cold smoking is more usually done with a very much thinner, almost wispy, smoke. Hence the Bradley would give an accelerated, intense smoking. You may find it convenient to interrupt the Bradley to give the fish a rest between discs, so that less total smoke can have longer to penetrate the fish...

NOooo! Ruhlman uses the shorthand "pink salt" to mean 'ordinary salt with 1/16 th {6.25%} Sodium NitrIte'. The UK equivalent to Ruhlman's "pink salt" is therefore Cure No 1 (aka Prague Powder No 1). Cure No 2 (aka Prague Powder No 2) has got additional NitrAte in the mix, as well as the NitrIte. The pink colouring seems to be a USA thing. 6.25% NitrIte bulked up with plain salt is No 1 !! "Curing salt" is a term wide open to aabuse and innocent misunderstanding. I've even come across it being used to refer to 'pure' ordinary salt, thus suitable for use in curing. It is also applied to readymix cures with nitrite and/or nitrate, sugar and flavourings added... Beware and be careful. You want to know the composition; you don't want secret ingredients.

Chris, I've noticed it in Merguez I've eaten in France, its in many recipes and *I* like it! The thing with 'rolling your own' is that you can do it whatever way you like. Reading the "Casa Moro" recipe, I thought the spicing was waaay OTT, so I fiddled with it to get something I liked better. But, I'd never have thought of Rosewater. And it certainly doesn't do any harm. The smoked sweet paprika is a very noticeable improvement of mine, for me. Like you, I'll be interested in learning of the ways others make theirs 'special' for themselves. Maybe someone's tried smoked chillie?

There's no Aniseed-y flavour there... there has to be that note! I posted my recipe *here* Points - grilled/charred and skinned red peppers (long, pointy sweet ones) and I added the juices they left after sitting steaming and skinning toasted, then ground, cumin fennel seed for the anise-ish hint garlic puréed with the salt quite a lot of paprika (and smoked paprika goes very well) dunno if the rosewater comes through, but, hey why not! I think that the spicing should be strong but with chillie, paprika, garlic and anise coming through identifiably. Even using (sadly supermarket) minced lamb ("less than 20% fat") for the last batch gave a result that attracted specific positive (and independent) comment when grilled over charcoal. I underplay particularly the Harissa, and then top it up after tasting a small sample seared in a dry non-stick frying pan. I think Melkor's point about cast iron may be the same as mine - sear and dry-fry when sampling! And don't "sample" it all...

Morten, assuming that your mushrooms are correctly identified (VERY important), just slice them, and dry them thoroughly (and at a low temperature - 60C is maybe a bit high, almost cooking) - a lower temperature, for longer, ideally with some air movement, is a better idea than trying to do it quickly. If they really are thoroughly dry, then all you need do is to put them into a clean dry jamjar, and screw the lid on tightly. But if they are not dry right through, they will go mouldy - one important reason for slicing really thinly. More suggestions, from an author I respect, here: *link*. Even how to bottle in oil (don't dry them; pickle them!).

Marie Antoinette asked "why don't they eat brioche?" when told that the protesters had no bread. Velveeta is, of course, readily available in Viva's North Carolina. And in South Carolina, where maps are reputedly so scarce. But its a mistake to think that it must therefore be easily available worldwide. I had to research to discover what this miracle ingredient of US-style macaroni cheese actually was, as it was recommended so frequently on the dedicated m&c thread - http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A262414 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velveeta and to discover that there is no real substitute for that cheese substitute, which might possibly be available in Germany, but is prohibitively expensive in the UK as 'vanity airfreight'. http://www.chowhound.com/topics/423685 Sorry, but its right up there with the brioche...

Apart from going easily discernibly mouldy, the main thing is that they will lose their flavour potency. And *ground* spices (with a very much larger surface area) do lose their potency very quickly. But whole nutmegs seem to 'keep' for ages... I'll second the use of out-of date herbs and spices as smoke flavourings - and remark that they are every bit as useful in an indoor/stovetop smokebox as in a larger unit.

Ahem... http://www.anythingleft-handed.co.uk/acatalog/scissors.html , and don't their worldwide delivery charges and satisfaction guarantee look pretty reasonable? For the record, I'm right-handed, but Someone-I-Used-To-Know was cack-handed...

This link may be useful to some... http://www.anythingleft-handed.co.uk/

I think pectin preparations do need cooking with acid (like lemon juice) to 'gel' properly.

Having spent a while in Africa myself (albeit some years ago, and not in education), believe me - I wouldn't be surprised! In Africa, its usual to "expect the unexpected". Any info directly relevant to the specific location would be very valuable. Particularly so for Namibia, where there are both year-round dry deserts and year-round swamps, national parks and vast open-cast mines - it is a big, largely empty country of dramatic contrasts. I think the basic premise that you must take stuff with you to avoid a monotonous diet of "rice and ketchup" is way wide of the mark. Perhaps you should contact the Namibian Embassy in the USA to determine Government policies on foreign mail order, and imports in general (and their taxation), and specifics relating to import of food items and seeds (for example) - such things would be very good for you to know in advance. http://www.namibianembassyusa.org/ I'm sure you've already done the basic research and noted that taxis aren't necessarily the safe way to stay away from street crime, and that the HIV rate is a staggering 22.5%... Some links for you here http://www.expats.org.uk/countryinfo/namibia.html

Ummm, I'd kinda think that anywhere with 1/ a high school and 2/ computers isn't exactly going to be at the dung-powered end of Peace Corps postings... Heavens, you may even have some sort of internet access from work! I think its important that you distinguish "general Namibian info" from the specifics of your own locale. Especially distinguishing advice for prospective water-drillers so far out in the bush that there's nothing much to mark on their map, from the advice appropriate to high school computer science teachers. If you crave sun-dried tomatoes, I can think of few better places to learn and practice the craft of making them than Namibia. Like Jackal10 said "take expertise and tools". Don't take chocolate to a hot country (even if inland nights can be damn chilly). Expect to be able to buy cooking knives locally, but also expect fancy japanese steel and tricksie sharpeners to be unheard of. So take good, rugged, zero (or user-) maintenance stuff. But avoid the flashy, ostentatious and that which might be too tempting for others. Things like binoculars and info on local wildlife will help you to maximise the experience of being there. Similarly, open yourself to making the most use of whatever local materials you encounter. And rest assured, they will be diverse - and occasionally surprising. For example, in coastal towns, expect availability of fresh (but occasionally deeply strange) fish... Anyone for Snoek? As a mindset, think of going to the market to see what they have and what looks good - rather than going out to look for something specific that you remember from home... ... and enjoy the adventure!

I'd add to that, that in the UK, milk is still sold by the (proper-sized British) pint, rather larger than the US pint (or metric measure). It may be worth remarking that the delivery "milk floats" (mentioned above) are (and seem to have been for 50 years) small electric delivery trucks. Though near-silent, they do make a characteristic "whoosh" (and rattle their bottles) as they accelerate rapidly to (a rather low) top speed! The aluminium foil cap colours were standardised to indicate different types of milk. In pioneering recycling efforts, children used to collect the aluminium caps. Nowadays more milk is sold in supermarkets than by doorstep delivery. Supermarkets sell in HDPE (semi-transparent plastic) rectangular bottles with jug handles in 1, 2 and 4 pint sizes, all shaped to be stored on standard refrigerator door shelves. But the colour-coding of caps and labels has not been standardised between supermarkets. Plastic milk bottles are indeed a favourite target of recycling schemes. But generally they don't want the caps... UHT ("Longlife") milk is usually sold in rectangular 'tetra brik' packages. When I was in Zambia, the milk in towns was sold in tetrapak's original tetrahedrons. These were surprisingly easy to handle, but took up rather a lot of fridge space once opened (by snipping any corner). EDITed to add: The tetrahedrons were distributed in hexagonal crates. A delight for geometricians!

I worked for a while on the Zambian Copperbelt. The local diet was also very heavy on mealie-meal porridge (n'shima) and oil-based 'relishes' (with dried fish, chicken, chillies, whatever). However, even though the Government of the day imposed daft import controls (every shop in the country had C sized batteries, but anything else was basically unavailable commercially) a wide variety of foodstuffs were available - though not necessarily everything you might think of, and not necessarily all the time. In various different accommodations I had avocado, papaya (pawpaw), lychee and banana trees in the gardens. (Don't park under an avocado tree.) Gardening is a fine idea, but first find the local markets. And make sure you have plenty recipes for squash and courgettes/zucchini. You may find the cuts of meat (butchering) unusual. The Namibian coast (though dangerous, etc) has lots of fish. Your experience is going to depend a lot on just where you are going to be staying/working. Is Swakopmund still in a teutonic timewarp? But concentrate on taking decent binoculars rather than jars of chillies, IMHO. Travel with an open mind, a credit card for mail order (Government import permission dependant) and take decent specialist kit with you - like kitchen knives. But beware that the local electricity is likely to be 240 volts at 50 Hz and not 110 at 60 - so beware taking power tools... And, hey, if you are lucky, you'll find fantastic new and strange ingredients and dishes... ... which you can spend ages searching for on your return! Be prepared to shamelessly use others, whether going on holiday or to a different town, as carrier pigeons. Excellent idea to contact those there already to see what you might bring with you (and for them - can't start too early earning favours in return!) Probably reckon to buy practical clothes locally - so you blend in better! And if (as I'd guess is highly likely) you don't have internet access at home - then be sure to take a short wave radio.

Yes, salt isn't really a good ingredient to specify by *volume* measure. Weight specifies the quantity of salt, whatever brand, wherever you are. But if you are working by 'feel', changing supplier may mean relearning that 'feel'... If the salt is being tasted as crystals, then the 'feel' of it in the mouth will vary with the crystal form. But the vast majority of the differences dissolve away once you mix the same weight of different brands into a solution!

Indeed, but it would be clearer for others if we explicitly stated that the excess undissolved salt really needs to be piled up to a level above that of the liquid's surface to make this work as an effective de-humidifier. Excess salt merely in the bottom of a dish of liquid is of little use. The problem is that when the liquid takes in moisture from the air (de-humidifies), the surface layer becomes unsaturated and so less dense. The less dense unsaturated layer will happily float on the saturated brine - so the solution can stay stratified, even with undissolved crystals at the bottom of the dish. Now the unsaturated surface layer would equilibrate with the air above it at a humidity higher than the 80% humidity above a saturated solution - and 80+% is not what we want! Salt crystals at the surface keep the surface layer a saturated salt solution, and so keep the control point no higher than 80%. So one answer is to use a big pile of wet salt, not just a solution with some excess crystals at the bottom. This is much easier than arranging for constant stirring of the salt solution!

Its more effective if you use it as "wet salt" rather than "salt water"...

Add me to the list of those thinking that a combo microwave/grill/fan oven is both useful and an excellent use of kitchen space. My UK experience probably doesn't translate too well to specific US models - BUT - I'd offer one important guideline. Beware default settings! Huh? Beware designs where, just because the time is up, it resets itself to its own default settings. Case in mind, a Panasonic touch-button machine I have. When it times out after being used as a pure fan oven, it changes itself to microwave - so just giving it a couple more minutes gives it a couple of minutes of *microwave*. Oops! This caught out Someone I Used to Know rather frequently. Compare with an elderly basic Sharp. The mode selector is a hefty slide switch, that doesn't change by itself. Ever. This Sharp is much more limited (can't combine grill and fan for example), but its 'user interface' is delightfully simple and intuitive - analogue knobs! Usability of features is IMHO much more important than feature bloat, but then I'm a Mac user! Watch out for machines that reconfigure themselves when the clock reaches zero!

Nothing on that one ... oh well here's another question - Can I cure my pork belly (for Pancetta) in a vacuum bag? If so do I need to leave some air in there and can I leave it in the curing liquid for the full two weeks it is curing? ← 1/ I have a mincer from Lidl. It was cheap. Cheaper than the attachment for the Kenwood. On/Off not variable speed (but with reverse!) Claimed 550w motor. Doesn't handle nasty bits. But it minces. Overall probably no worse than many at twice the price. And it has a 3 year warranty. IMHO its too damn hard (for my skills) to use such a device as a stuffer. Haven't tried extruding pastry for biscuits or the kibbeh/kubbe extruder. Check quickly if you want one though - this year's offering was a week or more back (my branch had a couple left last time I looked). 2/ Vacuum curing. Said to speed up curing, ask a sous-vide person why (start by asking them about marinating...) For pancetta, it might help with the problem of achieving a perfect roll - and curing to the centre (if its going to go mouldy, that's where the problem will come). For that, I'd start the cure (so there was some exuded juice), then try and seal it, so that the vacuum squished the brine into any voids (rather than letting the juices near the seal). The essence of Pancetta being that it is dried, you should still be hanging it for a fortnight after it comes out of the bag. As to whether it needs the full seven (or nine) days in the cure as the book suggests - I'm not qualified to say. Ziploc-type bags are convenient because they shouldn't leak - yet you can get in to poke the stuff, add extras, etc. Some people even reuse them. I'd like a source for larger sizes than I can find in the local shops.

If the primary goal is to knead dough (and any other functionality is a bonus), THE home mixer to consider surely ought to be the strange (unique?) Electrolux Assistent (yes, the spelling is correct ) - see for example http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/magic_mill_dlx_mixer.aspx Its a home mixer that can handle 15lb of dough... and by all accounts, handle it rather well. (It isn't imported/supported in the UK otherwise I'd be speaking from personal experience! ) And yes, it does look strange tipping it on its side to take the mincer... but it seems to be one heck of a good *dough* mixer...

Charcutier. Though a distinct trade dating back to Roman times, it was given legal form in France in 1476 - with a monopoly of selling cooked pork (and raw pork fat). However in the early 1600's they gained the right to sell all cuts of raw pork (and I infer to do the slaughtering and primal butchering). In those days there really wasn't usually any difference between the maker and the vendor. Oh, and during Lent (a quiet time for meat sales), charcutiers were permitted to sell seafish (notably cured herring) ... That's what I learned on the second page of the Introduction to "Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery" by Jane Grigson. Excellent book as an inspiration, guide and reference to tradition - but the recipes are by modern standards *very* heavy on the saltpetre (nitrate). I think these days both producers and retailers use the term. But some still fill both roles.