new member, brandx here

[brandx]

My first job ever was in a Polish delicatessen in NJ when I was 16. I'm amazed I can remenber that far back! They smoked their own hams, kielbasa, and several other dilicasies. For the week prior to Easter they sold an average of 2000 lbs. of kielbasa alone. Thats alot of hickory! That was my first exposure to the art of smoking. If I knew that almost 35 years later I would rekindle my interest in the art I probably would have paid more attention way back then. Then about 5 years ago someone opened a little sausage making and meat smoking supply business right in the next town over. The first time I walked into The Sausage Source I got the bug. Now I smoke and make sausage and jerky every chance I can. I made a temperature controlled smoker out of an old stainless steel double door reach in, but after a year I realized it was way to big for my needs so this past Xmas I got one of those LP gas smokers but aside from seasoning it, I haven't had a chance to try anything in it yet. Soon,,, soon. Now for all you purists who call this type of smoking the lazy mans way of smoking I would just like to say, I'd like nothing more that to be able to spend 10 or 12 hours on one meal. Problem is is that I don't forsee that happening for quite a few more years yet. I wish I had a hobby that can pay the bills.

 

[Dutch]

Hi brandx, thanks for stopping by Roll Call. I learned about smoking meats when my dad started his meat processing company (I was 16 too). When he bought the building, he also bought the contract of the guy that ran the smokehouse for the previous owner. Dad thought it would be good for us boys to learn his trade as a butcher/meatcutter AND learn how to cure and smoke meats. We started with one smokehouse- 8' tall X 4' wide X 5' deep. We could do 18 hams or 48 bacon at a time. We bought a second smoker that had pretty close to the capsity of the first one which doubled our output. Both units were gas fired and we used a mix of apple and cherry for the smoke.


When I started back to smoking meats I used a charcoal ECB that that my sister gave to me and I have since moved up to a GOSM widebody so now I'm back to using gas. I am working on plans for a stickburner; now all I need to do is buy my materials and learn how to weld :mrgreen: My son has offered to weld it up for me but this is something that I want/need to do.