Tri2Cook

Before using mine for the first time, I washed the canister, filled it with hot soapy water and sprayed that through the gun. I then ran hot clean water through it to rinse thoroughly. And finally, just to be on the safe side, I ran a sanitizing solution of water and bleach (1 tbsp bleach in 1 gallon water, 200 ppm) through it then ran clean water through it one more time.

A confession... for crisps, crumbles, cobblers, buckles, things in that general category, I actually prefer just pouring some milk or cream on/around it over whipped cream. Even when it's for dessert.

Bacon sausage it is... 2000 grams of bacon, ground twice through the ~5 mm plate. 500 grams pork butt, ground once through the same plate. The two combined, along with 15 grams of dark brown sugar and 8 grams of coarse ground black pepper. Fry test to check flavor. It's good. Really good. Stuffed into 32/35 hog casings and linked. I really wanted to smoke these, I think it would elevate them even further. But the weather isn't going to allow that today and I'll be at work tomorrow and Tuesday. I need these for Wednesday so the smoke's not going to happen. There is a nice smoke flavor from the bacon so it should be fine.

I'm curious. I was going to guess but I'm pretty sure it's not the pressure fondue pot it looks like... so I didn't guess.

Thanks! It was my first shot at homemade bologna so I was pretty happy with the result. I plan to smoke it the next time I decide to do it. The temps weren't going to be compatible with the ribs already going in the smoker when I made this one so I had to go another route. Thanks again, I appreciate the help.

Thanks! I was kinda hoping you would pop in and see this one when I posted it. So basically I should just treat it as a zero and go with the usual safe amounts, correct?

Okay, the above question has become temporarily unimportant. They're forecasting 80% chance of rain and thundershowers for tomorrow, the only day I would have sufficient free time to do a slow smoke on the sausages before I need them (I'm making them for Canada Day, which is July 1), so whatever smoke is present from the bacon will probably have to suffice. But I still wouldn't mind knowing the answer if anybody can be of help with it.

That's on my list of things to try to make this summer. The Turrón Yema con Naranja sounds like a tasty project. I don't know exactly what it is, but it does sound good based on your description.

I have a question for the experts. I'm going to make a sausage using 4 parts ground bacon and 1 part ground lean pork. If I add prague #1 to the mixture to keep things safe for a slow temp-ramped smoke session, does the sodium nitrite already in the bacon effect the amount needed (or possibly eliminate the need for it)? I'm not actually sure I'm going to smoke them at this point, I'm going to do a taste test first and see if I think it's even needed, but I thought I'd ask just in case.

Manitoulin time!

I do not know Kaiserschmarm... but now I want to. Tell us more about it!

Last post on this one, the inside view... It was worth the effort. The flavor is really nice. The texture is slightly more dense than most of the commercial stuff I've had but it's nice. I'm not enough of a bologna fan to do this often but I can't say I won't do it again.

Not a lot to see at this point, but as promised... 5 lbs. of bologna. Took almost 5 hours to hit temp. Quick chilled it in ice water, dried it and tossed it in the fridge. I guess I'll find out tomorrow if it was worth the fair amount of work and large amount of cleanup involved.

Ran 3 lbs. of beef and 2 lbs. of pork through the grinder today. Mixed it with assorted seasonings, curing salt and a couple of those evil "ingredients they can't pronounce" that the commercials like to go on about (they do make for a nicer product but I think I use them mainly out of spite, the notion that food safety is directly associated with one's literacy level offends me), chilled it, emulsified it in the processor to a smooth paste and shot it into a large fibrous casing. It's in the fridge overnight letting everything get happy together. Tomorrow it'll go in the sous vide tank. If bologna comes out of the tank, I'll be back with pictures. I thought about smoking it but I already have ribs rubbed and waiting in the fridge to go in the smoker tomorrow.

I'm pretty sure this was a drive-by fooding... I'll be surprised if you hear anything more from him in this thread.

Sure! Rub it in! Seriously though, looks good! Wish I was eating mine tonight...

I'm not sure what dinner will be, but it will be something quick and easy. The plan for today was a pork butt in the smoker. Gave it a good rub yesterday, got things set up this morning despite the threat of rain... and completely mistimed it. It's 5:30 and the pork is still 40 degrees out from the target. I think it's finally out of the stall, the temp's moving up again but not fast enough to be tonight's dinner. I don't do late dinners. The coleslaw is already made, the mac and cheese is assembled but hasn't been in the oven yet. Looks like it's all going to be dinner tomorrow instead.

I'm not sure if I worded it well or not but that is what I meant... I like for there to be extra rice from dinner that I turn into my dessert. The dessert just happens to be a carbon copy of what I frequently ate for breakfast as a kid, which may explain why I like it so much, but I am talking about transforming part of dinner into my dessert.

Sponge toffee isn't at all reminiscent of Butterfingers in taste or texture. I'm not a real big fan of sponge toffee. I like making it, it's a pretty cool thing watching the syrup puff into a big foam that hardens into a candy sponge, but I don't eat much of it. I do like Butterfingers and have tried to replicate it... without success.

I still do that with extra rice. Growing up, we were a family of 7 (Almost the Brady Bunch. When my dad and stepmom got together, they each had 2 kids and then had my youngest brother together) with not a lot of money. Breakfast was almost always some form of porridge/hot cereal (we'd sometimes get pancakes or waffles on the weekend). Oatmeal, Cream of Wheat, grits and rice... all eaten pretty much as you describe but with margarine instead of butter, usually plain ol' white sugar and what we kids who didn't know any better called "cream" but was actually canned evaporated milk. I guess it's one of those food memory things, I still enjoy it and always hope there will be extra rice from dinner.

I had 1/3 cup of All Bran Buds with psyllium floating in ~1 cup of 1% milk and a banana... bet you're all wishing you'd had breakfast at my house!

They're generally listed among the false morels. They don't look at all like an actual morel other than the ridges and valleys in the cap. Even they aren't even the same though. The smell is reminiscent of morels to an extent but easily recognized as different. Apparently boiling them greatly reduces the toxin they contain. The problem, outside of an immediate reaction, is the toxin is thought to be cumulative and can build in the body through repeated consumption until one day the mushroom that never hurt you suddenly hurts you. The descriptions I've read of the potential immediate reaction is sufficient to kill my curiosity, it sounds really unpleasant. They're apparently pretty commonly eaten without problem though. I tend to be a bit of a risk taker most of the time but I don't mess around when it comes to wild mushrooms.

I'm the recipient of well-intentioned foraging. A friend brought these by. About 5 lbs. of what he was calling black morels. I told him they were in fact beefsteak "morels" and risky for eating. He insisted they were fine, that he'd been eating them for years, and that I keep them. I said "thanks but I won't eat these". He said "I don't need them, I have another 10 - 12 lbs. in the car". I then explained the potential dangers of this particular mushroom. I don't think I convinced him. The evidence, as applies to him, was on his side. He's never had a problem from eating them. I know people do eat them but I'm not brave when it comes to risky mushrooms... these are destined for the trash can. ,

Get a hunk of beef, taste it. Stick the meat in a fire for a bit, taste it. Sprinkle on some salt, taste it. Toss on some fresh herbs, taste it. Just like that, you've improved your cooking by 300 percent and got the basics down. Run with it. Cooking isn't hard, don't let anybody convince you otherwise. Even fancy high-end cooking isn't hard at home. In a restaurant is a different story, at least initially, because there is more involved than just being able to cook and plate food nicely. But even that isn't too bad once you get used to it. It mainly requires developing speed, timing and consistency... which come with practice/experience.

I have no experience at all with panning but I like that idea. I look forward to seeing how it works out.