The deed is done!

[di]

Well Done Snadge....and pleased it was a good evening for your Barbie!
We're preparing ourselves for a late summer barbie courtesy of some of our boys,although I'm afraid I must raise my hand & admit we'll ask one of the boys at the lottie to do the deed for us!

[frias]

Ah ha!!!!!! how wrong can you be..........a lovely balmy evening was enjoyed by all!

I'm pleased for you really. We had rain during the day but I thought the evening was cold. Even had to put a cardi on.

[hmk]

but no gutting yet as I've been told not bother with wild birds, just take the breast meat. But the next one is going to be a full 'prep' as I'm always a bit disappointed with myself for not seeing it through.

I've only prepaered pheasants, and was told to that too, but it seemed a terrible waste, so I followed Sophie Grigsons instructions in Feasts for a Fiver. As the birds are cold you peel the skin off with the feathers in, instead of plucking and it was easy to do. It means you can't roast the birds, but casserole/joint up fine.

I was a vegetarian for mostly welfare reasons for 20 years, until about 2 months ago (will now eat what DH calls my 'happy meat') when I changed for a few reasons, so I did it as a veggie and it was ok- no smell, even from one we hung a bit longer than we meant to.
The children were fascinated by the anatomy (crop and stomach full of grain, chambers of heart, bladder, tendons in legs etc. It was easier to work out internal organs over a kitchen sink than over a bin on an allotment!

Glad you had a good BBQ Snadger, and well done you.

HMK

[walldanzig]

I'm lucky my father in law is the local butcher and has also doubled up as a slaughter man in his time

[lizzylemon]

I really enjoyed the plucking once I got over touching a dead bird (I kept worrying it would spring to life and peck me [country mouse that's watched far too many horror films!]) and so I'm pretty sure it's just the idea of the smell that stops me from doing the whole thing. Although why it's different from the countless fish I've gutted (and minutely inspected) over the years I don't know. Next time!!!!!!

[AnneRatty]

Thanks for sharing the info/experience with us all snadge. We had to dispatch one of our chooks recently (the one who had the stroke..she seemed to recover for about a month, then went downhill again rapidly) but I wasn't sure how to do it so we ended up taking her back to the supplier who did the deed and showed us 'how to'...exactly as you descibed. At least now I know what to do, and we are toying with the idea of raising chooks for the table...now we just need to get on with it!

We are currently in the process of building a 'smokehouse' to do our own bacon - we have a rarebreed pig going for slaughter in a few weeks time, and want to do the butchering and curing ourselves!! Her sisters went for pork a month ago and taste divine!! Amazing how a good relaxed life makes it all taste soooo much better. Want to do the same with chooks.

[Hilary B]

Thanks for sharing the info/experience with us all snadge. We had to dispatch one of our chooks recently (the one who had the stroke..she seemed to recover for about a month, then went downhill again rapidly) but I wasn't sure how to do it so we ended up taking her back to the supplier who did the deed and showed us 'how to'...exactly as you descibed. At least now I know what to do, and we are toying with the idea of raising chooks for the table...now we just need to get on with it!

We are currently in the process of building a 'smokehouse' to do our own bacon - we have a rarebreed pig going for slaughter in a few weeks time, and want to do the butchering and curing ourselves!! Her sisters went for pork a month ago and taste divine!! Amazing how a good relaxed life makes it all taste soooo much better. Want to do the same with chooks.

I tried brine cure, and dry cure bacon. I prefer dry cure. The books say you need saltpetre. Ours was always fine without. Smoking is an optional extra. The trick with the smokehouse is to ensure that the smoke is cool/cold by the time it gets near the meat.

[AnneRatty]

Thanks for that Hilary B. Info will be incorporated into the learning curve! It's a steep one, but such fun...and very tasty.

[Snadger]

Cold smoking is best but I'ts quite simple to hot smoke a trout in 20 mins!

I made a smoker out of two basting trays hinged together, a piece of wire mesh for the meat/fish and a small bean tin of meths for the heat source.

A thin layer of oakdust on the bottom, put fish on wire mesh, stand smoker on two bricks, tin of lighted meths underneath and 'Bobs your Uncle' hotsmoked and cooked rainbow trout!

[Hilary B]

Cold smoking is best but I'ts quite simple to hot smoke a trout in 20 mins!

I made a smoker out of two basting trays hinged together, a piece of wire mesh for the meat/fish and a small bean tin of meths for the heat source.

A thin layer of oakdust on the bottom, put fish on wire mesh, stand smoker on two bricks, tin of lighted meths underneath and 'Bobs your Uncle' hotsmoked and cooked rainbow trout!

You can hotsmoke oily fish (like salmon and trout, mackerel too), if it is for immediate use, but bacon should always be cold-smoked, because the idea is for it to keep, and hotsmoking isn't for keeping!

Cold smoker often works best if the smoke has to travel horizontally to reach the smoking chamber....

[Snadger]

You can hotsmoke oily fish (like salmon and trout, mackerel too), if it is for immediate use, but bacon should always be cold-smoked, because the idea is for it to keep, and hotsmoking isn't for keeping!

Cold smoker often works best if the smoke has to travel horizontally to reach the smoking chamber....

I've always had a hankering for linking a pipe to my woodburner, running it horizontally across the allotment (a soil trench will do, coverd with tin sheeting) and linking it to an old fridge or cooker with a hole in the top! I suppose I'd have to stop burning chipboard then and only burn hardwood. Just been offered a mountain of logged Leylandi this very evening...............Leylandi flavoured sausages anyone!

[Hilary B]

I've always had a hankering for linking a pipe to my woodburner, running it horizontally across the allotment (a soil trench will do, coverd with tin sheeting) and linking it to an old fridge or cooker with a hole in the top! I suppose I'd have to stop burning chipboard then and only burn hardwood. Just been offered a mountain of logged Leylandi this very evening...............Leylandi flavoured sausages anyone!

Neighbour of mine in Orkney built a plywood 'smoking box' connected to the woodburner by a length of flue liner.........
Not sure about using coniferous wood for smoking, might be OK, might not.....
My fish smoker (cold-smoking as final stage in drying whole small fish) was a cupboard the size (and shape) of a very small wardrobe. Fishes tied in pairs by the tails after 24 hours in salt, hung over dowel rods in top half of cupboard. The 'fire' was peat fuel in a biscuit tin in the base, ignited with odments of wood (from broken pallets). I was helped with design by the same neighbour who made the bigger smoker....

[AnneRatty]

W've used an old bin (not galvanised) and put a few controlled airvents in the bottom (to help control the temp of the fire - just want it smouldering) attached a 5ft piece of industrial kitchen flue to take the smoke to the smoke house which is being built as we 'speak' - a small 'wardrobe-sized' box sitting on breeze-blocks which allows the smoke-flue to come in from underneath.

Any conifer/pine wood is apparently not good to use for the fire as it gives off too strong a smell and will flavour the meat. Best wood for the smoking is any fruit wood or oak/hickory and soak it in water first so it gives off lots of smoke instead of burning hot. So we will be experimenting with different flavours to see what works best. Can't wait.

If anybody else out there wants to have a go, there is a fab website Cowgirl's Country Life: Building a cold smoker (smokehouse)
where she descibes in detail and with great photos how to build and use your smokehouse.

[Hilary B]

W've used an old bin (not galvanised) and put a few controlled airvents in the bottom (to help control the temp of the fire - just want it smouldering) attached a 5ft piece of industrial kitchen flue to take the smoke to the smoke house which is being built as we 'speak' - a small 'wardrobe-sized' box sitting on breeze-blocks which allows the smoke-flue to come in from underneath.

Any conifer/pine wood is apparently not good to use for the fire as it gives off too strong a smell and will flavour the meat. Best wood for the smoking is any fruit wood or oak/hickory and soak it in water first so it gives off lots of smoke instead of burning hot. So we will be experimenting with different flavours to see what works best. Can't wait.

If anybody else out there wants to have a go, there is a fab website Cowgirl's Country Life: Building a cold smoker (smokehouse)
where she descibes in detail and with great photos how to build and use your smokehouse.

The old way to do the fire was to use 'chippings' of suitable wood and ignite them by placing a thoroughly heated lump of iron in the heap. There are small commercial smokehouses that still use this method.
However you do it, the difficult bit is getting it to burn at all under conditions that produce plenty of cool smoke. Considering how readily a fire will smoke when you DON'T want it to, it is comically annoying how hard it can be to get it to do so 'on command'!
If you can get hold of peat-fuel (still used in some remote parts of Scotland and the Islands) that is good too, and burns nicely for the purpose.

[CoraxAurata]

Bluemoon- I don't do the killing myself yet as am also concerned about doing it quickly and cleanly especially ducks they are so strong! but have been skinning/plucking gutting etc all shapes and sizes of creature since I was a kid.
I have previously and plan in the future to have several birds ready at one time, my neigbour will do the deed, and help with some plucking and gets a bird (or so) to take home wilst I stock my freezer a little- it also means I can tell OH he's not eating his favorite as Mr B took that one

HMK -Am also a "happy" only meat eater especially poultry,

Snager - neatly done! And a tip for cutting off bits - a clean (or new) pair of garden secators (I keep a curve blade one specially) is easy and quick and allows your knife to keep its edge too!