The Stockyards: Charcuterie,Smokehouse, and Catering

I have leased my location, and have finally decided on a name for my Company: The Stockyards: Charcuterie,Smokehouse, and Catering. The location is in the former Toronto Stockyards Location, Hence the name. I have also changed the name of t the Catering company to the Stockyards also, (brand recognition!). My wonderful logo is Designed By Monique Nantom at godesign.info The Sausage/Curing plant is less than 1000 sq. ft. I will be posting construction progress as we go! Hopefully Tuesday we will break ground and begin the install the drains, and then prep the Floor.
Wish me luck, as I am on a very limited budget and will need to do this in a couple of phases. After the floor is complete, I should be able to run my catering company from the shop, for a couple of months the build enough capitol to complete the rest of the project.

Here is the layout

I Catered 2 events last weekend, Just some food Porn!

Some Canapes
Shrimp n’ Grits

Chicken and Waffles w/Citrus molasses, Coleslaw mayo, and buttermilk marinated fried chicken

Mini Burgers

Main Event!

Ribs: Check the smoke ring!

Awaiting portioning: Very succulent I might add.

Research, Research, Research!

Been away for quite some time. I have not been curing or smoking, but I have had too take some time to access my aspirations and fears with taking the big risk, betting the farm, taking the bull by the horns etc; I have been offered a great job that will insure that finances are secure, bills will be paid, vacation 2 weeks, kids won’t be needing for much, but will daddy be happy?

NO!!!!!!!

Opening Soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Will know by Thursday if my small Industrial/Manufacturing, catering space is secure.

I am having hard time deciding on a name, and would love some input and suggestions, please!!!

So far:

1. Davis’s Charcuterie
2. The Peasants: Smokehouse and Charcuterie
3. The Larder: Smokehouse and Charcuterie
4. Big Phat Pig: Charcuterie
5. Fat Pig: Charcuterie
6. Stockyards: Charcuterie & smokery

I would also like to get some info on how to refurbish this baby, it is made by IBM(The computing scale company) before 1930.

I wanted a berkel,

But this slicer is very special also!

Cold smoking set-up for bacon, Very old school!

I have had some difficulty maintaining a cold smoke temperature in the main Box of my smoker without constantly watching it. So I have decided to use an offset smoker box piped into my main cooker. I finally put the cast iron stove to work that I scored at an auction. This will now lend me the opportunity to do things like, picking up th kids from school, writing my blog, or mainly going to work without worrying if the smoker is getting too Hot!

Here it is:

I have placed some applewood into a small coffee can directly into the firebox

Cold smoking the Tuna, Bacon and a Chorizo (It is -15 celcius Today)

Cured Tuna, Bacon, and What’s Hangin!

I have just cured 2 small tuna loins with Kosher salt , sugar, and a spice mix of bay leaf, thyme, juniper, garlic for 3 days.One with nitrite and one is without. After curing I stuffed them into Beef middles which will be cold smoked over Alderwood tomorrow and then left to age until they are firm like salami.
I will also be smoking Bacon sides tomorrow.

What’s Hangin!

Chorizo
Salami
Venison w/Juniper and Black current
Pancetta
and Lomo

Chorizo, Pancetta, and Lomo under cure!

Over the past couple of weeks I have been procuring equipment! I just scored a couple commercial fridges off Craiglist which I have just modified so that they stay at a constant 55 deg. and have an R.H. of 75 to 85%.
I have also been experimenting with different casing with the Chorizo.
These Chorizo are curing without any starter culture and are non-fermented, but they do contain nitrite.
As you can tell a lovely white mold is starting to bloom. Hopefully I can make a batch Sunday that I will ferment with Starter culture for 24 hrs at 85 deg. w 90% R.H. for a taste comparison.

Beef Middle (Larger) and Chittering casing (aka Gentile) Very delicate, and rips easily when stuffing.

Lomo: Cured for 8 days in Pimenton, Garlic, curing salt, and spices. Then rinsed and stuffed into beef middles. Should be ready in 60 days!

Pancetta Drying

Bacon Curing:

Maple Molasses Cured and Organic brown sugar.

Chorizo Curing 21 days! Little bit of case hardening#$*&^!!!!!!!

I am in the process of curing about 20lbs. of chorizo. I cut into one of them and there is a minute black ring. This tells me thnat the outside dried too fast. I think I left the fan on too much for air circulation and is the root of this evil! Air causes dehydration. The cooler has consistently been at the optimal temp and RH for the duration, so it has to be the fan!

Christmas Dinner.

theslowandlow.files.wordpress.com/2006/12/sweet.pdfThis our Christmas Dinner for 30 people! Started at 10 am, finished and on the Table by 6pm.

Smoked Trout: Cured with Kosher salt, Brown sugar, lemon zest, and thyme for 1 day

After 24 Hrs

After rinsing you must air dry the trout, This is a must step!!! The fish must be totally dry before you smoke it, or the smoke will just adhere to the outside of the fish and impart a bitter acrid flavour. The fish will feel almost like leather when it is ready. This is called creating a pellicle!

Then I smoked it with alder and maple chips for 3 hrs

Dry Rubbed and Herbed butter stuffed Turkey These babies took only 3 hrs in my cooker at 275 to 300 deg.

Oh Yeah! we didi a small prime rib which came out perfectly rare!

Sweet Potato Flan w/ Danish blue, maple syrup,sage, thyme, caramelized onion
This is a creation of mine that gets the most requests from friends for the recipe.

Recipe:
http://

Contraband Bellota: Pata Negra Chorizo, Lomo, and Jamon!

I recently got my hands on the Holy Grail of Ham. Bellota Pata Negra, from the highly prized Black Hooved pigs from Spain. History and Info:
“http://www.tienda.com/heritage/ibericoquest.html”

The Chorizo
has just 4 ingredients!(pork, Pimenton De la Vera (approx 20% of it weight) Salt, and Garlic. No preservatives, and is stuffed into a hog middle. Redolent w/ Pimenton and Garlic flavour with a slight tang at the finish.

Lomo
(Boneless Pork Loin) are stuffed into Hog middles also and rubbed with, salt, Pimenton, Garlic. The contain Antioxidant (e301) and preservative (E-252 and E-250) and sugar. Extremely tender and velvety mouth feel

Jamon
Salt and mountain Air that’s it. This just melts in your mouth, and the fat striations are gorgous!The Spaniards do not salt Hams as long as other producers of Ham. They typically salt 1 day per pound, which may lend to it’s more delicate flavour. Where as Italian, Virginia etc. hams are salted for approx. 1.5 days per pound.
The Cost of the Jamon in Paris is 283.00 euro per Kilo!!!!!!!

I am in the process of purchasing a walk-in fridge, which will be stored at a commissary kitchen I use for catering. I will soon begin small batch production of Dry Cured sausages, Bacon, and Pastrami etc. which I will hopefully be able to sell if my application for a vendor at the St. Lawrence Farmers Market in Toronto is accepted. Wish me luck!

Working on a promo Video for my website!

Pancetta at 2 weeks

Chorizo I put in yesterday. I did a finer grind this time as I saw a picture on chez pim on her trip to Extebarri Restaurant in Spain

The Smoked Meat Sandwich

Pastrami
Dry Cured for 1 week:

Rubbed with: Mustard, Cracked pepper,
Out of the steamer after 3 hrs:
The sandwich:

Etheral Eggs and Billionare’s Bacon experiment! Dish of the Week!

I am in the process of doing a little R&D for some breakfast options for my place. Since I will be there at the crack of dawn, It would be great too utilize some of the cured meats, and create some cashflow.
Billionares bacon I read about a fews years in Savuer Magazine: Bacon that is baced in a brown sugar crust till crispy! (I baked them @ 400 for about 20 min. then put under broiler,(DO NOT PUT UNDER BROILER! IT WILL BURN!), just bake for about 30 min. The baked eggs are just egg white whipped, Soft peaks, then placed in a buttered muffin tin. The yolk’s are gently placed in the centre and baked for six and 1/2 min. You can add any herbs or chesse too personalize this dish anyway you want! I added aged cheddar, Thyme, salt, pepper to the egg whites before it was placed into the muffin tin.
The Dish:

Now to figure out how to make this dish transportable and what starch componet will complete it!

Pancetta Curing DAY 1: 30 TO GO!

This pancetta has been in a combination of curing salt, sugar, herbs, spices and garlic for 1 week. I have rinsed off the spice mix and coated with black pepper and Turkish bay leaves. Now it is time for nature to do it’s work.

Chorizo Curing after 10 Days

These lovely ladies will be ready hopefully in 10 to 14 days. They are made with Pork from Rowe Farm in Guelph. They contain Approx. 70% pork shoulder, 20% pork belly, and 10% hand cut backfat. They are seasoned with various spices and are redolent with garlic and Pimenton de la Vera. I am planning to use these in various incarnations, and sell them a at my soon to be open BBQ joint/Deli/smokehouse.

Splayin and rubbing your bird for BBQ

Just a little vid on how to cut and rub your chickens.***** I could not find my gloves! Please be careful and use a 10% bleach solution to clean and sanitize all your utensils, cutting boards, prep area, and hands!**********

This Weeks Agenda!

I have some brisket curing, and I will be making some chorizo and salami again. I will try to document the steps in the making of the sausages. I am also in talks with a kitchen in my neighborhood, so that I may go into small batch production on some of my cured meats.

Fried Chicken

Another component to my future takle out joint will be authentic fried chicken. I marinate in Buttermilk and less than 11 herbs and spices for 24 hours, then dredge it in flour with less than 11 spices. I then fry it in canola and bacon grease (sometimes in duck fat and bacon grease!) I am designing a dish around fried chix and waffles. I offer this dish on the catering menu, but I am adapting a take out version. I also threw in a few shots of some side ribs that I was testing against spare ribs. Flavour wise I prefer the spares! Cost wise, I really, really, love the spares. I smoked some salt which needs to stay ion the smoker longer next time.

Smokin!

Argentine Parrilla experiment!

Sorry all! I have been very busy with non BBQ matters, and I haven’t had any chances to update my blog. I have figured out the problem with uploading pictures and will have them all up by the end of the week! Here are some pics of my parrilla experiment which as you can see worked quite well! I purchased some fire bricks and a SS table from an auction and found this folding grill at a Sally-Ann! Total cost $50.00 and completely portable. (I have since modified the grill too cover the table completely) I am in the process of designing a portable hood and some sort of enclosure for the back and sides of the grill, that can support firebricks that will slide into place. This will allow me to build a grill on-site for any catering events. Let the madness begin.