If you're making shrimp gumbo, buy head-on shrimp and make your stock with the heads and shells. You'll be glad you did. You can find them at Asian stores.

We use cast iron every day around here for almost all our frying, sauteing, tortilla warming, etc. Haven't tried flax seed oil, but lard works great . Best way to clean them that I've found is: 1 - Pour out any oil, then wipe with a paper towel. If there is a lot of food stuck to the bottom, add a l...

Those look marvelous! I have been on the lookout for a pepperoni stick recipe, and now I've found one. Thanks for sharing it. Re. "name that cut," this reminds me of a similar process I go through on a smaller scale. We get a side of beef every year, and I tell the butcher not to grind any hamburger...

A) Seconding what Redzed said - beef middles seem to work out best for dry cured products. Salamis age well in them, AND they are strong so you can stuff them as tight as you want without worrying about blow-outs. B) The worse thing you can do within a community is be divisive, and that is the natur...

Hi Redzed - thanks for the advice. I think that is what I'll do (25% beef liver) - no need to translate that recipe you mentioned. Thanks for offering!

Jeff

Does anybody have experience using beef liver in fresh or cooked sausage, or lunch meats? I am talking about beef liver, not calve's liver. I have a good deal of beef liver on hand and my family does not like it's strong taste. I don't want to just feed it to the chickens, and I'll never eat it all ...

Bob K - is that a Sausage Kitchen? Dedicated? I need to know how jealous I should be! My wife has so much of her own equipment for her various fermenting, juicing, culturing (and oh yeah cooking) pursuits that I have to keep all my stuff in an outbuilding and lug it in every time I start grinding & ...

Just another data point here. I have vac-sealed and frozen salamis and they did get slimy. It didn't ruin them though. I don't think they had a whole lot of white mold when they went in the bag.

Yes, it's time to chill, as the chillen say. We have two mysteries to solve here - what the email to Chuckwagon really meant, and how Thewitt's salt got saltier.

Could be could be. If such is the case, at least we were all given a good opportunity to tell Chuckwagon how much we appreciate him.

Hey Ray - if I ever drop my lightweight 3/4 hp grinder on my foot, I'll start a new site, Sausage Making for the Physically Impaired. Well, maybe that's not funny. It's also not a bad idea. Hmmm. I hope you stay on this site. Something went on that we don't like, but you are a great contributor and ...

Mr. Wagon sir I hold you personally responsible for my addiction to sausage making. This is true - I brought my failures to this forum as a complete stranger and you welcomed me and explained what I was doing wrong and encouraged me to stay at it. I don't know how many times you have answered my que...

King Kabo - You can't go wrong with Cabelas or LEM. You've got enough $$ for a good one, so go for it. You will thank yourself. Here is a consideration re. the size. When you buy these high quality ones, you get a heavy machine. I have a 3/4 HP Cabelas. It grinds as fast as I need, and for making 10...

I have a stuffer too, but it's not electric so no foot pad needed. That hand I use to crank with would come in awfully handy twisting the links as they came off, but dang are those motorized stuffers pricey. I like a foot pedal for my grinder because that way I can use two hands to get the meat from...

Yeah! I'll add to this great question another one that's been on my mind. Anyone every try to rehydrate a piece of cured meat that's been losing moisture in the fridge for way too long? I've got a piece of coppa that's hard as a rock. In fact, it looks like a rock. It's still good as in not spoiled,...