smoking and cure and age game...

[TomsTXCHL]

Im a rookie chef and enjoy cooking as a hobby.

I am NOT a chef, but love smoked meat and bought a Bradley smoker. The rap against Bradleys is that you have to buy there wood "hocky pucks" (bisquettes) but other than that I can say the thing is fantastic i.e. the best pulled pork, and the best smoked chickens, that I have ever had are the ones that *I* have made with the Bradley.

They're not particularly "manly" i.e. they are banned from use in smoking contests, but electric smokers are wonderful things...

[Abraham]

glock27,

I'm curious. You said: "Recently aquired a hog. Im planning on having many more."

By that, do you mean you shot and killed a hog or some kind someone is doing the killing and giving you the hog?

As to field dressing knives, have a look at Havalon knives. They use replaceable razor sharp blades.

If such isn't for you, look at Knives of Alaska. I'm partial to the Muskrat - Suregrip for skinning and fleshing.

[TomsTXCHL]

The Bradley smoker is trivially easy to use. When I first got it I would insert a remote-monitored thermometer into the meat but now I know "a pork butt takes all day" (e.g. load it in the early morning and it's ready for dinner) and whatnot. Their bisquettes I buy from Amazon by the case e.g. 120pack for ~$36 bucks and a bisquette is used every 20 minutes, so for example if I cook something for 10 hours I might use 6-8 hours of smoke i.e. 18-24 bisquettes or about $5-7 worth of bisquettes. Given that even a cheap, small pork butt lasts us a few days, I don't worry about the bisquette cost, though others will complain about it. And I probably use more smoke than I need to anyway.

I have had this thing for a few years, still don't know anything about cooking, but now you have my mouth watering for pulled port this weekend!!!

[TomsTXCHL]

Are you able to load all the pucks at a time or do you have to refill them every so hours?

It's got a "feed tower"; my older unit holds maybe 4-6 hours worth but as I look at pics on Amazon it seems the newer ones maybe hold even more...

[TomV]

I process my own pigs. I do hams, shoulder roast for pulled pork, tender loins, back straps,and grind the rest.

With the grind, I do a 70/30 blend pork to cheep ground beef and bacon ends and pieces into 1/2lb burger patties, chili grind in 1lb packs, and breakfast sausage patties using a recipe I found online.

The hams I follow any one of a couple different recipes I have. I do them in a Weber Smokey Mountain. I love my maverick remote dual probe thermometer. One probe monitors meat, the other grill temp. I try to keep it at about 250-275.

I do my pulled pork in a crockpot. The back traps I filet flat and stuff. The tenderloins I'll follow one of several recipes.

I trim as much fat and silver skin off as possible to reduce any sort of gamey taste. I also soak it in well drained ice for up to a week.

I haven't done any sausage. It's a little space intensive, but everything I have read about it, it's not that difficult. Good luck.

[Abraham]

glock27,

What a great deal!

Good for you!

Do you have a pound limit you don't care to process?

Mine used to be about 120 lb or I'd give em away.

My next door neighbor's son killed a 250 lb. boar recently and had it professionally processed.

So, maybe I'm wrong about turning my nose up at big hogs as acceptable meat.

What say you?

[cheezit]

Go look up uds somkers the absolute best bang for the buck. Less then $100 to diy.
Its all I use. I just did a 21lb turkey in under 7 hours.
Sorry I cant help much on the hog part of the question