Maganda Umaga, smokin' in philippines....

Roy, Thanks for your interest, I don't have a shop set up anywhere, you can check out what i have to offer at facebook, if you just type into the facebook search window [email protected] my page should come up.  For smoked meats I just have bacon and ribs right now, the bacon i cure for 5-6 days and then i cold smoke it for 8-12 hours depending upon the weather conditions and how well the smoke is sticking.  The ribs are rubbed with a basic rub, with a little something something that you probably can't even tell its there but then i hot smoke those for 8-12 hours as well.  The wood i use is a mix of apple, hickory, mesquite, and oak.  If you are interested to purchase some, i can deliver it free anywhere between sm fairview and East Avenue during the week.  I am running a little low on ribs right now but i still have a couple of racks, it comes with my own barbecue sauce as well.  feel free to message me on my cell 09083680430.  but definitely check out my facebook page and you can see whats there.  Thanks again.

Roger, sorry i haven't checked in on this page for a while, i get mesquite at true value, but stocks are hard to come by, i wouldn't recommend cooking solely with any woodchips you do come by here because it would be quite expensive.  Also at true value and SnR membership shopping they have kingsford mesquite charcoal if you want to use that, its not too expensive.  sorry for way late reply but hope it helps.

For those looking for small scale smoking options like stove top or just a kilo or so of bacon, there is a gourmet shop called gourdo's which used to carry these little smoke trays with hickory or mesquite flavored shreds in it, they work great for small scale and even on large scale if you use enough of them, and they are reasonable at 50-60 pesos last time i checked.  someone asked about local woods, i haven't really tried many of them, i tried avocado one time and that was a massive mistake, whatever i smoked came out tasting a lot like lavender soap.  and i have it stuck in my head that mango is bad to be used for smoking?  not sure on that though but it might bear checking up on.  I am terrible about checking in on this site, i always rely upon it to notify me in an email when someone posts, but that doesn't always happen.  For those i have helped, i hope i really did help, for those i missed out on helping, sorry about that, will try harder to keep an eye out for where i can help.  feel free to check out my facebook, add me up, if you are nearby, you are welcome to come by and check out my setup.  might even feed ya. 

Roy Harrison said:

Hello I just joined and would love ot know where you are located so I can drop by and buy some meats,.I would also like ot ask what wood you use for smoking your meats here in the Philippines

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see previous comment... :D

Jared,

First, Welcome to the Philippines, secondly, if i understand your approach is that you are looking to secure your sources of both smoking materials as well as a reliable source of meat, ideally you are wanting to have a farm where you supply your own?  If you have that sort of income it can certainly be done, it might take a long time to make back your investment though and as i am sure you are aware you cannot actually own anything under your name here.  So the person you have as the owner of both the business and the land would have to be very trustworthy as this is a rather large investment.  That being said, Control over the entire process from source to table is ambitious and will be a mountain of work, if you are up for it and that sort of thing is important to you then go for it.  Initially i did try searching sites like alibaba for large quantities of wood for smoking and stuff like that because i was having such a hard time finding apple and hickory, i even looked into have bags shipped from canadian and american companies. and the shipping was outrageous.  like 50-100 bucks for a 5-10 pound bag, and that didn't even include customs bribes it would take to get it out of customs and bribes to the dept of agriculture as well.  After searching along those lines for a while i finally gave in when i ran across a 5 pound bag of apple chips next to a 5 pound bag of hickory chips in true value hardware, each bag was priced at less than 10 bucks.  and as an added bonus that made me feel like i was doing something right, when i cashed out at the register they both happened to be on sale for half price...  I promptly gave up my lofty ideas of nose-tail and beyond control of product, and having done similar research into local farms regarding high quality meat i found the price was again prohibitive, you can find farmers willing to cater to your supply control demands, but it will cost two or three times what you pay at the grocery store, and having researched the large chain grocery i found their meat was consistent in fat ratio as well as flavor and price is pretty steady, they cut the rack how i want it as many as 80 racks in one week i have been able to obtain from this one grocery.  All their meat was imported from europe, verified by the stamps on the meat, the boxes they unload, the meat inspection certificates they post and by doing a little in depth research online.  Will all that in mind, i had invested a couple thousand bucks into this already building the smoker and trying different meats and woods, i just decided to use a consistent source from the grocery for the meat, and the hard part is still getting wood chunks from the hardware because sometimes i go and they have plenty and others they have none.  My advice for you is this, if you are to build your own smoker, build one that is very airtight, something that will hold in both the smoke and the heat thereby you will maximize the amount of smoke you are producing.  Personally i supplement the heat source with local uling when doing my ribs to get to and maintain temperature.  and i simply use foil pouches filled with soaked chips slightly above the coals to produce my smoke, you have to ensure with this method that your charcoal/uling is high quality, meaning dry and not just partially charred wood.  that way the only smoke generated is from your custom wood chunks you decide to use.  I had a solid business with these ribs for more than a year, Circumstances beyond our control have made that drop off significantly but last christmas alone i sold over 100 racks of ribs in one week.  If there is anything i can help you with i am glad to do so, regarding local woods, i tried a couple just on a lark, one being avocado, i posted about it, don't bother trying it, meat comes out tasting soapy lavendery in a bad bad way.  they say mango is supposed to be bad, and i realized that for centuries others far more knowledgeable than i have been smoking meats and they have likely already narrowed down the best woods for smoking and those are what is out there already.  I would love to get my hands on some cherry wood just to see if it helps though... :D  good luck and i think i posted my number on previous posts, but check out my facebook [email protected] type that into the search and it should come up.  don't sell much smoked meat anymore, but i still do it for personal use. 

Suggestions... the arguments are echoes of similar experiences i have myself, as well as what i have seen in those around me.  I am far from an expert, however, sometimes i do have luck by planting seeds, similar to growing trees, with ideas i mean though, i find if i plant little seeds of an idea and let her eventually come up with the idea herself it works out much much better.  However, if i make it too obvious she knows what i am doing and shuts down, then like six or ten months later she suggests the same thing we argued over like it was her idea all along..  I know that wasn't the suggestion you were looking for, but to address that here we go.  I completely understand your desires to control the quality of your meat by growing your own.  From my extensive knowledge of meaningless stuff, i can say i think you could probably get away with just about anything here as long as you grease the right people.  I saw some references before regarding chili's and there was a rather large group of chiliheads importing and growing their own varieties down in cebu or davao.  But try to find a chili other than the little thai chili's or the scotch bonnets if you are lucky here and you have found some gold, or the long thin green ones i guess also.  The similarity i am guessing would be the plants, you want mesquite trees to provide cover and something for the longhorns to rub against?  I am not even sure they will grow well in this climate that would be something to look into first i guess.  Secondly finding the land available in an area with a climate that will let them thrive at a price that you can afford.  well i guess that isn't second, second would be to find out if its possible to import the seedlings or whatever.  then the land, then regarding the longhorns, i know little of raising cattle other than they are pretty tasty if fed properly.  the saying you are what you eat applies to what we eat for sure, and you might run into issues with what will you feed those longhorns if you do find land and are able to grow the mesquite and import the cattle?  That all being said, i find the problem with the local meats being they let little fat develop and what few rancher/butchers i have found who grow their own the brisket's they end up with are only about half the size you want with very little fats. 

I am horrible about paragraph breaks and proper sentence structure so please forgive me.  One way to win your wife over and it won't be cheap, is take her to some higher end restaurants that actually do have high quality imported beef, let her taste the difference.  You need to get in with some up and coming young chefs who will be your network in the future, Know the uses of the entire nose to tail of the longhorn and create your own demand i guess, this is all after you start the ranch. 

Jared, starting at the bottom is tough, we have spoken about it a couple times.  Even now after 7 years or more here i still have some really dry times with orders, build a loyal base, crazy some of my best most loyal customers are under the age of 10, i had a 6 year old call me the other day regarding a birthday cake he wants in the shape or with something to do with a rowboat, I have never met him, his grandmother buys a kilo or two of bacon from me each week because if she doesn't this kid will be mad at her.  This is kinda a story for both of you i guess, there are people out there who appreciate the different flavors that we are used to, find them, provide for them, and hopefully you will succeed.  Good luck, let me know how your ventures go for sure, if i can provide any other advice or support, let me know. 

Berry,

I had another thought, if you have the funding to do so, a supplement to that funding instead of just having your return be from the high quality beef you produce could be to make it a sort of Texas style resort where the wealthy can stay and live the life of a cowboy or something like that for a weekend or something.  Maybe even if you found some surrounding feeding areas to have a cattle drive like city slickers or whatever, it could be a great draw and you could even appeal to the government bodies with that sort of thing.  When you are going through this process it will be important to ensure you do not offend anyone, they are easily offended here and also they easily offend, they can say some of the most horrible things about their own, but if someone else does it look out.  It must be presented as a High quality alternative, not a replacement because you think what is here is poor.  My wife and i struggle over similar concepts also sometimes, and she is slowly seeing things in a similar light to me, she has great taste though, so it helps when i am being "picky" about meat quality and similar things.  She now understands the importance of having quality ingredients when before she would just get it at the local market now she looks for marbling and consistency.   I also forgot to mention that in my searches i have found there are some high quality producers and importers of meats, one thing to look for is every year they have "expo's" usually near mall of asia that last for a few days where you can go and meat others in the industry and there will be a few people you want to get to know at those for sure, processers, packers, producers, etc.  Keep an eye on those, go to them and keep an open eye because even at those the gems are hidden sometimes.  But they have agriculture expo's, meat producer expo's, even food expo's you will find suppliers and people interested in obtaining high quality supply.  I know there is a meat supplier that imports some good meats from the pacific northwest, i think there website is alternatives.ph or something like that.  Again, let me know if any of this helped or if you have any other specific questions that i can address with an amateur opinion. 

Welcome Pjunzen,

I would have to say not to use palochina wood, I am not exactly sure what it is, but if i am not mistaken it is typically used for crates and boxes and likely heavily treated with chemicals.  even if its a version of pine wood or whatever i would say to stay away from it.  Regarding local woods to use, i still do not know enough about them to venture too far, but if you are into experimenting keep in mind that you must let the wood "season" meaning, when you cut it from the tree it must have a couple of months to dry out.  Be careful what you are experimenting with, some woods will create toxic smoke you don't want anywhere near anything you are smoking, that being said, i have seen coconut husks being used for smoke.  Look around at those smoking fish and see what they are using if you don't want to use the imported stuff.  I also saw a program where they smoke sausages on a large scale and their method of smoking is something to pass along, they have a motor basically with the shaft spinning and a 4"x4" post pressed against the spinning shaft creating friction and plenty of smoke, i think its a genius idea especially for cold smoking and may look into finding the pieces of wood needed to try that, but it kinda requires some special modification to my smoker.  anyway, welcome pjunzen and stop by and see me at Sidcor Centris Station Sunday market, i just opened up a food stall there this last weekend and its going pretty well. 

Roy,

an update, we have recently started a food stall at Sidcor Sunday market located near centris station in quezon city, we operate from 6 am to 1pm every sunday.  I have my smoked ribs and mashed potatoes every weekend, smoked roast beef, bacon when its in stock, but it goes so fast and best to reserve ahead of time.  I also offer some of the best cupcakes you have ever had even if you don't have a sweettooth these are pretty damn good, and i smoked some pecans and walnuts the pecans for a pecan pie and walnuts for carrot cake.  Also offer SunBrewed Iced tea which seems like a fairly new concept here as people are going kinda crazy over it.  If you get a chance stop on by, introduce yourself and remind me you saw me on smoking meat forum and i will likely let you have a free sample of the ribs.  hope to see you there and will update you if we start up somewhere else also.