Search results

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
  1. freakynorm

    Help with mozzarella please.

    I tried making some fresh mozzarella today. I picked up some raw whole milk from the co-op and did the normal recipe. Citric acid, heat, rennet, rest, cut curd, etc. After draining it, I set it in a bowl and poured whey over it that was heated to 185F. I let it sit about 20 seconds and went to...
  2. freakynorm

    Turkey Skin Issue

    I tried smoking a 9lb turkey this weekend. It came out really good. I used some herbs and butter under the skin, filled the bird with various fruits and put a light coating of Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning on it. For some reason though, the skin was like leather. I've done chicken before...
  3. freakynorm

    Pork belly on the grill in progress with q/view and a question

    I saw this recipe/cook online and though it sounded good. So I bought some pork belly and got it started today. In the video, they had it cook about 4-5 hours. They don't say what temp they took it up to. Reading online the temps range anywhere from 160°F to 200°F. My cook is about 2.5 hours...
  4. freakynorm

    Fair price per LB for pork belly

    I live out in the sticks. There are two "butchers" out here. Not corner store or mom-and-pop type places. More like large suppliers of meat to the county. They sell frozen pork bellies between $5.19lb and $5.49lb in 10-12lb slabs. Is it me, or is that really excessive, especially since they're...
  5. freakynorm

    Anova Sous Vide immersion cooker normally $199, now $99 on Amazon.com!

    I was debating getting this unit but the promotional deal was too good to pass up. Here's the link and the promo code. Promo code is ANOVAONE According to the post I read about it on, the deal goes through 6/12, but I would jump on it before that because I bet at this price, they may just...
  6. freakynorm

    Just bought the Avantco 12" 1/2hp meat slicer. Short review and pics.

    I initially had purchased a Chef's Choice 615 slicer from Amazon for $150. It did ok but you couldn't get super thin slices of meat and with most meats you had to freeze the meat a while before slicing and you had to have fairly small pieces of meat. It just wasn't "cutting" it for me. :) So I...
  7. freakynorm

    First time pulled ham with some Buckboard Bacon, Cheese and Butter w/Qview

    A few weeks ago I did my first batch of buckboard bacon and it was amazing. I loved the slightly hammy taste and texture to it. I decided I liked the fat cap halves the best since it was more like bacon than the lean half. So I went to Cash N Carry and picked up 4 Boston Butts. I deboned and...
  8. freakynorm

    First time cold-smoked Buckboard Bacon w/qview

    I have been wanting to try this for some time now and I just got a meat slicer and I thought that it would be perfect to slice up some BBB with. I picked up 2 butts for $1.88lb for a total of 13lbs or so. I deboned and butterflied the butts. I used cure#1, salt and brown sugar in a 1/7/5 grams...
  9. freakynorm

    Eye Of Round Smoked Roast Beef with my new slicer w/Qview

    I wanted to make some buckboard bacon and got some pork butts, got a dry cure on em and now they're sitting in the fridge for 9 days. Now you may ask yourself, where's the beef? Well, seeing as I got a batch of bacon brewing, I knew I would really like to slice it up nice and neat, so I got a...
  10. freakynorm

    Upgraded my 30" MES First Gen from a 4 rack to a 6 rack rig w/pics

    I always thought that 4 racks seemed a bit skimpy. There seems to be a lot more room in there that could be used. One day while in Cabela's I saw they had a 30" model called the Sportsman Elite. The main difference seemed to be the space for 2 more racks.  So I called Masterbuilt to see about...
  11. freakynorm

    Anyone ever use the add-on rack kit for the MES 30?

    I saw this at Cabelas and had a $20 gift card so I ordered it. I haven't received it yet, but I still can't figure out how it works since there are only 4 slider parts to stick the existing racks in...
  12. freakynorm

    First time making casingless ground beef sticks w /qview

    Ok so I got a LEM Jerky Cannon for xmas so I could make some tasty snacking sticks. I also got a nice vacuum sealer unit so I can preserve what I make. I picked up 15lbs of 93/7 ground beef and picked up a bunch of various jerky seasoning kits from Cabellas on sale. I decided to go with the...
  13. freakynorm

    Question on casingless ground beef snack tips

    I bought a bunch of jerky cures from Cabellas and want to make some ground beef snack sticks. I do not want to use casings, mainly because I am cheap and lazy. I do have a Lem Jerky Cannon, MES30, and a AMNPS. I am going to try the Cabellas brand teriyaki jerky mix. It comes with 3 sets of...
  14. freakynorm

    First time salmon jerky in progress w/Qview.

    I am not a fan of salmon. I do not like it at all. I've tried it every which way possible too. I am more of a whitefish type of guy. Give me halibut, flounder, sole, etc any day. However the wife loves salmon and she's always looking for a quick snack before dinner when she works out. So I...
  15. freakynorm

    Looking to get an electric smoker for cold smoking

    I already have a homemade UDS I use for hot smoking but have wanted to get an electric smoker for cold smoking and making jerky and smoked fish, etc. I am looking for something easy, no mussing and fussing, something that does't require a bunch of mods to get it up to snuff, something that can...
  16. freakynorm

    Butts N Cake w/QVIEW of course!

    My wife's union at work hired me to do pulled pork for their annual picnic. She had brought them in samples of my previous batches and they were all pleased with them. So I picked up 40lbs of bone-in pork shoulder from Costco to complete their order. I do a basic rub on the butts then start the...
  17. freakynorm

    Beef Tongue, Salmon Teriyaki and Pineapple Bacon Sausage w/Qview!

    A friend from work and I have a mutual friend who is a dairy farmer. She lives near his place and often helps with the cows. She told me they were planning to slaughter 3 cows over the weekend. I asked if they had any leftovers I could get for the smoker. She said they were Jersey dairy cows and...
  18. freakynorm

    Has anyone ever used crock pot pan liners in their smoker?

    I love cooking beans and spiral hams in the smoker. I use a few stainless steel pans I bought from a restaurant supply store. They're sturdy and the smoke residue cleans off fairly easily but the insides can be a pain to clean. Especially with the baked beans. I was thinking of using...
  19. freakynorm

    2 Pork butts and a twice smoked spiral ham with Q/view

    I was really craving some pulled pork again. I made some a few weeks ago and it provided me with lunch all week and now I wanted more. Whenever I would heat it up though, people would start roaming over to my desk like stray cats around the farmer and his bucket of milk. So the aroma inspired...
  20. freakynorm

    First time doing boneless pork shoulder for pulled pork with Q/View

    I normally do the bone-in butts but someone had mixed up the batch of boneless and bone-in at the business center Costco and I was in a hurry and grabbed a two-pack of boneless weighing in at 16lbs. I didn't notice it until I got home. I was a little concerned since the meat is sort of...
Clicky