Very true. He seemed relatively familiar with sausage making so I didn't think to point that out, but I'm glad you did Fat is relatively easy to find at a good butcher, and specialty meat shops with game animals are becoming more common in urban areas. Ideally it should be game you killed yourself, althought that may just be my bias as a southerner coming out
While this is true for URban areas (due to foodie culture) and Rural areas (due to wild game processing) -- sadly in suburbia, where most people live, its still very difficult to find a butcher.
Personally, when I need specialty meat cuts and/or ofal (or fat) I go to a place thats about 30 miles away from my house. because I trust them, and when I ask if I can put in an order for three pounds of pork fat they do it without thinking, whereas the "butcher" 2 blocks form my house balks and says "no, why would you want that? We don't sell it."
Same way for me. I can appreciate and enjoy a lot of different styles, and it often comes down to what I'm in the mood for. If I want pulled pork, I'd rather have a thin vinegar sauce. When it comes to ribs, hold the sauce.
That's spot on for me as well. Tomato based sauces do too much to *hide* the flavor of the pulled pork and not enhance it. In general I find that most people use BBQ sauce (much like steak sauce) to hide flavors rather than enhacne them.
Unfortunately, I've got a pretty small smoker so I'm usually stuck buying hickory chips and what not from places like Lowe's or Home Depot. However, I've also been trying a mixture of natural charcoal and wood chips and it's worked out really nicely the last few times I've done it. Can't use too much charcoal though, obviously. It's a delicate balance. When I get the chance, I'll use cherry or apple wood, which are the few things I can get my hands on around here.
I'm very partial to cherry, especially for lighter meats like poultry that don't have a whole lot of inherent flavor. The natural sweetness of a fruit wood comes out more in poultry.
I haven't gotten to make any sausages yet. I don't have a meat grinder, so that really puts me behind the eight ball with sausage making. My wife and I are moving to a new house in a few month with a MUCH larger kitchen though, so I think I'm gonna try it out when we get there. Also, we'll have a dishwasher in the new place, which I think would be pretty necessary for getting any type of grinder apparatus clean.
Any advice for sausages? I've seen them made on TV and in recipes before, but as I said, I've never tried them myself.
Two things I've learned recently (and some I learned form the get go):
1) There is no substitute for natural casing. The collagen casings you can buy online are nowhere near as good. relatively impossible to twist into links.
2) If you aren't sure if you have enough fat... add more fat. There is nothing worse than making a batch of sausage trying it out and realizing you didn't put enough fat so when cooked all you have is a dry brick of beef or pork. Most sausages use between 25 and 30% fat in the ingredients.
3) The kitchenaid mixer grinder attachment is fine, grinds meat pretty well, and has room for a bowl to catch it. The kitchenaid mixer stuffer attachment is absolute crap, and makes stuffing sausages incredibly difficult, time consuming and require 3 people at least.
4) be prepared to spend almost as much time cleaning as you do preparing the sausage. It's a messy process.
I just got a new dedicated sausage stuffer that we're trying out for the first time tonight, I'll post and let you know how it goes.
If you can get ahold of it, fresh deer makes wonderful sausage. Game meats in general (boar, rabbit, elk, etc.) are great for sausages because the "tang" can stand up to the spices.
keep in mind that any of these types (really any wild game) will require additional fat form another source (such as pork fat). You will need to find a decent butcher / grocery store that is willing to sell it to you.
No, but really a propane grill is incredibly convenient for quick grilling because it takes no time/effort to get the grill up to temp, and when you're done you can just turn it off. It's a shortcut that compromises a small amount of flavor, in favor of being able to make something like grilled chicken I wouldn't normally be able to make (due to time constraints).
Unfortunately, I had to get rid of my grill when I moved into my new apartment more into the city. I used to grill all the time, and I definitely miss it.
Thats the perils of city life. At my apartment (when I first got married) I barely had room for a tiny gas grill.
Cooking on the smoker is one of my favorite ways to relax, so I don't konw how I'd handle being in a space too small to cook on it...
"Actual smoker" was a poor choice of words, "dedicated smoker" is a better choice. I assumed he meant not wanting to buy a dedicated vertical smoker (don't they suck and only northerners buy them) or a more complicated set-up (like a charcoal grill with a firebox). You can grill all you need at home and even make a really good brisket on a kettle grill which is cheap, small, and makes a great grill in general.
Ok, yea I agree with you then :). I could use charcoal in my smoker if I wnated to, but I tend to go straight hardwood (and use the coals form the last smoke to start the fire). For quick and dirty grilling I have a propane grill.
This weekend I'm doing 10 lbs of homemade beef hotlinks and 4 racks of ribs for a family get together.
Texas BBQ is smoked in a grill (The Salt Lick only uses a wood fire), not an actual smoker. With a large enough charcoal grill (even a Weber kettle grill) you can use some nice pecan wood and real charcoal to make brisket. I do it all the time.
This, ultimately, comes down to the debate between direct heat and indirect heat.
"In much of the world outside of the American South, barbecue has a close association with Texas. Many barbecue restaurants outside the United States claim to serve "Texas barbecue", regardless of the style they actually serve. Texas barbecue is often assumed to be primarily beef. This assumption, along with the inclusive term "Texas barbecue", is an oversimplification. Texas has four main styles, all with different flavors, different cooking methods, different ingredients, and different cultural origins. (cf. Barbecue in the United States) In the June 2008 issue of Texas Monthly Magazine Snow's BBQ in Lexington was rated as the best BBQ in the state of Texas. This ranking was reinforced when New Yorker Magazine also claimed that Snow's BBQ was "The Best Texas BBQ in the World".[18]"
(wikipedia)
There is no doubt in my mind that original texas style BBQ derives from direct heat over a fire. The use of Charcoal is a modern thing, and is (obviously) not traditional, since charcoal as a commonly available fuel source is relatively new.
That said, at least some "Texas style" BBQ techniques use indirect heat, rather than direct heat.
Edit: I guess I should question what you mean when you say "actual smoker" -- because it could mean a smoke house, a cold smoker, or a hot smoker. This: http://s1114.photobucket.com/albums/k525/maerada99/ Is my rig. with the offset firebox, and the cooking chamber providing indirect heat. -- Is that a "actual smoker" or a grill? (not being snide-- trying to find out what you mean).
Wife & I Big foodies. Love many styles of restaurant.
Cook lots of cuisines. Just got into baking pretzels because I saw it on Good Eats wih Alton brown. Started with the Auntie Anne kit (which was cooool) and now ready to start from scratch.
Its funny, the wife I got started on the foodie kick from watching good eats too. I think its how Alton makes the food seem reasonable to an average cook, rather than complex. Plus we're both engineer minded (engineering degrees that went into other fields in grad school) so the breaking down of the food and recipes into science helps too.
Looking for great texas barbecue braised brisket recipe, that doesnt require smoker.
Unfortunately, you are not going to find one. Put quite simply -- if its not slow cooked on a smoker its not Texas barbecue brisket. Now, if you are asking because you don't have money for and/or space for a real smoker but still want to make it: depending on the type of grill you have some standard charcoal grills can be turned into decent smokers.
Alternately, check out Alton Brown's terracotta pot smoker if you have the good eats books (I don't know which one its in).
Edit: While I consider myself a food guy, I do not bake. Dunno why, but I hate baking.
I've also recently gotten into smoking meats. Doing southern style (US, I mean) BBQ with ribs and pork shoulder has been awesome since my wife bought me a smoker for my birthday a few years ago.
2.5 years ago my wife gave me the money to buy a snowboard for Christmas, and I never bought it, then around my birthday I was like "can I apply that and my birthday money to a smoker?"
Then I found a custom built rig for $250 (new).
Now, it's one of my favorite things to do :).
What kind of wood do you usually use? I'm in Michigan so wood is harder to find than other areas (like Tx), but my father in law has a wood fired furnace for his house so he pulls out any hardwood he gets in for that for me.
Anything you can use Crisco in, you can use lard in.*
While this is true for URban areas (due to foodie culture) and Rural areas (due to wild game processing) -- sadly in suburbia, where most people live, its still very difficult to find a butcher.
Personally, when I need specialty meat cuts and/or ofal (or fat) I go to a place thats about 30 miles away from my house. because I trust them, and when I ask if I can put in an order for three pounds of pork fat they do it without thinking, whereas the "butcher" 2 blocks form my house balks and says "no, why would you want that? We don't sell it."
That's spot on for me as well. Tomato based sauces do too much to *hide* the flavor of the pulled pork and not enhance it. In general I find that most people use BBQ sauce (much like steak sauce) to hide flavors rather than enhacne them.
I'm very partial to cherry, especially for lighter meats like poultry that don't have a whole lot of inherent flavor. The natural sweetness of a fruit wood comes out more in poultry.
Two things I've learned recently (and some I learned form the get go):
1) There is no substitute for natural casing. The collagen casings you can buy online are nowhere near as good. relatively impossible to twist into links.
2) If you aren't sure if you have enough fat... add more fat. There is nothing worse than making a batch of sausage trying it out and realizing you didn't put enough fat so when cooked all you have is a dry brick of beef or pork. Most sausages use between 25 and 30% fat in the ingredients.
3) The kitchenaid mixer grinder attachment is fine, grinds meat pretty well, and has room for a bowl to catch it. The kitchenaid mixer stuffer attachment is absolute crap, and makes stuffing sausages incredibly difficult, time consuming and require 3 people at least.
4) be prepared to spend almost as much time cleaning as you do preparing the sausage. It's a messy process.
I just got a new dedicated sausage stuffer that we're trying out for the first time tonight, I'll post and let you know how it goes.
keep in mind that any of these types (really any wild game) will require additional fat form another source (such as pork fat). You will need to find a decent butcher / grocery store that is willing to sell it to you.
I sell propane and propane accessories.
No, but really a propane grill is incredibly convenient for quick grilling because it takes no time/effort to get the grill up to temp, and when you're done you can just turn it off. It's a shortcut that compromises a small amount of flavor, in favor of being able to make something like grilled chicken I wouldn't normally be able to make (due to time constraints).
Thats the perils of city life. At my apartment (when I first got married) I barely had room for a tiny gas grill.
Cooking on the smoker is one of my favorite ways to relax, so I don't konw how I'd handle being in a space too small to cook on it...
Ok, yea I agree with you then :). I could use charcoal in my smoker if I wnated to, but I tend to go straight hardwood (and use the coals form the last smoke to start the fire). For quick and dirty grilling I have a propane grill.
This weekend I'm doing 10 lbs of homemade beef hotlinks and 4 racks of ribs for a family get together.
This, ultimately, comes down to the debate between direct heat and indirect heat.
"In much of the world outside of the American South, barbecue has a close association with Texas. Many barbecue restaurants outside the United States claim to serve "Texas barbecue", regardless of the style they actually serve. Texas barbecue is often assumed to be primarily beef. This assumption, along with the inclusive term "Texas barbecue", is an oversimplification. Texas has four main styles, all with different flavors, different cooking methods, different ingredients, and different cultural origins. (cf. Barbecue in the United States) In the June 2008 issue of Texas Monthly Magazine Snow's BBQ in Lexington was rated as the best BBQ in the state of Texas. This ranking was reinforced when New Yorker Magazine also claimed that Snow's BBQ was "The Best Texas BBQ in the World".[18]"
(wikipedia)
There is no doubt in my mind that original texas style BBQ derives from direct heat over a fire. The use of Charcoal is a modern thing, and is (obviously) not traditional, since charcoal as a commonly available fuel source is relatively new.
That said, at least some "Texas style" BBQ techniques use indirect heat, rather than direct heat.
Edit: I guess I should question what you mean when you say "actual smoker" -- because it could mean a smoke house, a cold smoker, or a hot smoker. This: http://s1114.photobucket.com/albums/k525/maerada99/ Is my rig. with the offset firebox, and the cooking chamber providing indirect heat. -- Is that a "actual smoker" or a grill? (not being snide-- trying to find out what you mean).
Its funny, the wife I got started on the foodie kick from watching good eats too. I think its how Alton makes the food seem reasonable to an average cook, rather than complex. Plus we're both engineer minded (engineering degrees that went into other fields in grad school) so the breaking down of the food and recipes into science helps too.
Unfortunately, you are not going to find one. Put quite simply -- if its not slow cooked on a smoker its not Texas barbecue brisket. Now, if you are asking because you don't have money for and/or space for a real smoker but still want to make it: depending on the type of grill you have some standard charcoal grills can be turned into decent smokers.
Alternately, check out Alton Brown's terracotta pot smoker if you have the good eats books (I don't know which one its in).
Edit: While I consider myself a food guy, I do not bake. Dunno why, but I hate baking.
2.5 years ago my wife gave me the money to buy a snowboard for Christmas, and I never bought it, then around my birthday I was like "can I apply that and my birthday money to a smoker?"
Then I found a custom built rig for $250 (new).
Now, it's one of my favorite things to do :).
What kind of wood do you usually use? I'm in Michigan so wood is harder to find than other areas (like Tx), but my father in law has a wood fired furnace for his house so he pulls out any hardwood he gets in for that for me.
Have you tried making non-cured sausages? Thats what I'm doing now a fair amount and I wnat to start doing cured sausages soon.