Time to make more sourdough! One week later, the last loaf is gone. It was great, so I’m going to try to do that again. Even though the dough was a bit too fluid for me, the result was great, so I’m going to measure with the weights again.
Evening, 17 May: did the pre-ferment.
All In
0810, 18 May: things are smelling great! I put the rest of the ingredients together and mixed them up. Got all measurements very close.
… Read more »Gonna try to make it lighter this time by catching it at peak rise.
1900, 10 May: made pre-ferment. Measured by weight, which resulted in less ingredients by volume than he recommends.
0945, 11 May: added rest of flour and ingredients.
1145: finished stretching/folding.
1700: it still hasn’t risen as much as I’d hope for. It’s certainly risen, but it’s taking its time.
1900: the book recommends letting it increase by 50% by volume. Has this increased in volume by 50%? Maybe. Hard to say. Based on height compared to splatter in the bowl, I’d guess that it has. Time for the next step.
… Read more »I made a couple loaves of bread a couple weeks ago, based on a recipe in this book Sarah asked for, Josie Baker Bread. It was good, but actually not as good as when Sarah makes bread out of the book. Mine was not mixed uniformly (the two types of flour were a little noticeable in the end product), and it was saltier than it should have been. When Sarah makes bread from these recipes, it comes out amazing. Like, I’ve eaten half a loaf immediately and only stopped because sense eventually creeped into my head again. It’s great bread.
… Read more »This is lamb weekend. Some folks call it Easter weekend. I’m doing two legs of lamb - right leg and left leg. Both are about 4.7 lbs, $5.99 per pound. Today, Saturday, I’m going to smoke one based on this recipe, and tomorrow I’m going to Sous Vide one based on the same recipe I’ve used in the past. Sarah likes meat more well-done than I do, and with lamb I don’t mind that much, so my target is medium-well.
… Read more »We’ve got some of Sarah’s best friends in town, and some of their family is coming over Sunday, so I’m busting out the smoker to feed everybody. Time for some pulled pork!
2030, Friday: salted the 15 lbs butt with 2.5 Tbsp salt. It’s in the fridge now until Saturday night, when I’ll put 1 cup rub on and start it smoking at 225℉.
2215, Saturday: put the butt on the smoker at 225℉, after putting the rub on.
… Read more »One of my best buddies got us some steaks for our wedding, and now it’s time to smoke a couple of them! Four of the steaks are half pound fillet mignons, so I’m smoking two. I’m wrapping two slices of applewood bacon around each steak, putting 1/4 tsp salt on each, and smoking them at 225℉. I’ll use the thermometers, smoking them to 130℉, then searing top and bottom on cast iron.
… Read more »Alright, time for more beef jerky. This time I found top round roast for $3.99 per pound. I’m using the same recipe as last time, but it’s 3.5 lbs so I multiplied the marinade by about 1.5. I sliced the meat more along the grain than last time, and also slightly thicker.
1530: Meat is in the marinade.
1020 Sunday: Meat is on the smoker, 175℉, vents half open this time cause why not, that’s what I normally do.
… Read more »We have a leftover chicken in the freezer, so it’s time to grill up a whole chicken again! We thawed it in the fridge over a couple days, then I marinated it in a bottle of Jerk sauce. I still haven’t found a great bottle of Jerk sauce - none are even approaching the right spiciness. Oh well. The chicken is medium sized, not as large as a roaster.
1910: Started butterflied chicken on the grill, cold side, skin up, legs towards the fire. I drizzled the bag of marinade over the raw chicken. When the breasts hit 130℉ and the legs 145℉ or so, I’ll flip it over and hit the skin for 5 minutes until breasts are 145℉ or so.
… Read more »Smoked salmon is one of my favorite foods. A luxury, truly. But, it’s much more reasonable when you can smoke it yourself. Salmon prices are at $8.99 a pound at Costco right now, which is a couple bucks more than I’m used to. Still worth it.
I’m using the same recipe I always use, with a bit over 5 lbs of salmon. This salmon was packed a couple days ago, unusually. Normally the Costco salmon on display is all packed the same day. It must sell out quickly, it is always beautiful. This fish still had a sell by day 4 days in the future, though. And it still looked beautiful. There was little liquid in the tray, the fillets were spotless… And they were $1 less per pound than the same day-packed stuff. Unpackaging the salmon, I sniffed for any unexpected scents, and looked for any defects with the fish. I found none.
… Read more »My brother-in-law gave me a taste of some of his homemade beef jerky a couple weekends ago, and it was fantastic! Apparently it was also easy to make. Easy, delicious, I’m gonna try it! He used a dehydrator, but I plan to use a smoker to keep my wife’s dehydrator from getting strong flavors stuck in it.
https://www.foxvalleyfoodie.com/homemade-beef-jerky
Jason’s Recommended Starting Recipe
I got a 2.5 lbs bottom round steak, sliced it thin, then started it in the marinade below at 2130. I plan to marinade for over 12 hours, then smoke the slices at 175℉ for 4 hours or so.
… Read more »