Text 13624, 50 rader
Skriven 2007-04-01 04:50:44 av Ian Hoare
     Kommentar till en text av Dale Shipp
Ärende: Re: meats 284
=====================
Hi Dale, 

 le/on Fri, 30 Mar 2007 23:19:02 -0400, tu disais/you said:-

>DSh>> I've got apple chips which I am using on pork plus some others to try in
the future.

>
> ML> It makes a difference; 
>
>Dsh> I'm sure that there are differences, just not sure that I will be able to
notice them.

I think there's enough of a difference between oak and apple for you to
notice. Especially if you smoke quite heavily. BUT....
>
> The pork came out very tender and juicy, with a light smoke
> flavor.  If anything, I was too cautious about over smoking this time.

This is really what I wanted to comment on. I'm sure you're right to go
light on the smoke. In my view (for what it's worth), smoking as one uses it
nowadays isn't there to preserve meat any more, as it was once. It is there
purely to enhance the flavour - not substitute for it. Same goes for salt,
really. I'm not saying that salting and/or curing doesn't conserve meat, it
does - but that's not really why we do it. We are seeking to give our meat
another flavour - be it corning for beef or salting (which is substiantially
identical) for pork to make hams or dry cure bacon, or brining to make "salt
pork". 

What I found truly salutary, was the difference that using good pork makes.
That's more important - in my view (as always) - than the subtleties of
difference between using oak or chestnut to smoke. Of course, the vendors of
different smoking woods will try to tell you otherwise, but you'd do better
from the point of view of excellence to spend your effort in seeing if you
can't find someone who raises really good hogs, and sells them. We know they
CAN be found, because if you remember when we came to stay with you, we were
on our (leisurely) way down to our friends in East TN and while we were
there, we helped them deal with the hawg their neighbour had been fattening
for them.

I'd forgotten that it IS still possible to find tasty pork. What's a shame
is that it's getting increasingly hard here just as it is for you.

-- 
All the Best
Ian Hoare
http://www.souvigne.com
mailbox full to avoid spam. try me at website
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