[Sca-cooks] period smoke houses?

[widener]

Heat is not necessary to smoke meat and smoke is best absorbed by meat at
around 55 degrees. That is why you slaughter on the first cold day of
Autumn. Also the brining process was an intergral part of preserving the
meat. It was neccessary to boil hams before eating them to remove the salt.
A smoked salted ham braised with mirapoix veges and alot of red wine makes a
flavorful mild meat. I don't know about the anti-bacterial nature of smoke
by itself but it seems to work. Plus you are using a whole muscle meat with
only surface exposure to bacteria.
Bro Stephon
----- Original Message -----
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Sent: Thursday, September 18, 2003 6:57 AM
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] period smoke houses?


> The heat is an integral part of the smoking process.  It reduces moisture
> and fat thereby improving the odds against spoilage and kills bacteria.
> Roughly the same as drying meat.
>
> Smoking adds a crust and the smoke flavor.
>
> Bear
>
> >But if you are only smoking the meat and not drying it, why do you need
> >to retain the heat? I can see where you probably need something to
> >retain the smoke, though. Or is it always a process of either drying
> >and smoking the meat or drying it only but never smoking it only?
> >Stefan
> >--------
> >THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
>
>
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