I realized that we were out of cheese smokies about a week ago and had to rectify the situation.So with a bit of a break in the cold weather we've been having for the last few weeks, I decided to pull out a few pork shoulders and try my new Weston #8 grinder. I left these in the fridge overnight with the hopes that they'd be a tad more thawed out than they were. In case you were wondering, cutting partially frozen meat is a pleasure. Cutting mostly frozen meat this size is not. It took a bit of extra work, but I got it done.
The shoulders combined came out to 6.35kg in total and have been frozen since I got them.
After a bit of grunting and groaning they were cubed up. There wasn't much for the soft fats on these so there wasn't much weight loss overall.
I gave all the grinder parts a wash in hot soapy water, then into the freezer while I went and picked up the cheese I needed for the smokies. Also grabbed a few things for the Beef Bourguignon my 12 y/o decided to make as part of his French homework.
It took me just under 7 minutes to grind everything up. It's a challenge keeping up with my 1/3rd hp #5. This #8 is a fair amount more challenging to keep up with. I had to use two hands to load the hopper just to keep up. I don't know how you guys do it with a #12.
My son and I cut up the cheese and put it on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper then into the freezer. This helps keep the processed cheese together so you get more even distribution of cheese chunks throughout. If you don't freeze it, the processed slices come apart. No picture of the cheese on the sheet, but here it is all mixed up with spices, cheese and all. It's going into the fridge overnight and will be stuffed into 29-32 hog casings in the morning.
This was mixed in the big bin until it was trying to pull my gloves off. That cold meat sure makes your hands ache. It was a work out to boot. Talk about a sticky mass o' pork. I really like the fat studded throughout. Now that I can keep my temps down in the Bradley with the pellet tray, they should still be there after all is said and done. I can't wait to try these over a camp fire!
Mixing in the cheese.
Mixed, covered, and into the fridge for the night.
More pics to follow as I progress through these. Thanks for reading.
Neil
The shoulders combined came out to 6.35kg in total and have been frozen since I got them.
After a bit of grunting and groaning they were cubed up. There wasn't much for the soft fats on these so there wasn't much weight loss overall.
I gave all the grinder parts a wash in hot soapy water, then into the freezer while I went and picked up the cheese I needed for the smokies. Also grabbed a few things for the Beef Bourguignon my 12 y/o decided to make as part of his French homework.
It took me just under 7 minutes to grind everything up. It's a challenge keeping up with my 1/3rd hp #5. This #8 is a fair amount more challenging to keep up with. I had to use two hands to load the hopper just to keep up. I don't know how you guys do it with a #12.
My son and I cut up the cheese and put it on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper then into the freezer. This helps keep the processed cheese together so you get more even distribution of cheese chunks throughout. If you don't freeze it, the processed slices come apart. No picture of the cheese on the sheet, but here it is all mixed up with spices, cheese and all. It's going into the fridge overnight and will be stuffed into 29-32 hog casings in the morning.
This was mixed in the big bin until it was trying to pull my gloves off. That cold meat sure makes your hands ache. It was a work out to boot. Talk about a sticky mass o' pork. I really like the fat studded throughout. Now that I can keep my temps down in the Bradley with the pellet tray, they should still be there after all is said and done. I can't wait to try these over a camp fire!
Mixing in the cheese.
Mixed, covered, and into the fridge for the night.
More pics to follow as I progress through these. Thanks for reading.
Neil
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