Often, when people talk about smoking meat, we need to specify whether it is cold, warm, or hot-smoked. This will often dictate whether you need to cure the meat or not. After studying, teaching, and learning about cured and smoking meats, this article will dive into what I have learned and how it can be effectively categorized. Curing meat before …
Wood Types for Smoking Cured Meats
I’ve used about 15 different kinds of wood to smoke-cured meats. Often, I’ve found it easier to categorize wood used for smoking into light, medium, and intense flavors. The best woods for smoking-cured meats are often found locally in abundance and sustainable. Local, Non-resin-filled, deciduous wood is often the best wood for smoking cured meats. This has been evident for …
Cured and Hot Smoked Trout Recipe
I want to dive deep into what I’ve learnt and also about tips and tricks on how to cure and hot smoke trout at home or when you are outdoors. I’ve been curing and smoking trout for 25 years, as well as, catching probably over a thousand trout across New Zealand. The odd one also in Scotland when living on …
Can you Cure Meat with Just Smoke?
Curing and Smoking is often seen as a similar or the same process and are often related or depending on the recipe. However, the question is – is smoking meat a type of curing? Let’s get into this in detail! I have cured all different types of meat whether it’s red meat or different types of fish. For some things …
Different Cuts and Meat to Use for Making Bacon
Pork is the main type of meat you can use for bacon, however, there are many different meats and styles with various cuts, let’s go into some detail and explore the options. I have been making bacon from farmed and wild meat for over 20 years. I have used many different methods and styles, basically every style there is I …
Difference Between Sausages and Salami (Not That Simple)
The difference between sausages and salami comes down to how extended the process is, in essence, all salami were sausages at some point during the process. To really explain this properly, I am going to define what sausages are, as well as salami. To give some insight into the subtle and not-so-subtle variations. I have been making, crafting, and eating …
4 Ways to Smoke Bacon (Even Without a Smoker)
I thought it would be helpful to write about the main different ways and methods you can use to get smoked bacon, as I’ve started structuring my masterclass in bacon making. You can choose a variety of ways and equipment, depending on what set-up you currently have. To be hopefully helpful, I will include a method to create smoked bacon, …
The Online ‘Every Bacon Style’ Course
Bacon-making at home can be done in many ways, I am putting together an online course that will show you literally every way possible that I know and have learned over 20 years. I’ve noticed online content has a massive variation in how bacon is made, also there is confusion over the ways you make it. Showcasing it has a …
How to Cure Ham so it’s Not Salty
The question is – how to avoid the ham being too salty; because after brine curing or wet brining the ham you want the result to be perfect. Buying a big chunk of ham or using a precious piece from a pig you’ve reared – it’s a beautiful thing! It should not be too salty to be enjoyed. This blog …
Does Cured Meat Need to be Cooked?
Because cured meats come in many different types and variations, whether you have to cook them or not depends on a few things. Meat curing has fascinated me for a long time. I’ve gone across Europe (especially Italy) purely to savor the types of cured meats they have there. For example, Calabrian Njuda (a spreadable pork sausage, or Parma from …
How Does Meat Cure?
The meaning of cured meat seems like a pretty simple question, but due to the variations and different types of cured meat, I want to discuss it in more detail. For instance, some cured meats, like dry-cured meats, are ready-to-eat, like prosciutto or dry-cured picante salami. Then, on the other hand, you have dry-cured cold smoked bacon, which is, of …
How to Smoke Bacon With a Pellet Tube Smoker
Using a pellet grill for smoking bacon is pretty straightforward when using a pellet tube smoker. However, there are some key points that I’ve learned over the years that can help make things easier and more straightforward. Of course, like most things, experience and going through the learning curve is part of the process. The bacon we normally eat at …
Why Does my Bacon Taste Like Ham?
Bacon can definitely taste like ham, and there is one main reason why this happens. It comes down to the technique that’s used to make the bacon. I’ve been making bacon and ham for nearly 20 years and have tried many different techniques. Hams come in many varieties, and so does bacon! But the main reason is this one below: …
Do you Need Curing Salt to Make Bacon?
Adding curing salt to your bacon is one of those things that many new meat curers ask. It’s also a question that often comes up on this resource site, so I thought I would share many years of research and give you some facts about it. I’ll go into it, how I do it, and how I approach it. I …
5 Ways to Cook a Trout on the Campfire (Methods)
I love fishing, catching, and cooking trout on an open campfire, either at home in the backyard or in the bush. After 20 years of cooking and smoking trout, I’ve used so many ways you could try any of these of course. I’ve tried many ways, and I’ll review each below. Summary Whether it’s a piece of wood, pan, rack, …
Dry Curing Vs Wet Brining for Meat Curing
The two main methods of curing meat are dry curing and wet brining. I have done both methods in various ways over the years, and it will be helpful to provide explanations about how I do it. As well as which method suits different types of meat curing better. I start with a quick summary of each method and then …
Smokai Cold & Hot Smoke Generator Video & Review
Being a super keen guy on curing and smoking all kinds of stuff, I’ve spent hundreds, if not thousands of hours smoking over the years (not just meat, either). As I’ve learned many of the ins and outs of cold smoking over 20 odd years, like everything, I’m still learning. But it’s kind of become second nature, too. Smokai is …
Difference Between Cured Meat vs. Smoked Meat
Cured meat and smoked meats cross over in some ways but are also different, let’s look at both in detail. While both methods offer their own unique advantages (and flavors) to meat, curing vs.smoking meat has unique properties that make them quite distinct from one another. I’ve been keen on all types for year like dry cured meats made in …
Inkbird Wifi Probe Thermometer (Honest) Review (IBBQ-4T)
The Inkbird Wifi IBBQ-4T Thermometer has a few worthy features worth highlighting. I’ve used many thermometer probes since I created content around meat curing and smoking in all its forms. What got me interested in this Wi-Fi thermometer is its simplicity (small compact, simple – hey it’s just a thermometer come on) and also I was getting some other Inkbird …
Simple Way to Smoke Trout in a Portable Smoker
Over the years, I’ve smoked hundreds of trout, & used a portable smoker in quite a few different ways. I wanted to share my ‘simplest’ way and easiest style of hot-smoking trout on a portable, simple smoker. Simple Way to Smoke Trout in A Portable Smoker I couldn’t find it online, so I thought I would post this easy-to-follow guide, …