Fire Ban Smoking Salmon

It is July 8, 2017 and the Yavapai County fire ban is still in effect, so NO BBQ, but the smoker is legal. 
A quick trip to the store for a couple of nice fillets of salmon. Salmon from Chile that was farmed raised with the skin still on. Perfect.
The fillets are too long for the smoker and needed to be cut in two. A quick rinse to get some scales off of the meat and onto the racks with cookie sheets underneath. I let salmon set on the counter to let the pellicle (dry a little on the surface). In northern Arizona our humidity is low so 30 minute to an hours is great. Letting the surface pellicle helps keep the meat moist during the smoke.

I put 2 full wood chip trays with apple wood chips. I put the salmon in, then set the temperature to 220*F and set the time to 4 hours. This was at 3:00 PM. It was hot and sunny with a slight chance for rain. I got a sheet metal panel out of the garage to cover the smoker to protect the digital.LED control from the heat of the sun.

Of coarse, an hour later I hear thunder on Mingus Mountain and wind picking up. Monsoon storms in Arizona can be very strong and violent. This was a mild one with .18 inches of rain in 20 minutes with 14 mph winds..I had to quickly bring the smoker into the garage until the storm passed. 

I did not add any more wood chips during the smoke, but the 2 trays I put in at the start were plenty for salmon.

The second wave of the storm was just rain and a slight breeze for a few minutes. Now my garage is full of smoke. I opened all three vehicle doors and the side walk through door to get the smoke out after the storms.

I pulled the salmon at 2 hours 45 minutes. It was lightly browned and was easily removed from the skin. The meat was very moist, flaky and tender. I flipped the fillets over on the plate and lifted the skins off. See how clean the skin came off. 

Smoker 4-16-17 Easter (I got called out and have been working 12-15 hrs. on and 9 off this week, so this post was delayed).

My wife found a beef ribeye roast on 63% off sale for $35. She found a family pack of chicken thighs, boneless pork ribs (odd ribs without rib bones), portobello mushrooms and russet potatoes.

The ribeye roast is going to take the longest so I will be pulling some items and adding the mushrooms during the smoke. The mushrooms only take an hour at 225*F.

If you’re in a hurry you can apply BBQ sause using a Ziploc bag. I tried doing rubs in a bag years ago and they don’t go on evenly. I never tried a bread crumb mix to make it even like Shake-N-Bake for the smoker.

I did do a Green Chili and Black Olive Meat Loaf in a smoker that came out excellent. I used a bread pan and did it just like you do it in an oven.

Today is Easter at 8:00 AM. I put the roast, pork, chicken and potatoes in with no preheat. No water in smoker and vent open. I set the temperature at 225* and set the time for over 6 hours. I put 2 ½ trays of cherry wood chips.

At 9:00 I put in another tray of cherry wood chips.

At 4 hours I pulled the pork and chicken. This was at 12:00 noon.

 On longer smoking I will take out the wood chips bayonet for a couple minutes to let the charred chips to turn into ash. This was also at 12:00 noon. Then I added another tray and one half of cherry wood chips.

I forgot to pull the potatoes until 2:00 PM. They got overdone and were drying out. I put the mushrooms in at 1:00 PM and that was when I was going to pull them. Oooops!!!!

I pulled the portobello mushrooms at 2:00 PM when I also pulled the dry potatoes and the amazing beef ribeye roast.

It tastes better than it looks with a little crisp on the outside, juicy, tender and smoked infused clear through on the inside.

 The internal temperature was 156*F and it came out pink after resting for 10 minutes. This was pulled at 2:00 at 6 hours of smoking at 225*F. The cord type meat thermometer makes doing roasts so easy. If I had wanted a little red I would have pulled it at an internal temperature of 140*F and well at 165*F.

GOD BLESS AMERICA – THE HOME OF THE FREE!!!

We have the freedom to celebrate Easter the way we want to, and our neighbors, friends are free to worship the way they want to. We choose the rules that we commonly live by through the right to vote if you’re a citizen. We have the right to own firearms and use them for sporting or home defense. I can make my Blog the way I want it to be. What a great country the USA is. 

My wife is amazing. She made me breakfast from the smoked potatoes that were overdone. She made “papas rellenos” (egg battered fried potatoes) served with sour cream and medium hot sauce. She sliced the potatoes so they would re-hydrate which worked perfect. Smoke infused, tangy, tender and rich flavored breakfast. 

When I asked my wife what type of celebration she wanted for her 50^th Birthday; she said it had to be with close family and friends. Oh yea, everyone’s favorites smoked meats. We found country pork ribs and skinless/boneless chicken thigh-drums. Sides are spiral mac salad with pepperoni and sausage, and from scratch green/red coleslaw.

She decided to try Heinz Carolina Vinegar Style Tangy BBQ Sauce. It does NOT have HFC and is 100% natural. I did the bag mix method to speed up getting the meat covered evenly with sauce.

I am using apple wood chips for today’s smoke because it adds a sweet light flavor to chicken and pork.

The smoker filled and ready. The guests are arriving at 11:30 am so I started the smoker at 7:00 am with 3 scoops of apple wood chips and the temperature set at 200*F. I just set the time to 6 hours because I know the smoke won’t take that long, but I don’t want the smoker to shut off too early. I left the water pan empty and the air vent on top 3/4s closed. Having it cracked open a little allows for the smoke to draft up past the meat.

After 1 hour I added another tray of apple wood chips. Remember that an electric smoker can trap all the smoke so you don’t have to go heavy with the chips. Electric smokers don’t have the burned propane taste of gas smokers.

At 9:00 am I closed the air vent to hold in the moisture because the meat is not thick. This method does not allow bark to form on the meat so every bite is all completely tender.

I pulled everything at 11:15 am. As you can see, the sugar in the BBQ sauce glazes on the surface of the meat at 200*F. It takes 225*F if you are using a non-sugar base sauce or rub. The picture was taken after everyone filled their plates. I served in an electric roaster set on the lowest setting to keep the meat warm.

My wife is still smoking hot 31 years after she married me. She definitely does not look 50 years old. I baked the 4 double vanilla cakes with chocolate cream cheese frosting.

Smoked Javelina and Cheese Sausage 2017

NOTE: Heat the following ingredients in a sauce pan, and cool while de-boning and grinding the meat.

¼ Cup - Sea Salt Ground

¼ Cup - Black Pepper Ground

½ Cup - Onion Powder

1 Tablespoon - Cayenne Powder

2 Tablespoons - Paprika Powder

1 Cup - Brown Sugar

1 1/8 Cup - Liquid from Vlasic Farmers Garden Kosher Dill Pickles (I did a test burger and think it may be a bit too much pickle – maybe ½ mixed with water to = 1 cup)

1 Cup - Liquid from Delallo Mild Salad Peppers

1/3 Cup - Fresh Minced Garlic (1 Head)

Mix cooled mixure with - 16 Lbs. Fresh Fine Ground Javelina Meat (1 pig minus Steaks) Mixing in metal is fine.

Store in refrigerator in glass or porcelain bowl covered for 1 to 4 days.

Note: The salt and the sugar are the cure so NO nitrites or nitrates are needed. If you use less sugar, you will need more salt. For diabetics, honey works but gives it a different taste. Sugar substitutes are NOT to be used. Molasses or maple sausage has less salt and is used in addition to the sugar and are sweet flavored. 

______________________

Soak or prep your casings while getting the smoker ready. I use LEM Fibrous Casings – 1 ½” to 2 ½” around, clear or mahogany.

2 Pounds - Grated Cheese (Mixed In Just Before Stuffing Casings) 2:15 lbs. ratio. I used cheddar this time.

I use a 5 pound LEM sausage stuffer. It works best with 2 people. I bought a spool of cotton kitchen string to tie the ends with a square knot.

I laid all the sausages on the shelves with small holes poked with a pointy knife on the top every 10”. I put 2 ½ trays of apple wood chips in my Masterbuilt 30” Electric Digital Smoker set it at 150*F.

At one hour I put another tray of apple wood chips. If you use mesquite, hickory or pecan that have a stronger smoke you may want to use less.

At 3 hours I raised the temperature to 162*F.

Pulled Sausage at 4 ½ hours with and internal temperature of 161*F. The cheese melted into the meat, but the flavor of the cheese was still there. The too much pickle taste on the test burgers went away after letting the spices blend for three days before smoking.

I’ve been neglecting my blog because I have been working too much. I did not post 3 Deer, a Black Bear, an Elk, Turkey and a couple Javelina.

Javelina are native to Arizona. They are a “New World Pig” Peccary - Tayassuidae. They are NOT in the Rodent Family. They are NOT Feral Swine from Europe or Africa, although they are distant relatives. Javelina have very sharp straight tusks and bristly hair. This is a sow at about 45 pounds. They eat starchy roots, cactus, berries, mushrooms and grains as their regular diet, but they can survive on grass, leaves and bark. They have a scent gland on their lower back. DO Not Get The Musk On The Meat. I hang them from a rear leg, sock skin them from the hind end with nitrile gloves and then gut them.

16 pounds of ground Javelina. The sirloins, tenderloins and chops are tender and not included. I eat Deer, Pronghorn and Elk liver but not Javelina and Bear. I know Bear is too high in vitamin A and the Javelina liver is dark like the Bear liver.

Fresh garlic is the trick to making the best sausage, but it will need to minced very extra fine to blend it’s flavor into every bite.

Sausage seasonings after heating in a sauce pan for ½ hour.

Stuffing the 1 ½ inch x 12 “ clear LEM casings.

Masterbuilt 30” digital electric smoker ready to start. I poked small holes every 10 inches on top to let excess pressure out.

Sausage after smoking for 4 ½ hours with apple wood chips. I use Alder, Apple, Pecan, Gamble Oak, Scrub Oak, Mesquite, Pecan, Almond, Peach, Apricot, Cherry and Hickory.

Tastes fantastic.

I bought a new Eberlestock pack in 2015. It is a Mainframe (F1 Dry Earth) with a Super Spike Duffle (J3SD Rock Veil Open Hide) zipped on. I use it for packing out 2^nd and additional loads on Elk, Deer and Bear, but as a primary pack for Turkey, Javelina and other one-time pack-out hunts This pack has done 2 Deer, an Elk, a Turkey and 2 Javelina. Turkey decoys fit in the duffle very easily, and it saves time on 2^nd loads because you don’t need 30 lbs. of optics and gear to get the meat.

Making smoked Javelina Sausage

Javelina - new world pig Tayassuidae 01/13/14 Archery Hunt Arizona

After well over 100 miles of backpacking and 13 days of archery hunting, I was able to call a herd of Javelina out of the 4 feet tall catclaw brush thickets with an old walnut Lohman mouth call.

Gear – PSE Pro-Series Diablo bow, Carbon Express Maxima Hunter 350 arrows, NAP Nitron 100 gr. broadheads, T.R.U. Ball release, Leica Ultravid 10X42 binoculars, Eberlestock Dragonfly 2900 CI to 7900 CI Rock Veil pack and Natural Gear camouflage clothes.

Javelina have poor eye sight and will come in close. They may be deep voice huffing and snapping their teeth as they come in. Be careful that you don’t get attacked. If they think they are trapped or cornered they will attack. They have a better sense of smell than a whitetail deer and have good hearing.

  

Watch out for cactus needles in the fur. Javelina eat cactus. Wearing nitrile gloves, sock skin the Javelina as soon as you have tagged and taken pictures of your pig. Do not touch the fir and then the meat. The musk on the fir will ruin the meat. (See last year’s post)  After skinning to the head and front feet, remove gloves and change knives. Now you gut, remove head and front hooves. 

As you can see the meat is all removed from the bone. Keep an eye out for agave needles, broadheads, pellets, buck shot and bullets in the meat. This pig was shot before by two different hunters and healed up completely from both. Trophy Elk are almost all packing broadheads or bullets. My friend’s bull Elk 11/13 was healing up from a bullet cut below the breast bone from a few weeks before.  

Save the tenderloins, chops and sirloins. The rest of the meat is tough on mature Javelina. I usually grind it as I do on trophy Elk, Coues Whitetail Deer and Mule Deer. It can be smoked until tender like Beef Brisket. This year’s Javelina was about 50 pounds on the hoof and was several years old. I got over 13 pounds of meat for grinding.

I use a Hamilton Beach coffee grinder that has a removal hopper to grind the sea salt and seed spices because it can be washed. I use the 4.5 mm grinding plate so the spices blend better.

Cure Recipe:

½ cup Italian Seasonings

¼ cup black pepper

¼ cup onion powder

¼ cup brown sugar

¼ cup sea salt (grind fine)

1 Tbsp. garlic

1 Tbsp. cayenne pepper (grind fine)

1 tsp. coriander (grind fine)

½ cup apple cider vinegar

½ cup water

Put all the cure ingredients in a sauce pan and heat over low until very warm. This rehydrates the spices quicker so you don’t have to wait as long to smoke the sausage. I let it set for at least an hour while I grind the meat and get the smoker out.

My Cabela’s Pro 500 watt grinder overheated and quit running while grinding Elk. My wife’s KitchenAid mixer adapter grinder was better. I bought the Cabela’s ¾ Horse Commercial Grinder on sale for $380. This grinder is a beast. It is quiet and does not bog down when feeding it as fast as I can. I put pieces 2” by 12” long and it pushed them through with no strain.

Mix the cure into 13+ pounds of meat very very well. This year’s Javelina had enough fat that I did not need any lard. I’m only talking 1% fat. 

I diced up ½ pound of provolone cheese and added it to the last 3 pounds of sausage meat. This is the 1^st time I have made sausage with cheese. We have been talking about trying it for years.

I let the mixed raw sausage sit in the bowl for over an hour in the refrigerator. I got the fibrous casings out and getting them soaked for over an hour.

I like the fibrous casings that are pre-tied with a loop on one end. They need to be crimped or tied on the other end after filling. Fibrous casing store longer than natural casings.

Filling the casings is a lot easier with 2 people. I have done it alone but it is a pain. The blood dripping into the bowl is coming out of the casing as it fills.

I put the sirloins, tenderloins and the remaining chops roast rubbed with a 50% each black pepper, cayenne powder, onion powder and garlic powder seasoning in the smoker also.

Make sure that there is air space between the sausages. I had extra space in the smoker so I put 4 large washed potatoes on the top rack.

I started the smoker at 150* F vent open with mesquite chips and added chips after an hour and at 3 hours.

At two hours I increased the temperature to 200* F

At 3 hours I pulled the steak roasts. They had an internal temperature of 140* F. They were cooked through and still juicy.

At 4 hours I pulled the potatoes. They passed the toothpick test, but were not quite done to texture. I should have let them go for an hour more. I was sidetracked boiling out the Javelina skull which was just finishing the first boiling and needed to be stripped for the second boiling. The refries are great this morning.

At 5 hours I pulled the sausage and hung it on a rod held by 2 old ‘70s camera tripods. I put a pan underneath and poked a hole in the bottom of the casings to drain the excess liquid. It makes a better slicing sausage if you drain them. 

 

The sausage came out awesome. We cut into the cheese mix log last night and it will be a regular ingredient from now on.

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Second Electric Smoke of 2013

I’ve been working a lot of overtime and have not had time to do a smoke for a while.

Now on 3/24/13 we went shopping and found salmon, pork butt, chicken thighs and hot Italian sausage on sale at Fry’s Foods (Kroger).

8.24 lbs. Pork Butt Roast – Smothered in Bill Johnson’s BBQ Sauce

4.75 lbs. Kroger Chicken Thighs – Smothered in Bill Johnson’s BBQ Sauce

2.46 lbs. and 2.30 lbs. Atlantic Salmon skin on fillets – no salt or seasoning

10 pack Hot Italian Sausage Denmark Foods from Phoenix, AZ   

I started the pre-heat at 4:00pm set at 225*F.

At 4:30 I put everything in, left the vent closed and added two trays of Cherry Wood Chips.

At 6:45 I pulled the Salmon and removed it from the skin. I forgot to salt the Salmon, but it came out fantastic. I guess Wild Salmon must have salt in the meat. The picture colors did not come out correctly it has pink meat.

At 7:30 I pulled the Chicken Thighs and Hot Sausage. The Pork Butt is at 140*F per the wireless probe.

At 9:30pm the Pork Butt had been 170*F for ½ hour. I pulled it and turned off the smoker.

 

 

Smoking Javelina Sausage

 

Javelina are 50-60 pound hooved animals that have a pigs nose. They are from the Tayassuidae family, or New World pigs. They are also known as Collared Peccary. Its stomach has three chambers. They eat prickly pear cacti (stickers, roots and all), tuberous roots, nuts, berries, and grains. They sport long sharp top and bottom canines that they use for protection. They will kill a big dog if attacked. They have poor eyesight like a bear, but have excellent hearing and smell.

They live in herds of 6 to 60. They will fight to the death to protect their young. They usually won’t attack unless provoked. People feeding wild Javelina often lead to fatal outcomes for the pigs.

As you can see in the picture they have no fat and are all tough muscle. Thus, save the chops and loins, and grind the rest.

!!!!!! Use nitrile gloves to sock skin the pig first. !!!!!! Then remove the gloves and gut the pig. !!!!!! Do not get the musk from the skin onto the meat. I do this on rutting elk and deer also.

My Recipe for Smoked Sausage Javelina

18 ¾ lbs. Meat - 2 Javelina ground using the 4.5mm plate (3/16^th)

½ cup Lard softened to liquid warm - Not Hot – drizzled over meat

1 ½ cups Evaporated Canned Milk (whole can) Bonding Agent

4 Tbs. Ground Sea Salt (non-iodized) Same Sodium as Boars Head

6 Tbs. Black Pepper Coarse Ground

5 Tbs. Granulated Onion

5 Tbs. Granulated Garlic

3 Tbs. Granulated Cayenne Pepper

3 Tbs. Coriander Seed Ground

1 Tbs. Mustard Dried Ground

1 Tbs. Fennel Seed Ground

-----------------------------------------------------

Mix spices and salt together. Sprinkle over fine ground meat in wide topped bowl. Pour canned milk evenly over top of meat. Drizzle warmed liquid, not hot, lard over top.

Mix thoroughly – may take 20 minutes – make sure that center bottom of bowl is mixed in also.

Cover with plastic wrap and put in refrigerator overnight.

----------------------------------------------------

Next day presoak casings. Mix meat some more. Stuff into Collagen Casings 65mm (2 ½ inch) or form 40mm (1.5 inch) logs with the stuffer tube if you don’t have casings. Of course we did not have any casings, so we are making logs. It took 12 minutes using the Cabela’s Pro Series 500 watt Grinder model IK-523860. Put in ear plugs because this thing is loud.

Hang casings from top rack or lay logs on smoker racks. Remember to leave air space.

Open Vent and add NO water to pan. Fill smoker with meat. Turn on Masterbuilt Electric Smoker 30” Black at 140*F. Add Mesquite Chips at start and at 1 hour. I just set the time at 12 hours even though I know it will be nowhere near that long.

I am trying a No-Pre-Heat since I am doing Sausage. The first stage in sausage smoking is a warm up and dry. This might be good for salmon also.

At 2 hours raise smoker temperature to 200*F, close vent ¾ way and add last Mesquite Chips. Meat is at 140*F at this time. Mesquite is has strong smoke so don’t add too much. Insert temperature probe in top of casing and set at 170*F for done.

I pulled meat after 45 minutes of smoker set at 200*F. Internal temperature of the sausage is 170*F. Total smoke time is 2 hours and 45 minutes.