Deepwoodsbutcher and cdavis it is probably my favorite bacon I have made. Sweetness from maple, a little raspberry flavor up front, jalapeño flavor but no heat. I also make a pretty mean apple pie bacon which was my favorite before the black raspberry jalapeño maple bacon.

Deepwoodsbutcher the cutting boards would get expensive fast. I’ll likely have about 60 packages when I’m done sealing it all. I could always grab some foam trays from the store I’m cutting at today….

processhead not sure yet. It is 22 pounds divided amongst 3 families so hopefully it’s not something like “8 slices per pack please” because I’ll go insane. I planned on shingling it like I do for myself when I do just a 10 pound belly and other peoples’ wants aren’t involved. Reaching into a vac bag to shingle a thousand slices of bacon seems like something I don’t want to do. The bacon board was so I could quickly lay it out on the board and simply slide the bacon into the bag. Much easier that way I would have thought.

I’m about to vacuum seal 22 pounds of bacon I cured. I realized that the plastic sheets that store bought bacon is laid on would be great to use so I can store the vac packed packs much easier. Does anybody know where to get “bacon plastic” or what it is actually called?

Just made 22 pounds of bacon from a hog that went to slaughter in November. Just prepped the black raspberry maple jalepeno rub for when it comes out of the smoker. This made me start pondering though: What other exotic flavors have you guys tried? Open to trying any flavor that I haven’t already made!

The whole recipe book would only be 20 recipes?

All Things BBQ has a great cold smoked salmon video on YouTube. Just watched it and I might try that this week. Just took a side of salmon out of my chest freezer to smoke on Friday.

Dave in AZ honestly, even though I do love the results of my recipe, it is pretty time consuming, I have to rearrange my fridge to get the briner bucket in there, crushing and toasting spices is a pain in the butt sometimes… if you’re trying to impress somebody that will truly appreciate the amount of effort that went in to making them a lox bagel or rosettes, try a custom recipe. If I am just making some lox for the freezer or for a dinner party for Easter or Christmas, I just buy the Hi Mountain Alaskan Salmon brine mix. It is fantastic and you can cure about 15# of salmon for $10 or less worth of their product.

Dave in AZ Took me a while to find the recipe. It is for a 3# side of salmon
1 gallon water
24 grams sea salt
15 grams maple sugar (can use brown sugar if you like)
4 grams of cure salt #1
The spices are to taste. I don’t measure them honestly. Maybe like a 1/2 cup black peppercorns, 1/4 cup red juniper berries, a couple crushed cinnamon sticks, 1/4 cup fennel seeds, 1/4 cup mustard seed, a handful of whole crushed nutmeg. I crush the peppercorn and nutmeg at separate times in a tea towel. Roast the spices in order of hardiness, with fennel and mustard seed last. Dry skillet, 30-60 second toast for each spice. Keep them moving in the skillet so nothing burns. Boil everything in the water then add ice to get up to the required amount of brine solution. A gallon of water is about 8 pounds or so, so I zero my scale with a brining bucket (or large food safe container) on it then add the brine solution and stir in ice until you have a gallon of water and it reaches about 65-68F. Do not add fish to hot brine. I cure my salmon for 3 days or until the fish becomes pretty rigid. I then soak the salmon for 4-6 hours in distilled water to draw out excess salt then cold smoke.

I have used both my own recipe as well as a store bought salmon brine mix from Hi Mountain. Both were excellent but also different enough that I have preferences for the usage of the fish after curing. I use maple sugar or turbonado sugar, curing salt #1, and a small amount of sea salt. I toast in a dry cast iron skillet some black peppercorns, fennel seeds, cinnamon stick, and (red or purple) juniper berries. Bring all spices to a boil in water and then add ice to quickly drop the temp to about 65F. I tend to make roughly 2 gallons of brine solution so that I can cover a few sides on Alaskan or preferably Faroe Island salmon. I cover it completely in either a brine bucket with a plate to keep it all submerged, or I use food safe brining bags. Urban Kitchen makes a good inexpensive brine bag. I also like to use skin ON salmon when I cold smoke because it keeps the flesh together much easier during brining and smoking. I don’t cut the skin when I am slicing the lox.
I am in NE Ohio so if I want to cold smoke in the summer, I use a smoke tube like the A-Maze-N tube or maze and I put a foil tray of ice under the salmon. It is super easy to cold smoke when it is cold and then vacuum seal the lox and freeze for summer as well.

Deepwoodsbutcher I actually have a packet of California ham spice I won in November from a Bunzl contest but haven’t used it yet. I probably should try it out!

Ridley Acres mustard seed or actual mustard?

calldoctoday it is fennel seed like you would put in Italian sausage, but you toast the seeds in a hot skillet with no oil, just to open them up and the flavor profile becomes sort of fruity. It is something I once tried on cold smoked salmon for the brine and knew I had to do it on ham too. For a 12 pound ham, I use about a tablespoon of whole fennel seed.

Haven’t posted in a few months as the shop I process at had a couple other cutters leave/get fired, and as finding help in the Cleveland area is nearly impossible, I’ve been super busy tied between the two companies I work for.
However, I am posting this for Easter ham brine discussion. What spices and ingredients do y’all use in your ham brines? I currently use toasted juniper berries, black peppercorns, fennel, cinnamon sticks, and nutmeg, along with garlic and brown sugar, salt, and curing salt. Is there anything else you guys typically use?

I make a good apple cinnamon bratwurst that is a base brat recipe with extra pie spice and cinnamon with finely diced Granny Smith apples that is super delicious. I have also done that style with a little bourbon mixed in with it instead of just water. It’s fantastic

bocephus I got drunk the one time I have ever been drunk and my last drink that night was chocolate cherry Mike’s Hard. Of all the Kraken rum, Bird Dog, and beer I had, the Mike’s Hard put me over the edge. Took over a decade to try the flavor combo again and not want to get sick.

johnsbrewhouse that’s what the cherry variety was that I used actually! Could not remember the name to save myself haha!

twilliams have tried dried cherries like Craisins. They leave a weird texture to the sausage with unpleasant chewiness in it.

Ok guys. Y’all loved my Eggnog Bratwurst. Had to up my game a little with two new flavors, one of which I have yet to try out. Here is the first flavor: chocolate-covered cherry sausage. Sorry, but I don’t measure stuff unless it is imperative to the formula to be exact. For just a custom flavor of sausage, my eyes measure it out according to visual estimate.

Ground pork
Dark chocolate powder (sweetened)
Chopped fresh cherries
Cinnamon and nutmeg (small amounts of each)
Cherry juice

Soaked pork in cherry juice before grinding, used a small amount of juice to mix sausage. Sprinkle in chocolate, toss is cherry chunks and spices, mix, stuff.

Congratulations!! What a wonderful Christmas gift!