I just joined the site here, though I must admit I have been here and looked around before. my name is chip, I live in Mandan ND, I have been making sausage for the better part of 30 years. started with my parents and neighbors growing up, then kept perfecting it when I got married and started my own family. over the years I have accrued a lot of knowledge on the subject of meat and curing of meat. some the easy way, by learning from someone that knew what they were doing. but mostly by making my own mistakes, then having to eat a whole bunch of not so perfect sausage, cuse you cant waste it ya know. the last 10 years I have been working on my smoking skills. I built an electric smoker from my inlaws old GE fridge and an old electric stove. then started my education in the fine art of meat smoking. a few of my favorites are my summer sausages, deer bacon, dry box cured bacon, and pepper stix. I am now in the planning stages of building a replacement smoker, the old fridge is on its last leg and ready to retire. I see there is a wealth of knowledge here I hope to add to that, and gain some along the way.