[Sca-cooks] Smoked fish and meat--questions

[Phlip]

Ene bichizh ogsen baina shuu...

> >Given your reputation, one might think long pig would be ;-)
>
>
> You are confusing me with a Frank. Manflesh is not permitted under
> the Prophet's law.

Yeah, well, it's hard to keep track of all you monotheists and your only
gods;-) Much easier to respect them all, and hope they stay out of my
business, gods and men alike.

> >The trouble with smoked foods is that once preserved, refreshing them
> >generally requires cooking- if you don't cook them, then breaking them
into
> >edible portions requires a bandsaw, or other heavy woodworking equipment.
> >Once a properly smoked product is finished, it has roughly the density of
> >dried wood.
>
> Someone came to Elizabeth's class at Pennsic with things he had
> smoked and said would keep. They were edible and reasonably tasty.
> Smoked salmon is good--but I'm not sure how long it keeps without
> refrigeration.

Well, if you find out more, please let me know. The two main methods of
smoking I'm aware of are the hot smoking, which is designed as a flavor
boost, for immediate eating, and cool smoking, which is designed for
long-term storage. If there's a method of splitting the difference, and
having an immediately edible item which can be stored for a reasonable
period of time, I'd like to know about it. That's one of the reasons I
intend to build myself a smoker one of these days- to experiment. All my
doings have involved helping with other folks' smokers.

>
> >Depending on how much you want to spend, one of these items might suit
your
> >needs.
>
>
> Thanks for the info.
> --
> David Friedman

Hey, glad to help. It's a subject of a fair amount of interest to me, with
my general interest in meats and butchering. If things work out, I might
have some smoked stuff to try at Pennsic, if not next year, the year after,
but I need to get settled first. I'd dearly love to experiment with lamb and
kid, and maybe duck and goose, they being my favorite red meats and poultry.

Have you tried preserving water birds in their own fat- confits? I
understand that if done properly, they combine a reasonable shelf life with
immediate edibility.

Saint Phlip,
CoDoLDS

"When in doubt, heat it up and hit it with a hammer."
 Blacksmith's credo.

 If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is probably not a
cat.

Never a horse that cain't be rode,
And never a rider who cain't be throwed....