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I noticed an Irish butcher in Adare had interesting subcategories of bacon available for sale the other day. I haven never seen these breakouts. Would anyone be able to provide a thumb nail description of the differences? Collar of bacon Breast of bacon Shoulder of bacon The market was open from 9 am to noon, and 230 to 6 pm, so I didn't have the opportunity to actually enter it and examine the wares. Looked like a wide range of black, red, and other sausages were available, too.

I made a quick chicken confit this Sunday. Here is an idea of the recipe: curing chicken thighs for an hour or so straight in the baking dish that holds thighs snugly; baking them covered in 325F for an hour skin down; baking them covered in 325F for an hour skin up; roasting them in 450F for 20 minutes or so skin up until skin is browned and crackling. The end result is divine. Now here is my question about this thing that is left after confiting. There is a layer of fat and whatever other pan juices. It's really a pity to throw this away. But how can i use this stuff? Thank you.

Short of purchasing a professional deli slicer for several hundred dollars, devoting half your kitchen counter space to it, and spending an hour cleaning its parts after each use, what options are there for cutting deli meats super-thin? Even with my best knives, I can't do it. Can a sushi chef do it? Is it even possible to do this without a rapidly spinning blade? Is there some cheap device I don't know about that accomplishes the task with aplomb, or even without aplomb? Of course you can get things sliced when you purchase them, but in my experience they degrade rapidly once sliced. So I'd love to be able to do it to order at home.

As my man is out this weekend, i'm free to continue with my cooking experiments. I failed miserably on gnocchi (my first time ever, but this is another story), but i succeeded to confit two things: chicken gizzards and mushrooms. Gizzards confit recipe was from Loomis' French Farmhouse Cookbook, but i used olive oil (where can i get 3 pounds of pork fat anyway). Mushroom confit was by Emeril; i used shiitakes and creminis. I can report success on both tries, and i definitely like the technique. Anything is left there to confit beyond obvious poultry? (i did salmon and tuna before). thank you.

This rules!!!!!! Ben

Sausage Diary, Day 1 I have a hot smoker and I’ve smoked a lot of different meats. However, I am getting to the point where I am reaching the limits of what I can do just short of expanding the scale upon which I smoke. That is except for smoking my own sausage. I've smoked sausage before, but never my own and never for the pure interest of smoking sausage. The beauty of sausage is that you can use very economical (but still high quality) cuts of meat and transform them altogether into a new art form. Plus, it runs in the family. My great-grandparents on my mother’s father’s side used to be butchers in the Polish section of Detroit. You could visit the store, go into the back yard and pick out a fresh chicken and my great-grandmother would run it down, kill it, pluck it and dress it for you all while you were waiting. They also made the best the best kielbasa in the city. They gave the business to my Grandparents and they took over and after they got older, they eventually they sold that to an uncle and eventually he sold it (behind everyone’s back) because the liquor license that went along with it went against his wife’s theological beliefs. Of course that famous recipe is now long gone, but I’m hoping to duplicate it with the help of my grandparents while they are still here. As a side note, my grandfather’s name is Skomski, and as the last male in his family alive, when he goes, so does the name. Reviving the family’s kielbasa is my way of lengthening the legacy of his name. At one point though, my mother did ask for the recipe from Uncle Ed after a few mellowing drinks on his part. He was very ready and generous to share it with her. He told her to get a pencil and paper and then sat there holding an unlit cigar and swirling it on his lips in his typical, happy fashion and says: “OK, here goes, are you ready? Good, get 400 lbs. of pork butts and…” Mom: “WHAT? Four hundred pounds?!?” So this basically means I’m starting almost from scratch. I have made sausage only once before, about two weeks ago with a buddy of mine who used to work in a local sausage shop, Schultzy’s here in Seattle, for three years. We had just come into some fresh venison and I was able to help out. We made some spicy venison sausage, some mild pork and some chorizo. We chopped up the large cuts into small cuts and seasoned them. After the first grind (coarse), we tasted the initial results, seasoned again and then went through a final grind (still on the coarse setting) and stuffing at the same time, all the while the meat was kept as cold as possible without freezing to avoid gumming up the works. Natural casings of medium size were used. For the most part, they were good though I don’t think there was enough pork fat in any of them, especially the spicy venison as we only relied on the natural fat of the shoulder roast to compensate completely for the lean venison. The proportion of pork to venison was about 60/40. But even the mild sausage with just pork was too dry. The only other thing I would change besides the seasonings is using a fine ground for the final stuffing. It’s my turn now. For my kielbasa, I’m going to use a basic recipe of 80% pork, 20% ground beef, roughly a 2 to 1 ratio of meat to fat, lots of garlic, some mustard seed, salt and pepper. Perhaps other spices as I see fit before the final stuffing. I have the use of Kitchen Aid and the accompanying sausage grinder attachment as well as my hot smoker. Instead of the large casings, I will use the medium casings as the Kitchen Aid grinder only has small and medium. I’ll use cherry wood because that is what I have on hand and I will smoke the links first at around 100F for around an hour and then finish them off with 225F for half an hour. But before I smoke them, I will let them dry overnight in the fridge, hanging from a contraption that I will build either tonight or tomorrow and then use in the smoker so I won’t get grill marks. I understand it’s wise to let the liquids drain from the links so they don’t “shrivel” and they look better as a final product. Since these temperatures put the links in the “danger zone” I will use an agent to reduce the possibility of botulism. I’ve read that salt is a tried and true method, but enough will make the end result too salty. As a diner, I prefer my food to be saltier than the average bear and I will salt the links for taste, will that be enough? I plan on sending my results to my grandparents in Detroit for advise and confirmation. I have one of those vacuum food savers and plan on sealing the links immediately after they’ve been pulled out of the smoker. I am also aware of sanitation theory since I used to be a home brewer, but am still learning the ropes when it comes to food preparation, especially sausage preparation. Tomorrow will be the actual grinding and stuffing of the kielbasa, and Friday I will smoke them. I’m about to leave right now to pick up my pork fat and later tonight I will coarsely chop the pork and brine it. Since this is my first time I appreciate any and all help and advise. I should point out that this is only the beginning of a large investment in time and energy in what could be a giant meat empire but at least it will be an homage to my heritage. I will be keeping an ongoing diary here and I will also be taking as strict notes as I know how on my methods, ingredients and times of each processing step. I also appreciate advise that might not mean much on the home or hobby scale but relates more to the small-scale sausage production, the more I learn, the happier I am. Hope you enjoy this as much as I will! Next Installment >>

Sausage Diary, Day 24, 11/22/2002 I’ve now had three weeks to think back on my kielbasa project and I couldn’t have been happier with the outcome, my local friends were all really pleased with the outcome as well as my grandparents and the recipients on the East coast. If it wasn’t for the fact I’m moving this weekend (don’t worry Pac NW folks, just to another part of Seattle) I would have already have done another batch or two. But don’t worry, more sausage and my new smoker is eventually on the way. So this diary entry basically summarizes the results of the first batch of kielbasa. First will be my thoughts then I'll follow them with a professional's opinion. I felt that the unsmoked kielbasa’s flavor wasn’t strong enough and this feeling applies to the smoked links as well since the smokiness was the most predominant flavor even with the second batch and soaking the first batch. Now for a comparison: a week later all of my cased sausage was gone (this is a good thing) so I purchased some commercial “smoked” kielbasa for some red beans and rice. If the package didn’t say smoked I never would have guessed, but this is a national brand that is produced and distributed on a national level and I’m sure they comply with whatever regulations stipulate the minimum amount of smoking to be declared “smoked.” Anyway, the biggest difference I could detect aside from the smokiness is the strength of pepper. My kielbasa was definitely under peppered; I credit jhlurie for noticing this on his own. And of course, I thought that my kielbasa could use at least 50% more garlic and will probably use 100% more garlic in the next batch. Hopefully I can overshoot! As for the rest of the sausage, I thought the texture of the ground meat was perfect though the first batch’s casing/skin was too tough. But the tough and wrinkled skin was due to smoking that batch too long, resulting in the pork fat rendering out and leaving too much casing. I was quite happy with the mouthfeel of my kielbasa and am quite proud of how smooth it was. But forget the amateur’s opinion, my Grandfather received some of my kielbasa and my Grandmother prepared it, both of whom used to make kielbasa back in the day. Here’s his response: Not only that, my Mother and I have been talking about the kielbasa as well: As she has always told me, the kielbasa was basically pork , beef and garlic, but here’s her most recent email regarding the kielbasa: Great, NOW she tells me. (sssh! she’s reading this, don’t tell her!!!) So in summary, I had a tasty product but a product that wasn’t exactly kielbasa. I still have at least 2lbs of uncased kielbasa sitting in my freezer and (hopefully) the week after Thanksgiving I’ll start on my second batch of sausage and I’ll make an attempt on round 2 of the kielbasa chronicles as well as take a stab at a whole new sausage paradigm which is at this point Italian sausage. Oh, I really don’t have any new pictures but I thought I’d at least show you where I’ve been writing all of these journals: That and this picture taken less than 15 minutes from where my parents live in Upper Michigan, an area that is serious about it’s deer hunting: FYI the new deer hunting season is about to start! << Previous Installment edited for content, basically somebody didn't like the fact I was drinking Black Velvet so it's been replaced with Rum and Crangerine.

i'm considering a duck confit quesadilla of sorts for the superbowl festivities. prolly with a fruit (mango) salsa, as duck likes sweet fruits. i'm having a hard time coming up with a cheese or cheese blend. i'm of the opinion that cheddar or even jack will overpower, or at the very least, won't compliment the duck. a brief search on google returned Oaxaca cheese, which is a white cow's milk cheese (from mexico of course of course). but i'm thinking i won't be able to locate this on a sunday in NJ. any thoughts on what kind of cheese duck confit might like? no cheese perhaps? a fruit puree instead? i dunno. help a guy out, could ya?

I used to get great bacon mail order from Thielen's in Minnesota, but they don't ship out of state any more. Any suggestions? Thanks.

My fiancé doesn't eat pork (or cow or any other mammal ) so I'm wanting to make a sausage she can eat with her French toast in the morning. How can I turn a pack of ground turkey from the store and a few yet unnamed spices in to great patties? I like sweet sausages so a little maple syrup in the mix would be ok. Also, are the any other tips for altering ground pork or beef recipes into turkey ones? Meatloaf is next. edit: GAH! You can't fix misspellings in titles can you?

Peel me a grape, Mamster. +++ Be sure to check The Daily Gullet home page daily for new articles (most every weekday), hot topics, site announcements, and more.

Since I had a supply of duck and goose fat in the fridge, I confit'd up some lamb shanks the other day - now I'm unsure how to use them. I was thinking, possibly, serve it over crispy gnocchi, maybe with some caramalised butternut squash (a Tra Vigne dish I had, using Duck confit), but I'm not sure about what to use for a sauce. Plenty of chicken and veal glace in the freezer. Any suggestions?

I have a confession to make. I've never used my meat grinder. It just lurks in my cabinet, glaring at me from behind the box of coffee filters. Am I a bad person? And if I wanted, say, to make sausage, what kind is good to start with? Do you have a favorite recipe? Chad (snacking on last night's andouille cornbread, mmmm)

I have my legs salted and am rendering the fat from the trimmings. It doesn't look like I'll have enough fat to cover the legs. What should I use for the rest of the fat? Schmaltz? Olive Oil? Clarirified Butter? Or where can I buy duck fat in Chicago?

I really enjoyed this salad at Pastis but they recently took it off the menu (and won't fill a special request for it). I was wondering if anyone has had a good version elsewhere. I recently tried Brasserie's version...it was BAD. Dressing seemed to be all vinegar and I don't even think they put an egg on the salad (or anywhere else on the plate).

Is this french sausage available in US? Or can be substituted by some other sausage?

Marian Burros -- and I like her even though she's referred to me as a fringe journalist -- wrote something nice about the Applegate Farms nitrite-free cured meat products in the Times recently: http://nytimes.com/2001/12/19/dining/19WELL.html I finally got some of the salami at Fairway. It is, indeed, really good. It totally lacks the artificial taste found in nearly all packaged commercial cold-cuts, even from fancy brands. It could have stronger seasoning, but I can forgive that because the meat taste is so elegant. Definitely worth purchasing.

So I want to do a Dr Pepper brine on some gorgeous pork belly I was lucky enough to find today. I'm thinking garlic, chilies, thyme and Dr Pepper syrup, but I'm worried that with a 3-4 day brine, the phosphoric acid in the syrup is going to mangle the meat. Any ideas? Should I just do a standard brine, and the a short dry cure with the syrup? I'm sort of at a loss on this one.

So Hennes is over here cooking bacon at 225F for 5 hours. That got me wondering about ideal bacon cooking techniques. Me, I think I'm going to make bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches for the fam tomorrow night. I'm thinking about 200F during the 8h work day, perhaps between two Silpats and pressed with a sheet pan. You?

The other day we were over at some friends' house for breakfast. We were preparing a feast: pancakes, eggs, home-fried potatoes, toast, and bacon. They have a four-burner DCS range. It's actually the exact one I have at home, which was strange to see in someone else's kitchen (first time for me). Over two burners went the griddle for pancakes. The third burner had the skillet for the potatoes. And burner number four was reserved for the scrambled eggs. Toast would go in the toaster. That left the bacon. My friend's plan was to cook it on the griddle, then clean the griddle, then do the pancakes on the griddle. I said, "Why don't we do the bacon in the oven?" He looked at me like I had two heads. But he consented. I turned the oven to 325 degrees (F). I took a half-sheet pan and laid the bacon strips out very tightly packed -- overlapping a bit in places -- so that a one-pound package of sliced bacon fit on the tray. I put the whole thing in the oven and waited. After about 15 minutes -- and during all this time we were able to make stuff on the stovetop -- I opened the oven and turned each piece of bacon over with a fork. By now the bacon had shrunk a bit so it no longer overlapped. Back in the oven for another 10 minutes or so. The bacon was ready around the same time as all the other food. I took the tray out of the oven and put it on the counter on a couple of cork trivets and took the pieces off to dry on paper towels. At the table, my friend's wife, who was not involved in the food preparation, asked "How did you get the bacon to come out so good?" Another convert to bacon in the oven. Not only is bacon in the oven incredibly convenient and efficient -- it leaves your stovetop burners free and if you have room for three half-sheet pans in your oven you can cook three pounds of bacon at once no problem -- but also the bacon comes out great. I'm not really sure why. Perhaps being surrounded by warm air is better for the bacon's flavor development than the unilateral heat of a stovetop skillet. Perhaps the oven just enforces the low-and-slow approach better than the stovetop. Or perhaps it's because, all of it cooking at once, the bacon comes to the table "fresher" than multiple batches in a skillet or two. In any event, bacon in the oven is the only way to fry.

I have been combing through this forum's handful of long bacon threads looking for any leads on producing really crisp oven bacon. Besides baking on a rack (which I despise washing), has anyone found a way to do this? My goal is bacon that shatters to the firm touch but is still relatively uncolored (tan/red not brown). I've gotten it a few times in the past but haven't been able to reproduce it lately. When I have been successful, it's been with low temperatures (<250 f.) for a long time (2+ hours) but these days that formula is giving me bacon that's dark brown and chewy (can't even cut it with fork!). Any ideas?

Where do I find really really thick disposable paper towels? Unless someone knows a better way to do this.... I cook bacon in the microwave. I put 7 double-ply paper towels on top and bottom of the bacon and sandwich it in between 2 plates and nooook it for 3 to 4.5 minutes depending on the bacon's thickness. The point of this is to get rid of as much fat as possible. I know, I know, what a waste, the taste leaves something to be desired, but it's ok (especially using gourmet brands) and healthy, or healthier than the alternative. But I spend almost as much on paper towels as I do on the bacon!

Forgive my ignorance, but wondered if anyone could help... Is it possible to make cured (i.e. dried/ semi-dried) chorizo/ salami in hot and humid environments? I will be living somewhere with typical 90% humidity and temperatures >30C, and no airconditioning/ cool rooms. Is it possible to leave meats to hang in these conditions?