smoking meat for storage

[charlieh]

hello to everyone i am a new member here and i have a question.when i was a small boy my father would smoke meat in the old smoke house i have long forgotten how he did this.
would someone please tell me how to get started with this again.
i know i need wood ,meat ,and a place to smoke the meat.what i do not know is how long i need to do this.and at what temp do i maintain.
from charlie hill in the philippines

 

[homebrew & bbq]

Welcome to SMF, Charlie! There are two kinds of smoking... hot smoking and cold smoking. Hot smoking cooks the food. Cold smoking doesn't cook the food.

If I understand correctly, a smokehouse is cold smoking and it isn't the smoke that preserves the meat. There is a process used on the meat before it is smoked called curing. It's done by applying certain chemicals to the meat.

There are quite a few folks around here who cure their own meat and I'm sure one of them will be along before long.

When you get a chance, head over to the "Roll Call" forum. That's the place to introduce yourself to folks so they can say "Hi". It also helps you get good advice if you let us know what kind of equipment you have.

 

[smokeys my pet]

Welcome to smf.

 

[richtee]

Hey Charlie! As the others have said, go to the roll Call form and fill us in on your background, likes/dislikes, taste in beers, hat size....etc. Heh!

Anyway, curing is a whole world of meat processing unto itself. The deal usually goes:
1. The meat is prepped, trimmed, etc.
2. It either goes into a brine, or is dry rubbed with flavorings/spices, and a curing compound that includes nitrates.
3. Said meat is aged for the cure to do it's work. This can be from 24 hours for jerky to 24 DAYS or more for a ham.
4. After cure completion, the product can be either cold or hot smoked. Cold smoking is usually done over long periods...days...at low temps... 100° or less. Hot smoking is done over hours, and at temps usually above 200°.

See this post for info...and than ask more Q's!

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...25085#poststop