processhead said in How to butcher a lamb?:

We like Indian and middle eastern style cooking and lamb really shines in those dishes including kabobs.

Any more, you don’t even need to be a great cook to prepare them. Some of the real cooks here may not approve, but these meals in a box give you all the seasonings and you just add the meat and chopped fresh stuff like onion or garlic and serve on steamed rice. We have thoroughly enjoyed these dishes.

For those of us that live in a “dining diversity desert”, pre-made box assist meals like these are a real winner, to me at least!

Zatar w Weit, a Lebanese-themed fast food restaurant in the UAE was one I really enjoyed. I don’t recall ever ordering the mighty Kafta (basically a meatball wrap) but, their other wraps I got were awesome and pretty cheap too. All-natural ingredients with some awesome, healthy, and tasty wrap bread. These were similar to the Doner Kabap I got from Turkish vendors in Germany and the Netherlands but, a bit spicier (not hotter) with more veggies.

I have dabbled with lamb chops but, they were always so expensive in the styrofoam tray I didn’t really get much of a chance to do much with them beyond some very basic stuff.

With small racks and legs being ~$50 or more, those experiences I can count on one hand.

Lamb Kabobs off my Habichi sound like an AWESOME option. I’m also looking to do some braises with other cuts that would benefit from a slow moist cook. I need to review some English, Irish, Aussie and, New Zealand cookbooks for some other ideas.

Do they have a soft spot in the head like a calf that I should aim at? Yes, I can pop it with a 22LR from my pistol if that is a good humane way to kill it.

I’m not into the ‘casings’ so, I’ll pass on those. I wonder about the kidneys too.

Are the neck bones similar to hog neck bones? Smoked pork neck bones to me are a lot better with pinto beans than ham hocks due to more meat and fewer small bones to deal with.

Thanks!

I’m looking for a wether (castrated male lamb) to butcher. I have a local butcher that will work with me to butcher it but, he has never butchered a lamb before either.

I good tutorial would be appreciated.

What is the head good for other than as a movie prop? For example, does it really work well braised or broiled? Or do you harvest the tongue and discard the rest?

Regarding the guts, what is typically saved and eaten versus thrown away?

I’m initially thinking I will use an axe at the base of the skull to kill it and will slit its throat and hang it from my from tractor loader to let it bleed out. The question here is do I also gut it or do I try to save kidneys and other parts?

TIA,
Sid

You are talking about COLD SMOKING at 125F. If you want graduated temperature steps, a pellet smoker is probably the better way to go.

A single WSM is a bit short to ‘hang’ stuff if you ask me. I’ve got a fabbed up double but, to be honest if I was going smoke something slowly and with lower temperatures, I’d use my reverse flow stick burner.

With a 14", 18", 22", and a double 22" I’m a big fan but, hanging sausage or ribs or cold smoking are not their strength. YMMV.

The BBQ-Brethern and WSM (virtual bullet?) forums are good places to find advice on something specific like this.

Chef said in Porch Pirates!!!:

beekeeping

https://www.beesource.com/ is a good place to start.

A common saying is:

Ask two beekeeper a question and you will get three answers!

There are a lot of different ways to successfully keep bees and, methods vary a lot based on your local environment. Methods used 100 miles away can be totally different. Definitely, different between different states!

Shoot me a message offline and I can hit some high points to get you started!

Chef

I’m a beekeeper and had some hives by the far side of my house. One of the hives became really “HOT” as I suspect the Queen mated with an Africanized Drone. The bees are super sensitive to pheromones so I’m pretty good at not antagonizing them when they buzz me as I don’t get excited or scared.

A delivery driver would be unlikely to have this self-control and would likely be alarmed at the sight of bees setting off the chain reaction that leads to a bee attack so, I went into both the UPS and FedEx apps and put a note in for dangerous Bees at the front door and to use the back porch. Since then, UPS and FedEx have not been a problem and my packages are always waiting for me on the back porch steps! I also thank them in person when I see them.

PapaSop said in Porch Pirates!!!:

marvsBBQ
I also have signed up with the USPS app. The one thing I can’t do with it is leave delivery instructions. They always leave it by the front door. Not good on a busy street. UPS and FedEx have that option.

Your best bet is to talk to your postal delivery person and let them know to put them behind the trashcan, behind the planter, etc.

My postal carrier leaves mine on my back porch steps.

Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for the coming year for everyone!

Merry Christmas and best wishes all!

Hog Pen said in Meat thermometer?:

What have you guys used for meat thermometers, seem to keep going to hell… would like a multiple prong read out… what you got and where you get em?

THERMOWORKS!

I use the “Smoke” model and really like it. I have the original two-probe unit that is nearing 3 years of use. The other thermometers they offer are of similar quality I have the “POP” and “MK4” and would happily buy them again if they were stolen or were lost.

Thermoworks products are durable, high quality, and accurate. Catch one of their 20% off sales and thank me later!

Welcome! I’m from East Texas now and grew up North of OKC.

Wow! I guess that is a much tougher grind than meat.

The Shirley Fabrication 24"x36" smokers are well regarded by the BBQ-Brethren and myself. Just saw a really clean Klose sell for $925 close to where I live (Dallas area).

Personally, in the current economic climate, I would keep an eye out for a used smoker. My Evie Mae 24"x48" pipe-smoker was only $1100, lovingly and gently used by its previous owner. Come January when Christmas bills come due and people start thinking about April 15th, nice rarely used smokers seem to turn up pretty often, at least pre-COVID.

I thought I saw where the meat mixers were going on sale but, checking the past couple of days I haven’t seen anything. The 13 days of Christmas suggested yesterday was the day for the 20# mixer sale but, nothing.

So, I have the grinder and stuffer but, I want to add a 20# mixer. What are the main differences in function, quality, and, costs?

Thanks!
Sid

Can’t do that on the public easement, only the pole for the mailbox. Out here drivers for FedEx and UPS are supposed to leave packages at the house which for me is ~1200 feet from the road. USPS is supposed to do the same if the mailbox door won’t close.

With schedule pressure, all of them except for my normal mail carrier ‘contractor’ dump them on the street for the most part with a few FedEx and UPS drivers actually dropping them at the house. FedEx and UPS ‘normal’ drivers are pretty good but, the luck of the draw random “substitute” drivers right now isn’t good.

I delivered USPS Amazon packages for a while but, average delivery times meant I needed to speed everywhere and heave package out the door or window of the truck if I was going to come close to their delivery route time expectations. The vehicle I was in would float the rear end above 55MPH on the highway and had a 4-cylinder engine so that wasn’t an easy speed to reach. Being passed at 70MPH would blow the vehicle around in the lane. My route expected at an average speed of 47MPH including stops for package scans and drops on the route. Training and management harped on drive safely and be safe but, in practice, all they cared about was getting me off the clock 5 minutes sooner. My life wasn’t fulfilled risking it to deliver sacks of dog food and boxes of diapers to run-down trailer houses in rural areas of the county though, I did look forward to the nicer retirees looking forward to a new book or some new kitchen gadget.

Tex_77 said in Porch Pirates!!!:

sidpost where do you live?

Rural East Texas between Dallas and Shreveport/Texarkana. The migration from Dallas and Houston out here has been significant and law enforcement has been stretched pretty thin with population growth outpacing law enforcement staffing. With that, financial criminals have followed to take advantage of the elderly and with that came drug use and property crime.

Austin

I checked out with a 22# grinder and 11# stuffer with my PO Box.

However, Elizabeth contacted me to update everything. I’m not sure what a Porch Pirate would do with those but, that won’t stop them from stealing them.

With package theft being so high, my choices are to drive ~65 miles round trip to get it at a hub or wait by my mailbox between noon and 9PM or not ordering it at this point if it won’t ship to my PO Box.

So yes, a couple of bucks so they don’t just chuck it out the truck door is money well spent IMHO. I had a case of ammo with ORM-D requirements and signature confirmation left at the road by the mailbox which FedEx was not happy about paying for. The also threw my iPad and a new iPhone over the barb wire fence into the pasture ditch full of water even though the gate was wide open so, I’ll give them credit for not leaving it on the road by the mailbox but, really, in a water-filled ditch in a pasture?

I get you don’t get Amazon rates to ship via USPS for bulky items like 50lb sacks of dog food, 65qt ice chests, etc. but, there really needs to be some options other than a blind drop at the roadside.

To further complicate things, people follow the US Mail, UPS and, FedEx trucks to steal things right behind them out here.

Austin said in Porch Pirates!!!:

I would recommend signing up for UPS My Choice.
https://www.ups.com/us/en/services/tracking/mychoice.page

For free, you get some good notifications on any shipments coming to your address. If you have a big problem with package theft, you can do more with the UPS service if you pay an extra fee, and then you have more controls on your shipments to control a few things. Including changing address, choosing specific days for delivery, change to a UPS Access Point for delivery (a much safer option than something left on your front porch), and all SurePost shipments (where USPS is the final delivery) get upgraded to Ground for free.

I know, sounds like an infomercial for UPS… I don’t pay for the “premium” version, but I definitely see the use case for certain people. I did sign up for the free version to easier track everything shipping to my house though.

I have both UPS and FedEx trackers active. Both update so slowly for me they are worthless. My relatives all INSISTED on sending gift cards and cash to me in the mail at my house mailbox. I did not get one single one! I also had a custom knife that cannot be replaced stuffed in my mailbox that would not close stolen. That one made a grinder look cheap in comparison. The mail carrier couldn’t even close the mailbox door so it was just sticking out of the mailbox for the first person to drive by. USPS would not cover insurance because they showed a GPS tracker delivery at the correct address.

Waltons really should allow PO Box deliveries or do signature confirmation.

glen said in Pink salt for jerky?:

Your Weston should get up to temp in a hurry.
At 140F internal temp meat is pasteurized in 12 minutes and you still get more of a dehydrated and not a cooked flavor
You can store low salt jerky with a vacuum packer, just make small packs for quicker consumption
Didn’t mean to be condescending in any way, I just wasn’t aware of your experience level

No worries Glen! I appreciate your assistance as I’m new to Jerky making. At about $1 per ounce, I’m ready to try my own at this point in time. Plus, I’m a bit tired of the regular cuts of meat and want to try something a bit different for a while.

I’m up to my eyeballs in feral hogs and have a lot of beef in the freezer so, I’m looking at getting a grinder to make sausages I can’t get locally along with making some Jerky. A cold smoker is next as my stick burning offsets need to get some relief from constant use (them or the WSM’s). I’m looking to hang some hams and fish plus smoke some cheese. I might also try some cold smoke on some Jerky too.