User Recipes

As requested I am re-posting this recipe in detail here for others to try. First - I smoke around 100 pounds of Cheddar, Gouda and Colby a year. I freeze it in 1 pound blocks after smoking. As long as you do not extract oils from the cheese, it will freeze fine and be great to eat later. The trick is not to exceed 114 degrees in the smoker. Once the cheese begins to sweat, you are done. Take a 1 pound block of smoked Cheddar out of the Freezer and thaw. Use fresh if you have it readily available. Cut into cubes and add to a Chamber vacuum bag (I use 8 x 10). Cut up 3 Jalapeno’s into very small pieces - Remove all seeds. I like to use a Videlia chopper with 1/8 inch blade - I got it at Bed Bath and Beyond for like $14 Add the jalapenos into the bag with the cheese and mix up real well. Seal the Bag Set Sous Vide to 133 degrees and add bag for 30 minutes While the sous vide cycle is running, get a small glass Tupperware bowl out and line it with plastic wrap. When complete, remove the bag and cut a corner with scissors Pour out the cheese / jalapeño blend into your Tupperware bowl. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for forming. Pretty incredible stuff [image: 1599058222786-7.jpg] [image: 1599058234811-8.jpg] [image: 1599058245941-9.jpg] [image: 1599058269303-10.jpg] [image: 1599058277134-11.jpg] [image: 1599058286346-12.jpg] [image: 1599058294160-13-resized.jpg] Remember that sometimes you get darker spots in the cheese - This is just like a bark I guess - Leave these in there as this is the best smoke flavor ever. Enjoy Guys!

@TexLaw Ditto on the grams. Measuring and converting 1/16th of a lb takes way to much time.

This isn’t sausage made from corned beef. Rather, it was the result of the scramble when it hit me that St. Patrick’s Day was right around the corner and that I had forgotten to start curing a corned beef. I couldn’t get a corned beef done in just a few days, but (maybe, just maybe) I could simulate one a bit by working up a cured sausage with corned beef spices. It worked out very well, and a little tweaking got me right where I wanted it. The single, coarse grind is a bit unusual, but I also find it key. Again, I wanted something to make me think of corned beef, and that goes beyond mere flavor. But, hey, you do it as you like. This makes great bulk sausage, but I prefer it stuffed in large hog casings. That said, it also works very well as a stuffing, mixed with potatoes for a hash, or even just as a patty sausage. The next thing I want to play with is making a Reuben burger with this patty sausage. “Corned Beef” Sausage Ingredients:  5 lbs (2.25 kg) Beef chuck roast (weigh after grinding)  1 tbsp salt  1 tsp Sure Cure (Instacure #1; Prague Powder #1)  4 tsp ground black pepper  2 tsp onion powder  2 tsp garlic powder  1.5 tsp mustard seed (whole)  ½ tsp cayenne pepper  ½ tsp paprika  ¾ tsp dried thyme  ½ tsp ground allspice  ½ tsp ground ginger  34g Sure Gel  ¼ tsp ground clove  ½ tsp ground celery seed  1 tbsp sugar  ¼ tsp ascorbic acid (or appropriate amount of other cure accelerator) (optional)  ½ tsp ground coriander  ½ tsp ground dill seed  ½ cup ice water  4 tsp light corn syrup Steps: Grind the meat as you like (I like only 1 grand with an 8 mm (5/16”) plate because I want some chew to this). Mix in all remaining ingredients. If stuffing, stuff into casings of your choice (I like large (38-42mm) hog casings, again for the chew). In any case, refrigerate for 8-48 hours to cure (or you can go right to cooking if you use an accelerator). Stuffed sausages can be poached, cooked by sous vide, grilled, smoked, or cooked by any combination. My current favorite if stuffed into casings is to give the sausages a very light smoking and then finish by sous vide to 155F. A heavier smoking is just fine, but that’s more “pastrami” sausage (mighty, mighty good but not corned beef).

Maybe I should ask first, I was only assuming high temp cheese would be okay for baked goods. Has anyone used high temp cheese in breads as such? @Jonathon , the man with all the answers in the world, any thoughts?

@Jonathon [image: 1596639611747-20191204_141050.jpg]

@sbtech Not a table no because it would be impossible to manage across different additives and when they are being used for different things. For sure gel with snack sticks for a 5 lb batch you can use between 1 and 1.5 cups of water, the 1.5 will be the higher end of what you would want to use and it is going to increase your cook time as a lot of that water will have to be cooked out as a snack sticks is a “semi-dried” product.

@Jonathon @Chef I agree with both of you. So many of us claim that we never have any time and that we always are stressed, but the fact is that we do it to ourselves. Even taking 5, 10, or 15 minutes to just sit in quiet has an astounding effect on one’s peace, sanity, attitude, ability to cope, and all those other related things. “But I don’t have 15 minutes,” many say. Yes, you do. You just have to give it to yourself.

4 cups apple cider (sweet) 4 cups apple cider vinegar 8 pounds apples of a cooking variety 8 cups sugar pinch of salt I always use pickling and canning salt which has no additives 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon 1 tablespoon ground nutmeg 1 teaspoon ground clove zest and juice of one lemon cut apples in quarters boil apples in cider and vinegar till apples are soft (about 20 minutes) run apples through food mill which will separate pulp from peel and seeds add 1/2 cup of sugar per cup of pulp add balance of ingredients this mixture can then be cooked down stirring constantly in a pot. I prefer to spread thin on a baking sheet and thicken in oven (less chance of scorching) Cook down until when chilled it is not runny place in jars, process in boiling water bath for about 15 minutes will store at room temperature for 2 years