smitty55

I've got lots of green tomatoes left and have been contemplating trying some pickles with them for the first time. Seeing your pics just made up my mind. Been checking out lots of recipes on line and having all the ingredients on hand I'm going to try these ones, likely mix vinegars, add some turmeric to the first one and hot peppers to the dill one. https://www.therusticelk.com/pickled-green-tomatoes/

Great report, thanks so much for sharing.

You could try looking back in this thread for the video, it was posted already. As was already posted as well is that a big boat like that doesn't need to be going very fast to kill someone. Did you even read all the posts here before making all these assumptions?

Wow, you must know Kevin quite well to make that assumption. So according to you the people in the boat that was hit didn't even see the driver? I think not, they would certainly have said something if he was driving. Plus the video clearly shows that the boat certainly wasn't ripping around, don't know why you assume that too.

What I find the most alarming is that even though the stargazers had no lights on in their boat they must have heard and seen the other boat nearby and yet none of them had the common sense to at least turn on some lights or shine a flashlight at the other boat to let them know there was a boat anchored. Something still doesn't add up.

Your jerky seems to be working out real well, right on. It could be the pic but is that shine from an oily outer layer still? You mentioned going pure grind next. I like that screen too, was that ctc you said? Looks reusable.

That's a pretty good bend. It will be hard to try and straighten that shaft with that cover in the way, let alone the chances of getting it perfectly straight to line up with the bearings. I would think you'd be able to buy a replacement part, but the thing you also need to consider is the potential internal damage done to the bearings themselves and the associated support structure. I would suggest removing the bearings and simply giving them a physical test to see if they rotate easily and nice and smooth, not bumpy at all. Bearings can be found for sure, might cost as much to ship them if you bought them on their own. If I was ordering a handle shaft assy I'd definitely order a set of bearings at the same time, just because. Lastly, while your doing that, make sure you take a real good look at the support frames on each side for cracks. Clean them real good and use magnification to inspect if you can. No use buying the other parts if the frame is shot, right? At least it was you that stepped on it and not someone else hehe... Good luck

What I did find interesting in that article was that they stressed using only bottled lemon juice, not fresh squeezed. I figure it must have to do with the ph consistency.

Looks good, I can my own tomatoes as well using my heirloom indeterminates. So much flavour that jumps out at you even when opening the jars. I'm curious as to what you use to lower the ph below 4.6 to ensure safe canning? Tomatoes used to be considered high acid but not anymore so I don't take a chance. I used to use lemon but don't care for the taste in my tomato sauce. Since I started to use citric acid I've never looked back. The small amount needed doesn't affect the taste at all, it's only 1/4tsp for pints and 1/2tsp for qts. Here's a good article for anyone who wants to can them. https://foodsafety.wisc.edu/assets/preservation/UWEX_addacidtomatoes.pdf Cheers

Independent Grocer has pork loin pieces on sale for $2.29 this week, a great deal. Cheaper than picnic shoulders which are also on sale. Pieces are anywhere from $2-$4 each. I picked up 5 the other day and I figure on grabbing up more for sure. I got him to double wrap a few of them for the freezer but the next ones I'll vacuum seal. These will be so versatile, I've actually got a pound coated with spice rub frying up right now which will get ground up with relish and mayo added for a pork sandwich spread, one of my favorites.

https://www.yummly.com/recipes/ground-beef-jerky?prm-v1=1 That looks like a good rig. I only tried it a couple of times. The dehydrator I bought came with the kit and a couple of mixes. I'm sure they must use some sort of binding agent that results in some proper jerky texture, which makes sense for ground but I didn't notice any on the few recipes I checked. Thing is when it comes out of the tube it's not very stiff so you basically can't handle it until its somewhat dried. So the smoker is a great idea but I'm thinking you may have to make your strips on a different surface and put those on the racks in the smoker. Your other option would be to dehydrate them like 80% until starting to stiffen up well and then just finish them in the smoker for the true flavour. Off topic a tad but I've done lots of regular jerky in a dehydrator for decades now and I have always used liquid smoke for sure, even though I've had a smoker there was two brands that were good and one I didn't care for so much. Marinating for at least a day makes a big difference in overall flavour. I remember those good old days too when I could get nice thick full round steaks on sale at great prices and freeze them for my use any time of the year and a few big batches in the fall where I would do up a weeks worth for the four of us at deer camp each year. Great out ice fishing too. Recipe wise, the one best addition you can improve any recipe with is the addition of lots of fresh garlic, not powdered. I grow my own. When you chew on a piece of that jerky the real garlic flavour stands out just right. Cheers

Sounds like 2 against 1. I would have got right into his grill.

I'm sitting there watching overdrive late afternoon and this brand new looking bright red Ford 4x4 comes up the driveway. Then I remembered I recently saw one at my neighbour's just up the road and sure enough I see Jim getting getting out carrying something. He's been up there in a new gig with Ford now for at least six months and just recently got his new truck, it took that long. So I go out front and meet him and he hands me this sealed 8x12 tray full of small bottles. It's truffle oil he tells me. 91 single serving size. I kind of know what it is and I love mushrooms but I've never tried it before. Been doing some research and now I'm really looking forward to using it as a finishing oil. Anyone here ever use it much? Any experiences, advice, recipes and thoughts are more than welcome. This is the exact product. Glass bottles even. https://www.terrefrancescane.com/gb/single-portion-dressings/129-terrefrancescane-italian-white-truffle-dressing-12ml.html?search_query=White+truffle+dressing&results=3

Hey no prob Brian, wait till you try it with the smoked bread crumbs, that takes it up another notch. It's not quite as crispy after freezing and it doesn't take much of a reheat but like you said nice and moist and tender, doesn't even need a knife. I may even try a quick smoke on the meat next time to go with the bread crumbs.

Right on, good to see that Big Chief getting a good workout.

You could try the Ottawa Municipal Campground, less than ten minutes from Shirley's Bay. http://www.ottawaevents.ca/ottawa-municipal-campground/

My understanding from an old bud that was an OMC tech was that marine engines were made to much tighter specs and used heavier duty components than the equivalent automotive engine.

My old 28lb mk always shows battery power when I turn it off, don't the newer ones have that function as well?

Jeff Phillips from https://www.smoking-meat.com just came out with a time/temp chart for smoking so I figured I'd post it here. It's includes chef recommended temps as well.

True, I have 2 of those quick release mounts that I use in my old 14 ft tinner. Work real good, nice and solid too. This would be back in the later 80s when I bought them, I'm thinking it was from Le Barons in Ottawa, I know that's where I bought the seats.

So I did up that pork loin yesterday, took a good while to slice,trim and then pound down the cutlets with a rubber mallet. I got 20 all told of different sizes. It was exactly five pounds of cutlets, maybe 2 lbs of trim for mince pork and another pile of waste, mostly fat. So today wifey did the prep, first dip in seasoned flour, then egg and milk mix and then into the smoked bread crumbs. Placed them on parchment paper on two large cookie sheets and the into the fridge for a good hour. Then the two of us got at frying them in two cast iron pans with a good two inches of oil and some butter mixed in and in 30 minutes we were done as it takes maybe three minutes at the most to get them nice and brown and crispy. Once cooled they got vacuum sealed and frozen. Makes for a great quick meal, once thawed it's only a quick fry to heat them up. Did I mention how damn good they are hehe. I could never go back to store bought and I'd put them up against any restaurant easily. My daughter moved in for a few months while looking for a house and once she'd tried them her eyes lit up whenever I told her there was one in the fridge for her. I did remember the before and after pics this time. I know I posted before about these but wth, they're worth it. EDIT: oops, I meant to post this in the cooking thread, but the bread and paprika were done in the smoker

A mix of acetone and tranny fluid is the best rust buster going, lots of vids on it.

I've had 3 Big Chiefs, first two were top loaders and the newest one is a front loader. It's handy to access things without having to pull out the whole rack. What I don't like is that they only put the rack supports at the front and back instead of all the way so if you pull it out partway and let go the back of the rack tilts down and things slide off if you're not careful. Now you'll be able to do bigger chunks of meat like picnics but with a max temp of 160° or 170 maybe on a hot sunny day you'll still have to finish things off in the oven. That last picnic I finished yesterday was over 8 hours in the smoker and then 5 1/2 hours in the oven at 235° for it to reach 200°. It turned out great, super moist with ton's of flavour and I ended up with almost 2 cups of juice in the foil that I let sit in a measuring cup until the fat had separated at the top and then sucked out the juice under it with a baster and heated it to a boil in a pot. Between the mustard, spice rub, ginger ale and maple syrup the flavour is fantastic and it thickened up well with a corn starch slurry. It will work well too for pulled pork sandwiches for sure. Have fun with it Brian, now you'll be able to do up a smoker full of old bread to make crumbs. I've found that the regular store baked white bread loaves soak in the smoke well and give the nicest light crumbs that stick well for coatings. Sourdough works ok but you can tell it's a bit heavier. I've added a loaf of "brown" into the mix too, but stay away from whole grain and heavier breads if you want it for coatings. It's fantastic on the schnitzels, the smoke flavouring brings them to a whole new level. One last thing, I give the dried chunks smaller/shorter shots of smoke but spread out with a break between. So instead of 2 full pans I use 4 half pans. The result is a smokey flavour that stands out from the crowd. I'll be using 4 cups easy tomorrow for a freshly sliced, trimmed, and pounded loin I did up for schnitzel tomorrow. Cheers

So last week I picked up a couple of 6lb whole picnic shoulders at $1.99lb. One went in the freezer and yesterday I prepared the other one for the smoker. Took all the skin off, and Injected a mix of ginger ale and maple syrup into it. Then I smeared it with Dijon and regular mustard and then coated it with close to a cup of my home made spice rub. I also sprinkled some rub on the skin and took out 3 pork hocks out of the freezer that I had brined for 5 days a couple of months back. Many hours later at 3 in the morning in the big chief the roast had a nice dark bark on it and was up to 158°, the skin was all shriveled up and the hocks were finished. Today I took the roast out of the fridge wrapped it in two layers of heavy foil, added the half can of ginger ale left over and drizzled some more maple syrup over it. It went in the oven at 235° and will be removed when it hits over 200° for pulled pork dinner tonight. I forgot to take a pic of it out of the smoker but did get one before it went in. Looking forward to it.

Fish ON-Line only shows it as 1 lake with Brook Trout being stocked every two to four years. For fish it shows Brookies, Lakers and White Sucker. https://www.lioapplications.lrc.gov.on.ca/fishonline/Index.html?viewer=FishONLine.FishONLine&locale=en-CA