Hi Jim, I like "charcuterie" for the forum name. There are SO many possible topics and threads in a forum like this. You could have threads on improvised smokers, fermented sausages, air drying, cuts of meat, cold smoking, hot smoking, etc. and maybe even have threads drifting over into what to serve with the cured products - various mustards, sauerkraut, etc. I'm thinking there might be something like the recurring best BLT recipes on the tomato forum - but more like what's the best bread or pickle or mustard, etc. to go with the charcuterie. Well, you get my drift, the possibilities are seemingly endless - at least to me ;) I think also, that with a title like that you might be able to get some interest from the people on the cooking forum. Have you posted there yet, suggesting that they sound in on things? Anne

Another post that is now public: I would like to make to a kind of Italian sausage (what else would a Jersey girl make) with the pork and venision -- I don't have a smoker... any suggestions? My reply: OK, start with lots of garlic, and you can even add things like rosemary, oregano, thyme, sweet peppers, onion, and even cheese. The onion and peppers I use are dried and don't add more water. The cheese I use is a high melting point cheddar that's cubed, available from one of my sources. All these are also available from the sausage making suppliers. If you like fennel seeds, add that too with a little anise seed. When I do fennel, I grind some in a small coffee grinder and use some whole as well. Also, ground black pepper and coriander are useful as is sage (easy on sage, its hot spicy). I use fresh and dried garlic and any recipe that calls for it I usually double or triple that amount. If the venison is gamey tasting, you can also add a little ground up juniper berries. They take away some gamey taste, but go easy. Italian sausages are usually all pork, no beef, but as mentioned, salami and pepperoni are OK with beef, and pork or venison, as is summer sausages. Things like hot dogs and bologna are pureed meat with cereal or soy added. For a smoky taste, I use liquid smoke. They sell small bottles of Wrights Liquid smoke in some supermarkets near steak sauces, but I usually buy a half gallon bottle from a sausage maker supplier and use maybe 2-3 tablespoons on a 10 pound batch, unless I want a lot of smoky taste. I also make a really good Canadian bacon that uses a whole boneless pork loin. I get a ham or bacon brine cure mixture and inject it into the pork. Then I place the injected pork in a big vacuum tight vessel and fill it with the brine and pull a vacuum on it for 1-2 days. THis last time, I added some maple syrup to give it a special tang. It too gets liquid hickory smoke flavor. Baked slowly at 200 degrees about 6 hours. Cooled, chilled and sliced. Then, I use a Food Saver machine to pack small amounts of it. Store cost about $6+ a pound, my cost under $2.00 a pound!! I have a decent digital scale that also weighs grams. I use Nitrites in all my sausages as they are not completely done in a refrigerated environment like they do commercially. The Nitrite amounts are tiny and that's what gives cold cuts their red color. They are tinted pink and are mixed with salt, so the ratio is easier and more accurate to measure. That's the main reason I don't use Morton Tender Quick, as you have little control if its added too much. I make pastrami out of corned beef, but simply coating them before they are slowly baked. A year ago, I made about 40 pounds of pepperoni and salami each, and the were not only baked very slowly (8 hours at under 200 degrees), but also dry cured for about a month at room temps and refrigerated. I used fibrous casings that are not edible, as I stuff these casings very tightly with the meats. Using edible collagen or fresh casings will burst if I were to use them. So, when I want to slice the salami and pepperoni I peel it first. I gave some to a kid who though it was a bit tough, until I asked him if he has peeled it beforehand.. DUH!! I have a professional meat slicer too as well as some vacuum systems I use to marinate and do a little home canning with. As mentioned, after mixing and before stuffing, cook a tiny sample and taste to see if it suits your taste buds.

I guess I have been waiting for this forum to get started without putting in my proper request. I would love to add to my 4 or 5 sausage recipes and learn properly how to do it. I have been reluctant to start an area I have so much interest in but I perceive it to be very complicated. In addition, it take a sizable investment that you don't want to go to waste. If you are going to do it, and because it involves fresh meats and possible contamination, I believe it is critical to do it safely. I read Ken Rogers posts always in AWE with respect to his knowledge and experience and with the Harvest Forum would give him a proper forum in which he could share all his knowledge with us. With this recession, seed companies are selling 25 to 40% more seeds, and I believe that preservation of all kinds will bloom. And hey, jam making is fine for the ladies, but meat making is real man's work! Why, if there were a meat preservation forum, I'd log on everyday. My input from Jim McNulty in Southern California

A sausagethon! Wonderful! I need to peruse that thread. Being new to this forum, I wasn't aware of the level of interest here in sausage making. I've followed the Harvest Forum for several years and there have been quite a few threads there about sausage making and many other kinds of meat curing such as smoking, brining, drying (e.g. jerky) and so on. There is an ongoing attempt to have GW establish a meat curing forum. There are a couple of threads on the Suggestions Forum supporting that idea. It would be helpful if anyone who is interested in meat curing and has not posted their ideas and support would do so. Maybe that would be enough to tilt the decision in favor of setting up a meat curing forum. It's a pretty specialized topic and a very extensive one. I think it can easily support an active forum. BTW, that's a great looking batch of sausage, Kathleen. Beautiful stuff! Lucy, you've asked some important questions. Those questions have led to pretty lengthy discussions on the Harvest Forum and I imagine on the "sausagethon" as well. I want to read about the sausagethon, then probably continue this chat. Jim Here is a link that might be useful: Meat Curing Forum Suggested