Hello all
So, my experimentation with curing / smoking continues. I'm trying a lot of different things, so I'm doing my best to document everything just in case I get something right. I thought I would take a minute to share what I'm doing, to see if a) it might be helpful to anyone, and b) anyone might have suggestions on how I could improve on it.
I've set up a spreadsheet to track the different recipes, I used a pdf file from here as the base template (I think it's one that Pops uses?) and tweaked it quite a bit for my own use. I've changed it fairly substantially, so I don't think I'm breaking any copyrights, but I'll be happy to hand it over to this forum and/or add a copyright from here if there is an issue. Everything I've learned has come from here anyway, so I don't have a problem with you taking ownership.
I'm going to try to attach it here in case someone else could find it useful, not sure if this will work. Again, I hope it's OK to do this, if not maybe a moderator or admin will either remove it or let me know and I'll take it down.
Anyway, here is my process. First, I set up a new folder on my computer for each recipe, starting with the date and then the basics of what I'm trying to do. For example, I just tried some Canadian bacon using Pop's cure, so I set up a folder called '2013_10_CBacon_Pops_brine'. I use the date first so that they sort in chronological order, as I'm hoping that after I do this for a few years I'll get better at it, and I want to see how I progress over time.
Then I put a copy of this spreadsheet log file in the folder and re-name it using the same name, and also add the original recipe and any photos to the folder. I take as many notes and track everything as well as I can, as I want to have as much information as possible for when I really mess something up, or happen to get something right. Having the original recipe and where I got if from, as well as the photos, is proving to be very helpful.
This is especially true on the items that have some time curing, as it's weeks from the time I start until I actually taste it. On top of that I'm trying a bunch of different things at the same time, and I'm finding it's easy to get confused on when I started something and what I did from the beginning. The log file is coming in very handy, as I can look in the fridge and refer back to the log to see when I started, what I've done so far and when it's going to be ready to finish.
I love to cook, my favorite things to do are the large meals we eat on Sundays or for holidays. I'm always tweaking things just a bit, and I'm not real good about always measuring things out or keeping track of what I did. It's not unusual after a meal for my wife to say 'That was (good / not good / don't ever do it that way again), you should write that down', and I'll say 'Yeah, but I'm not really sure what I did'. So I'm using this as an excuse to keep better track of everything, not just the smoked meals.
Any comments / suggestions will be greatly appreciated, thanks for looking!
So, my experimentation with curing / smoking continues. I'm trying a lot of different things, so I'm doing my best to document everything just in case I get something right. I thought I would take a minute to share what I'm doing, to see if a) it might be helpful to anyone, and b) anyone might have suggestions on how I could improve on it.
I've set up a spreadsheet to track the different recipes, I used a pdf file from here as the base template (I think it's one that Pops uses?) and tweaked it quite a bit for my own use. I've changed it fairly substantially, so I don't think I'm breaking any copyrights, but I'll be happy to hand it over to this forum and/or add a copyright from here if there is an issue. Everything I've learned has come from here anyway, so I don't have a problem with you taking ownership.
I'm going to try to attach it here in case someone else could find it useful, not sure if this will work. Again, I hope it's OK to do this, if not maybe a moderator or admin will either remove it or let me know and I'll take it down.
Anyway, here is my process. First, I set up a new folder on my computer for each recipe, starting with the date and then the basics of what I'm trying to do. For example, I just tried some Canadian bacon using Pop's cure, so I set up a folder called '2013_10_CBacon_Pops_brine'. I use the date first so that they sort in chronological order, as I'm hoping that after I do this for a few years I'll get better at it, and I want to see how I progress over time.
Then I put a copy of this spreadsheet log file in the folder and re-name it using the same name, and also add the original recipe and any photos to the folder. I take as many notes and track everything as well as I can, as I want to have as much information as possible for when I really mess something up, or happen to get something right. Having the original recipe and where I got if from, as well as the photos, is proving to be very helpful.
This is especially true on the items that have some time curing, as it's weeks from the time I start until I actually taste it. On top of that I'm trying a bunch of different things at the same time, and I'm finding it's easy to get confused on when I started something and what I did from the beginning. The log file is coming in very handy, as I can look in the fridge and refer back to the log to see when I started, what I've done so far and when it's going to be ready to finish.
I love to cook, my favorite things to do are the large meals we eat on Sundays or for holidays. I'm always tweaking things just a bit, and I'm not real good about always measuring things out or keeping track of what I did. It's not unusual after a meal for my wife to say 'That was (good / not good / don't ever do it that way again), you should write that down', and I'll say 'Yeah, but I'm not really sure what I did'. So I'm using this as an excuse to keep better track of everything, not just the smoked meals.
Any comments / suggestions will be greatly appreciated, thanks for looking!
