I really like the honey bacon idea and used the concept but then my own measurements for cure, salt and honey. I've found that the prescribed amount of honey will get you a solid honey taste but you can still taste it at lower amounts (I've moved down approx 1.5 cups per full 8-9 lb belly). I salt a...

I third Ross and Kevin's response on the wood. I switched to a 70/30 blend of hickory/apple as I wanted the color from the hickory and the apple mellows some of the flavor. I can't much about adherence because I typically just cook my from smoked/raw stated when I want to eat them or roast them.

These days I don't really use the author's recommendation regarding cure 1 or salt. I use the legal ppm rate for cure 1 and my personal preference for salt (approx 1.75%) and then use their spice recommendations.

atcNick - I've really appreciated watching the progress of your current smokehouse build. What is the purchase of the A-Frame-ish extenstions on the side? Support?

Great looking blog. I've subscribed and can't wait to see more!

That's what I got to thinking a bit after sending my message. My kits came with enough spice for 10 lb batches and when I went online to look at just the spices alone I noticed they were mostly for 25 lbs...

I'll be ordering today (or tomorrow if they're closed today..haven't called yet)

TSMODIE, quick question on your recipe. I just got done with a three pack of snack stick kits from B&P and all the recipes called for 10# of meat. I notice that your version calls for 9 lbs, is that a typo or did you reduce the quantity of protein to increase the ratio of spices to meat?

Very nice work!

Using a 3/4 HP #12 Tor Rey

The small fast ones live and the big, slow, fat ones are dinner for the furry carnivores

Canadianwildman, keep me posted, I'd love to hear how it goes.

Crusty044 - I have dreams of owning a Flemish Giant one day. I hear that they're to the best choice for food rabbits because they have such a poor caloric conversion rate.

There's lots of other tasty things that you can do such as rabbit confit, rillets and maybe even rabbit terrine (which would be my choice).

I agree with numbers 2-4 for the most part, except that sometimes if a product is cold-smoked and cured it may not necessarily require additional "cooking" for edibility, some spreadable sausages come to mind. My only concern with 1 deals with defining "long". At this time I exclusively cold-smoke a...

The amount of liquid a meat can absorb depends on many factors which include but are not limited to species, age, gender and elapsed time post-mordem not to mention the environment in your house, hot, cold, humid, dry, etc. Typically I've found that about 8 oz by volume or weight of ice per 5 lb bat...

I did my kraut a LOT more simply and seemed to work out great for me. I shredded three heads very thinly with a good sharp knife, added salt and compacted everything into a 6 gal foodsafe plastic bucket which I'd cleaned and rinsed carefully beforehand. I topped the mix with a clean plate (no extra ...