smitty55

I used to go in June or early July and the bugs can be so bad that it kind of wrecks the trip. This year being so late and wet bad reports were coming in well into July. We always ended up going in late July or early August. Bugs were about done by then, fishing was just as good if not better and the water was actually warm enough to enjoy a swim. If you end up booking at Alwaki or Kipawa let me know, I have maps made up for Walleye spots and a pile of Laker runs all around that area down to Hunters Lake. Both Alwaki and Kipawa lodges are well known for their excellent customer service and Barb's kitchen at Kipawa lodge is famous. You can't go wrong with either. Cheers

By far your best bet is to join the Kipawa forums for info. You can go through all the trip reports as well as going through all the other posts. http://kipawafishingforum.net/index.php Personally I'm a huge fan of the hub area, having stayed at Corbeau Lodge (now privately owned by Eric Lindros) and Alwaki Lodge, which is a 14 mile boat ride from the main dock. Another 8 miles further brings you to Kipawa Lodge, generally regarded as the highest rated lodge in the whole system. About ten years back Smallmouth bass got in to the North end of the system and have now migrated down to the hub area. 3 Seasons Camp averages over 3lb with the largest being around 8lb. https://www.kipawalodge.com/ https://www.facebook.com/KipawaLodge/ https://www.alwakilodge.com/

Nothing at all Chris, no text no pics.

You may be surprised, a lot of cleaning and repairs are like $30 from what I've heard.

So yesterday when I was in Kanata and stopped by a Sobeys. This is high tech central area and there is a large oriental population so this store seems to carry a more varied produce section than most. Anyway I notice a pile of large trays just loaded with small Thai Chili peppers like 200-300 hundred in each tray. Dirt cheap too, just over $3 so I couldn't refuse. Figured I'd dehydrate them. So I'm looking at them around noon today and I said to myself I bet they'd be good smoked. ?️ So I found a metal fruit basket to hold most of them that just fit in the smoker and a splatter screen to hold the rest. I also filled a pie plate with paprika, it's hard and expensive to find good smoked paprika these days. So after 5 hours and 4 pans of chips they were getting fairly dry but I'll have to finish them in the dehydrator for sure. The ones in the basket were second shelf up and they all turned pretty dark but the ones two shelves up didn't darken much, but they sure smell good. Regardless, I'm looking forward to trying them, I'll leave a bunch whole and grind up the rest, should be good for the year, these are pretty hot peppers, in the 50,000-100.000 SHU range, so I won't be using lots at a time. The pic doesn't show the color well except for a few as I dumped the screen load on the top.

Right near the beginning she asks him if there is anything else added like nitrates and he said no, only salt and brown sugar. It sure does look like nice bacon, I really like thick sliced. My local butcher makes great bacon and he uses a cure. He said it's not worth taking the chance on someone getting real sick. I agree, specially for the home smoker like us. Cheers

It depends on what and how you are curing when it comes to using nitrates. Also called Pink curing salt #2. It contains 6.25% sodium nitrite, 4% sodium nitrate, and 89.75% table salt. The sodium nitrate found in Prague powder #2 gradually breaks down over time into sodium nitrite, and by that time a dry cured sausage is ready to be eaten, no sodium nitrate should be left. Nitrites inhibit the growth of anaerobic bacteria, which logically inhibits toxin production. Nitrates turn into nitrites over time which makes them a time-release form of the inhibiting compound. Two Forms of Pink Salt Pink salt comes in two forms: cure No. 1 and cure No. 2. Cure No. 1 pink salt is used to cure all meats that require cooking, brining, smoking, or canning. This includes poultry, fish, ham, bacon, luncheon meats, corned beef, pates, and other products. It is 93.75 percent table salt and 6.25 percent sodium nitrite. It is used at a rate of 1 teaspoon per 5 pounds of ground meat. If you are using it for a brine, you use 1/2 cup InstaCure No. 1 per gallon of water, plus 1 3/4 cup table salt, 2 1/4 tablespoon sugar, and any spices you wish. Cure No. 2 is formulated for dry cured products such as pepperoni, hard salami, prosciutti hams, dried sausages, and other products which do not require cooking, smoking, or refrigeration. One level teaspoon (a mix of 1 ounce sodium nitrite (6.25 percent), 0.64 ounces sodium nitrate (4 percent) to 1 pound of salt) is used per 5 pounds of meat. People often ask if they can cure meats without nitrites and just increase the salt. Salt inhibits bot's growth, but won't kill it. Neither will vinegar. You should not attempt to cure meat at home without a curing salt. Note that if you decide to use a nitrate-free cure, you should recognize that there is an increased risk from pathogens when consuming the cured meat. You may also want to shorten the curing time to limit bacterial growth. Lastly, botulism spores are not killed by cooking in a water bath, it requires temps over 240°F which requires the use of a pressure cooker/canner. That being said, the farmer up the road still cans lots of beef each year and she still just uses a water bath method for 10+ hours, just like the old days. This is a good site to visit. https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/salting-brining-curing-and-injecting/science-curing-meats-safely Cheers

That last pic looks so rich and sticky, oh yea!

Here's something to consider for a reasonable price , a reel that has a long history of durability and quality. 3 SS Bearings, lifetime bail spring, built to work. http://www.daiwa.com/us/contents/reels/ss_t/index.html

OI it's just another variation of dill pickles, just like cukes or dilly beans. So long as fresh carrots are used they stay crisp forever. It's all about the taste and a fairly unique pickle to dress up the plate. They don't work well on a burger though, too crunchy compared to a regular dill slice. Like Spiel said they are delicious. Of course I use my own fresh garlic and at least double the amount. Cheers

Not sure how many here are into preserving but we do a lot of pickling here. I used to a lot of dills but after discovering dilled carrots I always do those anymore. Always nice and crunchy and a huge hit at family gatherings. So the other day I picked up 15lb of fresh picked young carrots from a hobby farm a few miles away. I always make around half of the batches hot, adding 1 chili pepper to pints and 2 to a quart jar. This time the only peppers I could find locally were scotch bonnet, way hotter than chilies. So for the first batch of 6 quarts I added half a pepper to each jar and have my fingers crossed that they won't be too hot. The next batch was 9 pints with no heat added. There are enough left for one more smaller batch but I think I will just add some chili flakes this time. So for those who like their dills I highly recommend trying dilled carrots.

Like Dougie said you have to use a curing salt to prevent botulism. I wouldn't worry about it, if it was that bad for you we would all be dead with the amount of cured meats we've all eaten over our lifetimes. The pink in some curing salts is just coloring that is used to differentiate it from regular salts. Actually the one I buy from my local butcher is white, I just make sure to mark the bag. Mesquite and/or hickory works fine for pork, but in reality any wood will work, but the stronger flavours are preferred. Cheers

Brian I haven't bought back bacon since I started doing my own in my Big Chief. There is no comparison to store bought. I'm pretty sure I posted some pics in the past of the process I did with my loins. I buy them when they go on sale for like $2lb. Here's the recipe I basically use. http://nwedible.com/how-to-make-canadian-bacon-at-home/ I increase the garlic lots and all the spices, it's my own garlic and Bay leaf. I also find it has more flavour when marinated for 5 or 6 days rather than the 3-4 in the recipe. 3 or 4 pans of chips over 4 or 5 hours while rotating racks half way. Then finish in the oven to 150°. I've mentioned this before too but next time you do pork chops try a good coating of curry on one side. I did it on a whim one time and now always use it. Cheers

Great pics

I initially bought some from a garlic grower but since then I just plant my own so its all free. I grow mostly music which has large cloves and not many, so around fifty bulbs used for replanting in November.

This is my third time trying this, everything keeps getting mixed up and out of order and I can't find out how to delete the post. Not exactly a cooking post but quite related. I grow 200 garlic each year, my favorite crop that gets used steady for a good ten months. Super easy to grow and close to free every year after. So from just before removing scapes, to just before harvest, to curing for two or three weeks across a ladder, to final cure on the rack before going into the basement on that rack after final root and stem trimming.

Wow, you really haven't a clue of what your talking about. The fact that you don't even know anyone who partakes just proves the point. I've seen enough people ruin their life and even die from excessive boozing, not one from toking pot.

Wow, I'm surprised this thread has fallen so far back onto the second page. Nothing too exciting to post, but breaking in a new smoker is always good. So in go two pans of chips to get it warmed up. In the meantime two packs of pork chops get well seasoned on both sides. This smoker was a gift, a front loading Big Chief. I must say I much prefer the top loader, I can load the whole rack in the house and then slide it into the smoker. The racks in the front loader aren't very stable, the brackets they slide in on are only in the front and back so it's easy for the rack to slide off. But being new it sure heats up well and puts out way more smoke than my old ones. So I went with one pan of Hickory chips and then a pan of Jack Daniel pellets. Boy do they ever taste good, I could never do with plain old chops anymore. Next up I will be making up a rub for two racks of ribs I have in the fridge just waiting to get smoked. Looking forward to that for sure.

Yea they may work but the question is still how well does it work and for how long. It's like using real cheap fishing line to me, not a chance. The standard el cheapo dollar store crap HDMI is only standard rated, not high speed. Plus they use the cheapest materials and labour to manufacture them. Plus it's definitely even worse for longer runs, you absolutely need quality cables. Standard HDMI is only rated to 1080i, maybe 1080p, not even close to handling the data flow from blue ray or 4K signals let alone handle gaming. I'm like that with everything I use, a good habit I learned many years back. You'll never regret buying quality, but often regret buying junk is my motto. No need to go bonkers. Take Monster cables for example, yea they're good quality for sure, but they're still way over priced and over hyped IMO. I'll leave with this. So lets say a new smart TV of decent size and quality brand runs $750-$1G. Wow, it has 3 HDMI inputs, right on. Well on the other side of that chassis are internal HDMI cables. For that kind of money spent, there will be very high quality components inside. No one would expect or accept dollar store quality cheap crap. So why use it between devices then? Cheers

I agree, when it comes to electronics and connectors I would never buy the cheapest crap. No need to buy the most expensive but buying quality is seldom a mistake. Cheers

If he's smart he'd take you up on that offer, I sure would.

Have you checked out Charleston Lake PP? 20km East to Smith Falls then a half hour south gets you to the village or a tad further around the lake to get to the park itself. It also has water access campgrounds but there wouldn't be hydro there. Lakeline Lodge has cabins for rent as well and possibly some camping spots. Kelsey's trailer park is right there as well. It's a gorgeous lake. https://www.ontarioparks.com/park/charlestonlake https://lakelinelodge.com/ Cheers

The In-Fisherman system has been around for a long time and it still applies today. https://www.in-fisherman.com/editorial/the-in-fisherman-system/153683 Cheers

Yea that's why I said generally, there will always be exceptions of course for skinny or very fat fish. Sometimes it can depend on certain waterbodies as well that have poor or amazing forage bases. I was mostly going by fish I have caught and weighed. Cheers

As a general rule I've always found that 25"=5lb, 26'=6lb, 27'=7lb... 30"=10lb, 31"=11lb etc. I've never caught anything bigger than 31.5" which actually was 11.5 lb too so I can't really say when they get bigger than that. Cheers