I've been wanting to start a thread on smoking and curing, recipes, tips etc...

We butcher, and make our own bologna, sausage etc...

i rarely ever buy pre packaged mixes, and use mostly homemade recipes etc...

Years ago i made a smoker from an old refrigerator i had gutted, that served the purpose for a number of years.

I always used a hotplate and chips, but was never quite satisfied with the results.

I could never seem to get that good uniform controlled temp inside the smoker.

recently we upgraded our gas range in the kitchen, and i set about making a smoker out of the old one.

I gutted the gas lines, removed the top burner etc...I used the steel plate that covers the gas line on the bottom of the oven, drilled holes in it to spread the smoke out evenly, cut a hole big enough to run a 6" stove pipe in the bottom of the oven, then placed the steel plate which is bent so that it sits up off the bottom of the oven over top of the stove pipe. I then made a foundation for the stove and raised it approx 2' off the ground.

I dug a shallow hole approx 10' from the smoker and made a firebox from some red brick.

stovepipe out the back of the firebox slopes up to bottom of smoker.

WORKS GREAT!....much easier to control temp within the smoker, nice working height, oven door makes it very easy to load racks with meat etc....racks can easily be raised and lowered etc..i eventually want to screw steel roofing on the sides and put a roof over it, just haven't had time.

I was going to install a vent pipe to help control smoke, but discovered i got a nice continuous flow of smoke by simply using the vents the stove already has. Time and a little more experimenting, if i need one i'll put one out the top.

i control my temp with my fire, starting small, then add to it to increase temp etc...

I just took out a batch of venison bacon, which we really like.

I call it venison bacon but in reality, it tastes just like smoked sausage which is the way we prefer it because it can be used in so many ways from sandwiches, fried with potatoes or eaten with eggs for breakfast.

It can be made very easily, sliced and frozen and lays very flat in the freezer which aids in storage space.

per 10lb batch...

7 lbs ground venison 3/16" plate

3 1bs fatty pork

2c powdered milk

2 c water 1/2c brown sugar

1/2 cup immitation maple syrup 1TBL liquid smoke 2 TBL paprika 6 TBL salt 2 1/2 tsp of pink cure...(i use tender quick)

grind your meat, i grind mine partially frozen.

then blend your mix together, water etc...mix it all in with your meat, mixing well.

regrind

Then line a shallow aluminum cake pan with wax paper, pack your meat in it approx 1 1/2" to 2" thick...cover with wax paper, and let sit in the fridge over night to firm up.

next day turn your pan upside down and remove meat, it should be in the form of a cake.

place on rack in smoker and smoke.

You can smoke yours by starting out cool and keep raising smoker temp till your meat reaches an internal temp of 145 to 150 degrees.

I prefer to cold smoke mine for 4 hrs then put in the oven at 195- 200 degrees till the internal temp is reached. that gives us the flavor we prefer.

You want to have your meat up on a rack not flat on a pan, because liquid will form on the bottom.

place in the fridge overnight, next day take your cake out and slice it in a slicer.

really easy...very good, it'll make you have second thoughts about eating tag soup.

Sounds great, after what I had to pay this year for smoked venison I'm about ready for DIY. Some processors used the CWD "surveillance" to tack on a "processing fee" when the hunters had to bone the meat out in those areas before bringing it in anyway. In some cases, it equaled what I've paid to get a whole deer processed in years past. Let's just say I saw beef summer sausage for comparable prices in the grocery store and I didn't have to provide the cow! Can the stove handle all you want to do at one time or is the best of both worlds similar "stove mods" done on a refrigerator-sized one?

That sounds good.

It is big enough for what i need, i easily smoked 20 lbs of venison bacon which was 2 cakes.

I really like this method because it requires no casings,once sliced it lays very flat in freezer bags, and is useful in so many different ways.

I can vary, salt and smoke per taste, but the above recipe gives us the flavor we like.

As far as smoking, i find a nice constant flow of smoke gives the best taste, i like to keep plenty of smoke, but constant fresh smoke...monitoring and maintaining your temps, and maintaining that smoke flow is half the battle.

this recipe is fully cooked can be eaten cold but should be refrigerated. I'm sure most know that...but thought i better mention it.

sounds very good to me. i hate having to buy any store pre mixes for seasoning. i have been wanting to make some venison summer. i tried the venison bacon with mixed results. just trying to weed out the store bought recipes. looking at maybe trying a decent bologna. you sound like an independent type guy too. i have made a lot of smokers as well, repurposing things. why buy something you can make or modify. have grinder and willing to stuff!

Buddy of mine made venison bacon like that, was real good!

You got it, good eating

'weedwall' haha

We did much the same for years in an old steel refrigerator. Hundreds and hundreds of salmon came out of that thing. Your new set up sounds great.

I keep experimenting. Home made spices etc. This was my attempt to make something like lebanon Bologna but it came out more like summer sausage. Sliced like lunch meat it is still really good on a kaiser roll with swiss cheese. I have a propane smoker I load a metal box filled with chips into, but it has been acting up and giving me soot so I may rip out the guts and just use charcoal sometime in the future.

A meat slicer isn't necessary, but sure is a good investment for the home butcher.

I've made bacon with pork bellies and the slicer is the ticket.

What type of wood do you use?

nrthernrebel05.

Any hardwood would work, but i usually use Hickory or maple simply because i have a lot of that around. I use dry wood chunks, and i do not dampen the wood.

As i mentioned we like the above recipe because it can be used in so many different ways as a smoked sausage recipe.

fried as is for breakfast, its good cold in sandwiches, tear it up in little pieces, and cream it and serve over scrambled eggs. good fried with potatoes. or like we had for supper tonight...

boil some potatoes till not quite done, then cut in chunks, make a package of frozen corn.

Put some butter in a skillet and add pieces of venison bacon, fry it a bit ,then sprinkle in flour and stir it in over high heat (we have a wood cookstove in our kitchen and use a cast iron skillet) using a wire whip, pour in some milk stirring constantly until it thickens, add potatoes, corn (or green beans) and mix it all together, cover and simmer.

A wood cookstove works really well because you can move the pan around on the surface of stove to regulate heat. directly over rear of firebox is the hottest, and farther away works great for simmering. Ours has a warming shelf which is a good place to keep food warm, have your plates warming etc.... we rarely use our gas range,except during warmer months. the cookstove gets fired up in the fall, and stays going till spring. I laid a brick face behind it, and it sits on a slate hearth.

good stuff.

lots of ways to use venison.

Looks delicious Steve and thanks for sharing the recipe!

If you use Prague #1, would you cure for longer period? I think the Prague is saltier and takes longer to cure.

One of my current favorites is evoking the front shoulder with a dry rub on it and then putting it in Dutch oven with some coke in there to further break down and soften moisturize meat. Then pull it apart and bag it.

Use ut in Philly sandwiches , fajitas , pho etc.

Also added it back to a stew and was very good at a gathering

Also like using neck meat , shanks for brats

good looking eats. what do you put in your brats for seasoning

I’ve just used the brats pack that sportsmen warehouse sells

Might have to try my own mix.

Venison pastrami is a great thing to try in the smoker. Follow a corned beef recipe for the brine, lots out there, and then apply the rub. If you're not squeamish try using tounge. Seasoning penatrate deep into that little bit of meat and it comes out very spicy. Great with cheese and crackers.

Take a venison top or bottom round slice it cross the grain 3/8 thick. In a gallon Ziploc add 2 cups water, 1/3 cup Morton's tender quick, 1 cup dark brown sugar & 2 tablespoons ground black pepper and add sliced meat. Leave this in the fridge for a few days turning occasionally. Cook in iron skillet with bacon grease and don't overcook. This is as good a breakfast ham as you'll ever eat.

timex..yep works good don't it.

haven't done that lately but good stuff.

I was thinking two4hooking, posted a picture of canned broth? can't find it maybe another thread.

Anyway we also cook down the bones and save the broth and meat,either by canning or freezing in containers.

I was raised old order church of the brethren (Dunkard) here in PA, so this was a regular PA dutch meal growing up.

Pot pie., not the type with pie crust.

take your broth, dice some potatoes and bring to a boil. When potatoes are soft take 1C flour, 1 egg, 1/4 C milk.

mix it in a ball, sprinkle some flour on your countertop, flatten out your dough, sprinkle some flour on it and roll it out like pie dough, then cut in strips and add a piece at a time to your broth, stirring while you do it, scrape up your flour on the counter and add this also, your broth will thicken.

add your favorite soup spices, we use a garlic herb mix.

And just like that...pot pie

that's whats for Sun dinner here. (we call lunch dinner...and evening meal supper)

like i said before..LOTS of ways to use venison.

Trying something new. Took two yearling doe hams. Deboned and removed gland-artery but otherwise left intact tied back closed with butchers twine then coated one with salt-brown sugar and coated the other with salt-black pepper then wrapped with cheese cloth and hung them in my deer cooler. Going to smoke them for Xmas dinner.

Thanks all for sharing...

Thanks guys. Now I've got to go out and buy a basket of saussage to eat! I wont be able to stop thinking about it now!

X2 Dan. AKA box call. JF

I'm fortunate to have been taught many things that are slowly disappearing or abandoned for an easier more convenient way.

I take many of those things for granted.

lets face it, it is far easier to go to the store and buy your meats, than to procure your own, butcher your own, and cure or preserve your own.

If the groundhogs or deer get in the garden and destroy it today, we grumble about it, then just buy what we need in the store instead.

There was a time when if that happened, it would be a VERY big deal.

Today many hunt for enjoyment, for pleasure, and a unfilled tag is no big deal.

But again there was a time it would have been a VERY big deal.

Today if something spoils, we just throw it out.. Again in the past you HAD to know how to cure and preserve because you couldn't afford to waste it.

Although we live just like anyone else around here in a way we are also vastly different.

yesterday?...homemade bacon, and eggs from our own chickens for breakfast.

sandwiches from my own venison balogna in my lunch box.

leftovers for supper....stir fry made with our own vegtables, and cut up deer steak. And meatballs from ground venison., mashed potatoes from our own potatoes.

heated on a wood cookstove.

that is very, VERY common here, in fact normal.

I'm not knocking those that choose not to live like that. I only offer advice to those that want to learn or maybe live a little simpler.

If you have romantic notions about living simple, let me say it's not all its made out to be, and you don't see behind the scenes in the youtube videos.

When you have to get a deer butchered in the evening, but have to get up for work in the morning.

and a garden? big enough to supply your vegetables all year till your next harvest?...lots of work.

cutting wood, curing, canning, etc...And you have to have the place to do it, store it etc..

We are used to it, always been that way, ever since i was young.

just a different way of life.

That's the way I make it Steve

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