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I will defer to Melkors judgement on what you should do. I just try to keep my salt levels to 2.5-3% or so in most everything. Good luck! Bud

If you used 12T of tender quick (12x16g=192g) on a 3.7kilo(8.2lb) chunk of meat its gonna be way to salty. probably shouldnt be much more than 2.5%(93g) For that weight of meat it would take 10g of pink salt at 6.25%nitrate, or .62g.The tender quick is 1% total nitrate/nitrite or .93g. so you might want to sub 1/3 of the tender quick for reg salt... Hopefully Melkor or one of the "charcutrie thread folks will weigh in on my numbers... Bud

Depending on how may ears, and how tender it is , from 4 to 8 minutes, in a plastic bag with a 3rd cup water...In the M/W...Start with 4 mins and go from there.. Bud

After reading a lot of this thread, I have a question....Beef ribs.... I got some in a store 7 or 8 mo ago..They looked just like pork"spare ribs" I did them just like pork ribs. Pull the silver skin, dry rub, and smoke at 250 for 4 hrs or so and then the foil wrap for a couple hrs more... They were spectacular.....I have never found beef ribs like this since.... Any idea what they were??????I Got some that were from the prime rib, that were not it, and beef back ribs were not it ... so I would be open for suggestions... Budl

This is a function of age, and hearing the "corncob" jokes of 40 or 50 years ago ... When I saw the post I had to read them and see if any other old folks thought what I did!!!Thanks for saving me... Bud

I agree w/Keith, no fat, and the "grain" is going to be finer. (hope that makes sense) If you decide to corn it,slice it thinner lengthwise so it won't take till next spring to cure... might post this on the Charcutrie thread for a more informed opinion than mine, however.... Bud

I had a fillet knife fall off the counter and stick in the top of my foot....luckily it didnt hit anything important,,, Bud

The Salt comment reminds me of a problem I have solved when making hot smoked salmon. Most recipes call for brines of various strengths. The classic one is ,"till an egg floats".. and then brine for a specific period.The rest call for a "dry" brine (dry salt,sugar etc.), to coat the fish for a specific time. Due to thickness variances etc, these methods are less than reliable, at least for me. I decided to change the method to the way we do bacon etc. I weighed the fish and then made a dry rub that included 2% of the weight of the fish in salt.then I added sugar equal to 45% of the salt weight. Mortar and pestled it to powder. Sprinkled the mixture over the flesh side of the fish and put it in a ziplock,refrigerated, for three days. Viola! exactly the correct salting. off to the smoker, and was finished. It allows a repeatable exact salt content.And you can adjust in small increments to your taste. Bud

Olive oil, fresh diced basil, thin sliced fresh san marzano tomatos. Cheese is whole milk mozz, provolne and pecorino romano. Be sure you salt before and after the cheeese. Cook on a 1/4" steel plate on the bottom shelf, after you reset the t stat on the oven so it goes to 585º. Bud

Went to a friends for dinner, having drinks in the kitchen while he was gettin ready. not paying much attention as he plugged in his new electric wok. Got it up to 8000º (or so) put some oil in , which immediatly started smoking, and before I could yell NOOOOOOOOO! poured in a cup of stock....Jeeze what a mess... Bud

I would think that they have backfat or suet that you could use..Gotta be fat, it a hog... Bud ← Used fatback in the mix already, suet is beef fat and it doesn't make a good sausage because of its low melting point. ← You are correct about the suet.Sorry. There must be cuts of the hog that have some fat marble. Have you tried grinding the fatback finer than the rest of the meat? That is a strange problem..You might post this on the charcutrie thread, as there are folks there that will probably have better answers than I do.. Good luck Bud .

I would think that they have backfat or suet that you could use..Gotta be fat, it a hog... Bud

Even the butter from 10 years ago seemed to brown differently. There seems to be a much higher liquid content in todays butter. ← Is it the higher liquid content, or a reduced milk solid content?? I have added buttermilk, cream, and milk , (Individually not all at once)to try and duplicate the old stuff, to no avail.... Bud

This is a very interesting thread... I have what is probably a dumb question, so bear with me... 20 or 25 years ago one of my favorite meals was grilled sausages on pasta with brown butter..And actually, my Swiss grandmother made noodles with brown butter that I remember from the 40"s.. These days butter will brown , but its not the same. I assume the "milk solids" are what is browning, and the modern manufacturing methods are removing the "solids"...Will the Home made stuff have the Solid content high enough so that it will brown like the stuff from the old days??? If so, I am in on the project... Bud

Guess I'll weigh in after all the great replys... I do a butt rubbed with what ever hits me as appropriate..probably a garden variety pork rub. Done the night before. Then in the Kamado for at least 7 hours at 250º, with hickory, pecan, Oak,cherry or whatever suitable hardwood I have leftover from the woodshop,put on top of the charcoal.I put enough wood in to last about an an hour or so. So after that its just the charcoal. When the internal temp gets to 185º or so, its off to the foil bag and a half hour or so wrapped in a big fluffy towel. then its ready for pulling or what ever strikes your fancy. My Kamado is an original one from Japan in the 60"s, but I'm sure the current ones will work the same Bud

Nah, if its cooked, its good...... Bud

These are controls that come from the heating /ventilation and airconditioning industry. I am sure you can find them there. IMHO, antibacterial paint is a bit of overkill. A container, be it a fridge or a wooden/plastic cabinet is fine. I use ordinary kitchen upper cabinets that are located in my photographic darkroom ,in a basement that is about 3M below ground level. Good luck, Bud

Thats pretty true...You can see how cold the ground temp is at 6ft. or so (depth varies by what part of country you are in, due to varying frost levels), by just measuring your cold water temp after letting it run so you are getting it from the house feed line..That ground temp is going to be the coldest you can hope to get in your room...I have a cabinet in my basement darkroom that at this moment in time is 61.3ºF...It is a base cabinet with a concrete floor and about 9ft below ground level..During the winter it was About 55ºf.. I am going to use a 3 sided poly foam box this summer that goes in a corner at the 9ft depth level that has the concrete on the floor and sides open to the inside of the box. hope that made sense.... Bud

Its not the amount of bactoferm, its the amount of sugar/dextrose...The bugs in the bactoferm eat the sugar(and the sugars in the meat) and make lactic acid out of it. Bud

I agree, that is a nonstarter. I had a friend that raised hogs tell me to never eat pork liver....and raw?? I have ignored his advice from time to time, but still remember it... Bud

The strength of the cure seems a bit weak.. Len poli's site has a total salt of 115gper liter, of which 27.5g is pink salt...for 48 hours and then a 12 hour dry . All is done in a refrig. Then he smokes it to 140º... Bud

I agree with chrismirault..You are getting a small area that is in contact with the redhot heating element, hot enough to vaporize the oil which then makes it very easy to light off..Think about deglazing with brandy, and how easy that lights...Granted its a product with a much much lower flash point but the concept is the same when its vaporized.. Bud

I have had good results using chicken thighs, and leaving the fat that they have. No chicken skin or pork fat...The recipe in Michael Ruhlmans book is very good, but there are "billions and billions " of sausage recipes... Bud

You can Pick em up at the thrift store for next to nothing... Bud ← I've been looking around and haven't found anything yet. It's probably not a good time of year to be looking. I've seen a few here and there but most are too big to fit in my fridge. ← Since you are in Mpls the dew points in summer are probably in the mid to high 50's. When you cool that block of air to 60º you will be well within the suitable humidity. so you wont need one till fall... Bud

You can Pick em up at the thrift store for next to nothing... And, you are correct that a month or two of additional time in the refrig. make the flavors much much better. I was glad I forgot some in a bag for a while... Bud