Tuesday, May 19, 2009

In the Smokehouse (Smoked! Part 2)

By: Gwen Miner, Supervisor of Domestic Arts
After hanging the meat to dry for 24 hours we began smoking. On Saturday morning, Marieanne Coursen, one of our farmers on the farmstead “fired” the smokehouse. The fuels we use to smoke are corn cobs, or “cobs” as they were called in the 19th c. and apple wood. The cobs and apple wood give a sweet smoke. Resinous woods such as pine should never be used as they give an acrid taste to the meat. The fire will burn low and smoky for several weeks. Each morning the smokehouse will be fired and allowed to smoke during the day. Temperatures in the smokehouse range from 100 degrees to 120 degrees—just warm enough to cure and dry the meat out. Check back to see how the smoking goes.

1 comment:

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