General

@snuffy The nitrites will cover you for at least 9 days (sometimes longer) so if you are going to keep it longer than that you might want to consider reapplying some nitrites.

@Joe-Hell That looks awesome! I’ll definitely try clamping it to the table. Don’t want to screw it to the table as it’s a very nice stainless table I bought from a local pizza place going out of business. Thanks again!

@Brianh Congrats! You will love it and if you have any questions then you have a bunch of people on this board to give their opinions!

@blackbetty61 Yeah, I didn’t try it with the regular store-bought stuff, we used 100% Pure Maple Syrup which has less of s sugary taste but more of a maple flavor. I read your comment at first as if you added less than 1 Tablespoon to a whole 50 lb batch and I was thinking, well that couldn’t have done much! Now I see you added the entire bottle. That seems reasonable for a 50 lb batch

@johnsbrewhouse Thanks for the info. Everlasting going forward.

@Jonathon Pretty certain I will have a PK100 in my garage here shortly. Decided to get a dedicated processing area set-up first. I have been processing my own deer and making the same Willie’s Snack Stick summer sausage for decades. This year, I got the urge to try some sticks, which lead me here. Walton’s and this forum have opened up a whole new world for me that I am really enjoying. Rather than lugging all my equipment from the garage to the kitchen (my wife is extremely understanding!), I am going to set-up a processing are in the garage. Decided there was no need adding another piece of equipment to organize until I’m done. Thanks to everyone here, great and helpful group.

@PapaSop hmmmm, interesting

@Stats77 It’s fairly cool to do and it does impart a salty flavor but all in all I think a screaming hot cast iron pan or grill is better. Biggest issue with it (in my mind) is to get your slab up to temp without risking cracking it takes a long time.

@Joe-Hell didn’t think about pan frying to get rid of the moisture! Good call, that’s what a great forum is about!! Thanks

I generally don’t run my smoker over 150F while smoking processed meats. I smoke for color, then water bath to thermal process to 160F ish…

@Jonathon I tried a new oven method over the weekend that turned out great. I once again used the stew meat sized chunks and cooked at 350 for 10 minutes then turned the oven to my lowest setting of 170 for a few hours. They turned out perfect!

@Jonathon My family always called it souse but the ones that take the pig heads in this group call it head cheese. When I’ve seen it already made it looked to be the same so I’m assuming it is.

@Tex_77 no its all metal

@Jonathon I clean and reseason my smoker every fall but the grates get washed every use

@blackbetty61 Yeah, I dont know what settings that would be (I’m one step away from being a Luddite!) but I have an older Iphone and dont have those issues.

@twilliams Yep. Will be a couple weeks before I get the chance to use it. Busy this weekend. Throwing a couple briskets on my RecTec next weekend. Hopefully I can get everything lined up for the following weekend.

@twilliams Most untrimmed butts are going to be closer to 75/25. Or the ones I checked one day all were, next time I am at sams or local supermarket I will check again. I just did it by finding out how mans grams of fat each serving had and then converting the total weight in a serving to grams.

@roblavanway it depends on whether you add a cure accelerator like encapsulated citric acid or not. If you do not then yes, stuff and let it sit for 12 hours if you do use a cure accelerator you can go right to smoking.