smitty55

Have you considered getting into torrents? Get yourself a vpn and you're safe to go. All the movies and shows you want.

Lol I remember that one. That was Andy Bassich I think. You're right about the music, a bit much but It's hard to make dropping a bunch of small spruce trees exciting. There was a similar episode with Glen Villeneuve but he did everything by hand, no power tools. Cheers

I quite enjoy watching Life Below Zero, it's better than a lot of the crap on regular tv. It's mostly sustenance living. One of the families they focus on above the arctic circle revolves a native Alaskan family with 7 kids except for the dad Chip who hailed from Montana. So, to your point about surviving, in one episode they had traded some caribou for a good pail of rendered seal oil, which Agnes Hailstone mentioned was critical for them to be able to handle the cold temps over the winter. It's tasteless and they were basically dipping dried meat and fish and bannock in the thick "oil" to supply the needed carbs to fuel their bodies. When I grew up in Ottawa in the 60's and 70's my benchmark for what I considered "cold" was 0°F. That's when you had to hurry to get your skates on at the outdoor rink. Non of this Bull "feels like" temp. Duh!!! If it's cold and windy it's way worse. Pretty sure I figured that out well before I was 10. Nowadays at -20C and windy they put warnings out. Oh well.

Yea and it's better hd than through a dish where the signal is compressed for transmission. Unfortunately around here I can only get two hd channels. Cheers

Lou this isn't what you're looking for, but this just get your blood going just fine. That's Moosebunk doing the guiding on Nipigon out of Onaman. https://www.thenewflyfisher.com/where-to-watch/episodes/season-12/ Cheers

Follow the crowds Justin. Most of the popular spots will have little villages by now. Watch out for Craig's Shore area yet though. That's where they went through last week. Cheers

I hear you Dougie, but fish tacos seem to be a very popular thing these days. Cheers

Lol be adventurous. Chop up those pepper slices, saute in butter and then ad in chopped avocado and cook down to soft. Add in fresh minced garlic for the last minute or two and try it like that on your bread with the fish. It's like a custom spread of sorts instead of raw chunks over powering the fish. Cheers

I must say this has been a very interesting thread that I've enjoyed following. It really ticks me off too hearing about these corrupt dealerships and credit agencies that have to damn well know that they are screwing folks and for the most part can get away with it against the average Joe. Great on you guys for fighting back and recouping your coin. I strongly suggest taking Chris up on his offer, his ruling could even set a precedent for your own issues. Lastly, if it was me that had to go through this crap I would still be super ticked even if I got all my money back and I would want to get back at them for sure. Obviously for one citizen it's hard to go against big corp, but this sounds like the perfect issue for the investigative news media to latch on to, like Market Place or The Fifth Estate. Can you imagine the potential class action lawsuits. I can't imagine a better revenge ? Good luck guys. Cheers

Just a reminder that just because someone reports a certain ice thickness don't assume that the whole waterbody is consistent. For instance on Mississippi lake there is up to 15" in some areas while in another two vehicles recently went through with one death. Be careful, it's been kind of a crappy season so far with fluctuating temps. Cheers

Things are getting scary down in Athens are they Len?

Looks good, amazing how much better fresh parm is compared to the shaker. Big difference. Cheers

Check out imgur. Simple and easy to use.

Now that's a great outing. Love those sunset pics with the fish, well done. Cheers

Yea the drawing does not show the tenderloin. OI loin and backstrap is the same thing, the tenderloin is under the spine in the body cavity, usually accessed after the animal is gutted. Cheers

I remember when I got my first one back in the early 80's the book said to use a couple pieces of wood across the top of the smoker and then put the rack on top of them and then the cardboard box over the racks as a cover. It actually said to keep the box for cold smoking. Now this was for the top loader, wouldn't work for the front loader, although I do have two sets of racks still. Dougie by the bottom tray if you mean the drip tray mine never lasted long anyway and I never missed them at all, in fact I always figured they blocked off a lot of the smoke in the middle of the chamber. Cheers

That's an interesting marinade. I'm envisioning long strips of 1/4" tenderloin overnite, and then into a birthday gift from my daughter to break it in. I've had two top loaders in the past, still have one working unit, last pan is about burned out, even with foil. A small cast iron sorta works, but it's not a strong smoke, you can tell by the vents.

Have you tried Windfinder? I find it to be fairly accurate. Cheers

Yea looks good for sure. I've always cut my jerky cross grain and narrower strips so I can rip a piece off and then work on it. You prefer it it that way I take it? I bet it takes a lot more jaw work lol.

Hmm, I couldn't find the ratio of curing salt in the mix but I think it's safe to say that close to 90% of that is just flavouring, you could add your own for far less money. For instance if you go by the recipe that I use it would take 100g of cure for 10 qts of brine, so just 2 or 3 bucks. I would just go visit a butcher who does any smoking. Cheers

Sure no prob, here's the base recipe I use. https://nwedible.com/how-to-make-canadian-bacon-at-home/ One thing for sure is that from now on I will be brining the meat for for much longer than the recipe calls for, like I did this time. After chatting with Doug I'm sure that's why there was much more flavour to the meat this time, besides the smoke. He does it for 7 days and his mentor actually goes 10 days. One more thing. I got my curing salt from a local butcher, it wasn't pink. He wasn't sure exactly what the nitrite ratio was but told me for 10lbs of meat to use 2oz of cure, so I used 56g instead of the 40 the recipe calls for. Cheers

Totally agree with that. I don't even think I have any regular salt in the house. Pickling salt and Himalayan for sure and I think wifey has some sea salt which I believe does naturally have some iodine, but nothing like table salt. Cheers

Yea I remember you posting that a while back. I too would have thought them too lean. My freezer is due for clean out soon and I'm sure there's some tenderloins in there somewhere, I'll have to try that for sure. Dougie is your recipe much different than this one? https://nwedible.com/how-to-make-canadian-bacon-at-home/ If so maybe I'll try yours for the tenderloin if you could pass it on. Tks bud. Cheers

Well I didn't do anything crazy different this time for my pork loin brine but OMG did it ever turn out great this time, my best one yet. It did sit for a full six days this time instead of 3-4 and I added lots of fresh thyme this time as well as the usual double the garlic and extra fresh bay leaves. Maybe it was the Jack Daniels smoker pellets in the first two pans. Whatever it was, the bacon on a kaiser I had last night was the best I've ever had, along with a great bowl of homemade tomato soup made with my own tomatoes. For $1.44 lb it's definitely the best deal for the money I could ever get.

To tell the truth I wouldn't worry about temp so much. That setup will promote stale smoke. The main idea is to smoke and flavour them anyways, they can always be finished in the oven or grill or pan. I bought my first Big Chief smoker back in the 80's at Laurentian Trading Post in Ottawa and on a good day in the summer you might hit 160°, so it's a warm smoke at best. I've never had to finish anything but pork loins in the oven, they get to around 125° after 4-5 hours. On windy days a good tall windbreak sure does help a lot, both in retaining heat but also allowing the smoke to naturally flow out of the vents, which is how they are designed to work best. Speaking of which, I'm glad I visited this thread tonight because it reminded me that I've had two loins in brine for 6 days now. lol So they are now rinsed and dried and resting on my kitchen table on racks over a cookie sheet. Later I will put them in the basement fridge overnight and into the smoker tomorrow. Looking forward to some fresh Canadian bacon. I might even be able to trade some for smoked steelies. That's a good trade off for me. Cheers