We are prepping 20 butts, if they finish thawing in time, and injecting Tom night for a Saturday cook. We do an annual Smoke out Hunger Campaign for our Local City union Mission and Hope House. this year we raised funds and purchased 650lbs of butts, briskets and kielbasa sausage.

PaPaSmokes

thanks for the add, im from Lone Jack, Mo. and i have been smoking for 20+ years, started on my original Oklahoma Joes Offset and a weber. I have since graduated to a Pitmaker Vault which i absolutely Love and just acquired a PK100 to begin my sausage journey with. I started selling bacon and bbq about 3 years ago as all my friends said i should. we have developed some distinct flavors and people seem to be receptive so im moving on. i built a purpose built kitchen in my back yard and hope to have the local health inspector come and tell me what else i need besides a 3 compartment sink. everything else is stainless and up to par, i think… i have learned so much in just the 2 days ive been in this community, i hope i can impart knowledge of my successes and failures as well as glean some myself moving forward.
I cook on a Pitmaker Vault as previously mentioned and a PK100, love them both, Bacon seems to be my biggest strength with brisket and pulled pork a close 2nd. i hope to get up to speed quickly on sausage as well.

mines a bit different as i smoke for the Local homeless shelters and the local Hope House which is a shelter for abused women and children. we do an annual “Smoke out Hunger” Campaign. This year were doing 650lbs of brisket, pork butt and sausage. the first 20 butts go on this Saturday, we did 150lbs of sausage a few weeks back. keep us in your prayers as we embark on this massive amount of meat, at least to us its massive.

Deepwoodsbutcher yea I think I’ll read up on them before I just jump in. A friendly online rivalry, I hope to be in a forum where we give and receive insight on smoking. We are all on the same journey just different places in line. I want to impart knowledge on the things I’ve been successful in and glean insight on my lacking areas.

Steven Winscot this part of the homeless cook we are working on this month. 650 pounds of sausage, brisket and pulled pork.

i just added the smoker room due to the need for better ventilation and CO! thats a story for another day. All i can say is watch the CO in your enclosed spaces. i need to take some finish pics with all the drywall sanded, painted and pics hung. looking forward to seeing and hearing your escapades and cooks.

Yea I just went out and bought a knife for every plate. I guess I’ll etch and number them so I can keep them straight. I’m gonnna order that lapping plate, it’s small and I can keep it with the gear and touch up. I opted to get the regular knives, I hear L*M makes a higher grade of knife but we will see how long these last first.

PaPaSmokes

The family wanted the ole smash burgers, soooo we did!

processhead I mentioned that because I think someone said there wasn’t enough cure in those premade seasoning packages.

Dave in AZ I appreciate the post, I have cure on hand for all the bacon I sell. I am going to look into this eco cure I just learned of.

If I wanted to take some of the fresh best recipes and do the steppes Smoke plan then is it ok to add the right amount of cure and continue on? Are their recipes that are not advised to add cure snd slow smoke?

So when a product labeled maple cure says in the ingredients that it has nitrite in it then it’s the correct amount for the mix you need for a given poundage of meat.

twilliams you did raise my curiosity with the cure that comes in the mixes from PS and Bearded Butchers. you say its not enough cure to meet the stepped slow smoking method? how do you tell this and what can one do if this is true? i wonder why they dont put enough in the mix to send.

twilliams you are absolutely right, the 12.5 lbs i did in the cheesy brats did not have cure as the packet was just their brat flavoring, so my sense of just freezing and immediately cooking was right. so back to the point of salinity, the only thing i can do is either use less prepackaged spices, thus taking out other flavor too, or add more meat. luckily, im told its just me as a couple of other taste testers we use as our guinea pigs say its great.

Denny O to keep novices… I assume the time factors are more subjective. Although all the big sausage guys I follow say the same thing. Makes me wonder about the real tone factors. I, too am a lifer in the construction world as a commercial builder and General contractor for over 40 years. I’m wanting this new bbq business to be my retirement years spending money…

@Denny- my other taste testers say it tasted great and no saltiness to them. Maybe it’s just me as I do not use much salt myself.