Smoked Greylag breast...RANK!

[happy.plinker]

Just had hot smoked greylag breast from last season,had it soaking in coke then in the freezer,took it out cut it very thin then hot smoked them and it was tough chewy too smoky,not sure if smoker was too hot, cooked to quick or what. I know a bloke who had some a while ago and said it was delicious! might of been cold smoked. Anyone else tried this. Pole Star your bound to have dabbled with this.

[Pole Star]

Just had hot smoked greylag breast from last season,had it soaking in coke then in the freezer,took it out cut it very thin then hot smoked them and it was tough chewy too smoky,not sure if smoker was too hot, cooked to quick or what. I know a bloke who had some a while ago and said it was delicious! might of been cold smoked. Anyone else tried this. Pole Star your bound to have dabbled with this.

 

Hi mate umm thats one thing I have not tried in the smoker hot or cold I will look into it ? I think salting in brine & then putting in the cold smoker might have better results perhaps Jonty can give us some ideas ? , the goose cull will go ahead again in August so I understand so might be an Idea to get some young birds from the cull & try them .

It took me long enough to find a recipe to make greylags worth eating & then aister from Shetland posted one on pw & is the best yet , lets see what turns up on the smoking side of things , I will have a nose through my library & see what I can find .

 

ps I am waiting to try the recipe for goose bangers that has half a cup of Drambuie in ?

 

ATB

Edited July 2, 2013 by Pole Star

[happy.plinker]

Cheers Pole Star,a chap outside Dounby told me about the coke,though it was for tenderising before cooking.I saw Aisters recipe and I'll try it this season, ATB H.p

[contrysports]

might of just had an old bird i've done the same just not smoked

[FalconFN]

I would have probably brined it and cold smoked the whole breast first, then cooked it and then thinly sliced it. Goose isn't high on my list of things to smoke but a young one might work well so try again, as long as you can keep it moist and don't over cook it you could get a nice surprise.

[happy.plinker]

I'll need to find out more about cold smoking I think,try and make one sometime and try a younger goose or a duck even.I hot smoke Mackeral in the summer up here with pepper then mix it with cottage cheese a few drops of lemon or lime juice all in the mixer and gorge myself with it on oatcakes and Highland Park, as they say on Duck Dynasty 'happy,happy,happy'.

[Pole Star]

I'll need to find out more about cold smoking I think,try and make one sometime and try a younger goose or a duck even.I hot smoke Mackeral in the summer up here with pepper then mix it with cottage cheese a few drops of lemon or lime juice all in the mixer and gorge myself with it on oatcakes and Highland Park, as they say on Duck Dynasty 'happy,happy,happy'.

 

I have a cold smoker built & best way to describe it is some thing like a Sentry Box made from ply its very simple , call over next week & take a look .

[henry d]

Salted (well salt and demarara sugar) and hot smoked works for me for pinks and greys.

[highseas]

 

Hi mate umm thats one thing I have not tried in the smoker hot or cold I will look into it ? I think salting in brine & then putting in the cold smoker might have better results perhaps Jonty can give us some ideas ? , the goose cull will go ahead again in August so I understand so might be an Idea to get some young birds from the cull & try them .

It took me long enough to find a recipe to make greylags worth eating & then aister from Shetland posted one on pw & is the best yet , lets see what turns up on the smoking side of things , I will have a nose through my library & see what I can find .

 

ps I am waiting to try the recipe for goose bangers that has half a cup of Drambuie in ?

 

ATB

hi PS ive been meaning to pm you about that if the invites stilll their to come up?

 

neil

[Pole Star]

hi PS ive been meaning to pm you about that if the invites stilll their to come up?

 

neil

 

Will pm you Neil .

[happy.plinker]

Might come by Pole Star sometime,next time I'm past Beefy. Henry d the demerara sounds good ,could be the answer.

[Pole Star]

Might come by Pole Star sometime,next time I'm past Beefy. Henry d the demerara sounds good ,could be the answer.

 

No prob mate but watch out because according to the empty heads on here I'm a nut job ! see you soon .

Edited July 2, 2013 by Pole Star

[bill425g6]

Just had hot smoked greylag breast from last season,had it soaking in coke then in the freezer,took it out cut it very thin then hot smoked them and it was tough chewy too smoky,not sure if smoker was too hot, cooked to quick or what. I know a bloke who had some a while ago and said it was delicious! might of been cold smoked. Anyone else tried this. Pole Star your bound to have dabbled with this.

Ive been smoking Game and Fish now for over 40yrs. Ive had my fair share of disasters and successes over the years as I was trying to perfect it. Unlimited game and fish did help and any advice I could get from anybody was welcome as there wasn't much written about it. Anyhow last year I smoked 12 Canada's and 8 Greylag breasts for other people and kept a few for myself. There were some young birds and older ones as well but the end result was excellent. There are lots of recipes and variations out there but this is the one I use a lot on Duck.. Fillet the breasts and keep the fat on the breast. Make up a brine 2lb 10oz of salt per gallon,stir until dissolved. I use Vacuum salt you can use Kosher,Dairy,canning and flake salts for brine. Do not use Rock salt, Sea salt,Iodized salt, curing salt,Table salts etc. These salts contain impurities and additives and should never be used especially on Salmon. Put the breasts in and weigh down and leave for 2hrs or less or more. Take them out and hang up to dry for a few hours. Bring the hot smoker up to 230deg and hot smoke them for 3hrs. You can actually cold smoke them for a few hours before hot smoking as well. I use Cherry, especially for Duck but you can use a variety of woods. Take them out the smoker and let them rest for 2dys.in a cool place. I then take them and slice them to less than a millimetre thick on a machine and Vacuum pack them. A couple of slices with your preferred sauce and a large glass of 5yr old "Sloe gin" You wont find this Rank!

I can send you photos of my cold smoker but as Pole star said it just looks like a sentry box. Im redesigning mine at the moment as its getting rotten and I have a few new ideas for it as well. There is also a good book on the market which is excellent and it tells you everything about smoking game and fish. I can send the details. The hot smokers I use now are the Digital Bradley although they have a few faults of there own as well. For me the best is Smoked Woodcock followed by the Duck and if I get handed a few more Geese Ill see where I can take it.

 

Cheers Bill

[Pole Star]

Ive been smoking Game and Fish now for over 40yrs. Ive had my fair share of disasters and successes over the years as I was trying to perfect it. Unlimited game and fish did help and any advice I could get from anybody was welcome as there wasn't much written about it. Anyhow last year I smoked 12 Canada's and 8 Greylag breasts for other people and kept a few for myself. There were some young birds and older ones as well but the end result was excellent. There are lots of recipes and variations out there but this is the one I use a lot on Duck.. Fillet the breasts and keep the fat on the breast. Make up a brine 2lb 10oz of salt per gallon,stir until dissolved. I use Vacuum salt you can use Kosher,Dairy,canning and flake salts for brine. Do not use Rock salt, Sea salt,Iodized salt, curing salt,Table salts etc. These salts contain impurities and additives and should never be used especially on Salmon. Put the breasts in and weigh down and leave for 2hrs or less or more. Take them out and hang up to dry for a few hours. Bring the hot smoker up to 230deg and hot smoke them for 3hrs. You can actually cold smoke them for a few hours before hot smoking as well. I use Cherry, especially for Duck but you can use a variety of woods. Take them out the smoker and let them rest for 2dys.in a cool place. I then take them and slice them to less than a millimetre thick on a machine and Vacuum pack them. A couple of slices with your preferred sauce and a large glass of 5yr old "Sloe gin" You wont find this Rank!

I can send you photos of my cold smoker but as Pole star said it just looks like a sentry box. Im redesigning mine at the moment as its getting rotten and I have a few new ideas for it as well. There is also a good book on the market which is excellent and it tells you everything about smoking game and fish. I can send the details. The hot smokers I use now are the Digital Bradley although they have a few faults of there own as well. For me the best is Smoked Woodcock followed by the Duck and if I get handed a few more Geese Ill see where I can take it.

 

Cheers Bill

 

Brilliant ! thanks for that info Bill

[happy.plinker]

Thats great Bill,I like the 1mm cutting,sounds like the 'canines udercarraige' to me.My hot smoker is a Snowbee which is like a big biscuit tin with two meths burners underneath which is ok for fish but by the sound of it not to controllable for meat.I didn't know all that about salt either,there's a shop here sells Bradley smokers and think they cold smoke as well?! maybe have to get one sometime and not be so damn tight!

[bill425g6]

Just had hot smoked greylag breast from last season,had it soaking in coke then in the freezer,took it out cut it very thin then hot smoked them and it was tough chewy too smoky,not sure if smoker was too hot, cooked to quick or what. I know a bloke who had some a while ago and said it was delicious! might of been cold smoked. Anyone else tried this. Pole Star your bound to have dabbled with this.

Ive used biscuit tins, Dustbins and oil drums as Hot smokers and cold smokers Ive used Drain pipe,Fridge freezers and a school locker.The best homemade one sofar has to be the "Sentry" box.

Salting: If your hot smoking fish and cooking it through 30 to 40minutes. Its fine to use Table salts but not if its a dry cure or brine, only use the salt I metioned.. I dry cure my Salmon and can be anything from 4hrs to 14hrs depending on the fish. I make Gravadlax and I cure that for 5days.

Bradley Smoker.: The one I would recommend is the 4 rack Digital Smoker, it cold smokes and hot smokes,if you buy one make sure to get a spare heating element at the same time. It comes with Recipe books and everything you need and after sales is excellent.You can also buy separate smoke generators and I use these on the cold smoker combined with a tray. I plumbed my hot smoker into my garage with a pipe to the outside and flue. You can control temperature and time. It costs about a £1 an hour to run.

Slicer: I don't know the name of it as I'm not at home.It is a commercial slicer the type you see in the butchers and I got it from ebay. It slices really well but to be honest unless you are doing a lot of slicing you dont need one. Just put the meat or fish in the freezer and when it starts to go firm take it out and it will slice as thin as you want with a sharp carving knife.

Geese Recipes: Goose liver pate,Hot Smoked Goose, I make my own game burgers, mince and add Goose. Check out Goose Carpaccio and Smoked Goose carpaccio. Might be worth talking to Ham curers,Salami etc and see if you can do the same with the Goose breasts and hang them for 6mths or whatever it takes, I dont know about this at all. The list and variations can be endless but if you have plenty of Geese and through trial and error you will produce something that is unique and cant buy and a lot better than commercial companys can make.

Equipment: I buy most of my equipment from Weschenfelder of Middlesbrough they have everything and service is excellent. Have a look on ebay as well.

Books: Keith Erlandson-- Home smoking and Curing. Amazon £3.5 to £7 This is one of the best and has all you need to know except experience. It is also very interesting to read. It has all the exact times, measures, Dos and Donts.

Cold Smoker: Im not home until Tuesday when Ill send you photos of the Sentry box! Ill explain the new design as its a lot better.Its worthwhile building one as its quite cheap and you can do a lot with it. I smoke cheese when I do the salmon for about 12hrs in a rack above take it out and leave to cure for 2/3dys Ive done a lot of Orkney and most cheddars, make sure they are no more than 1inch thick. Since you have one of the best Black Puddings in Scotland it would be well worth smoking. Ive never smoked any.

 

Cheers Bill

[Pole Star]

More good info Bill I will admit I have a sentry box cold smoker & a Woodmans hot smoker but I don't get to use them as much as I should but I am hoping it will change soon .

Any failures I have had with fish is always because I have over brine'd/salted them & once you have mastered that the smoking is the easy part , the first sides of salmon were great but the second 2 were over salty so next time I know better .

 

A word of warning to any one who is thinking of making a timber type sentry box smoker , do tell your neighbours what it is just in case you are not there & they see smoke coming out of it & call the bloody fire brigade to report your new shed on fire !.

 

Pole Star

Edited July 20, 2013 by Pole Star

[bill425g6]

More good info Bill I will admit I have a sentry box cold smoker & a Woodmans hot smoker but I don't get to use them as much as I should but I am hoping it will change soon .

Any failures I have had with fish is always because I have over brine'd/salted them & once you have mastered that the smoking is the easy part , the first sides of salmon were great but the second 2 were over salty so next time I know better .

 

A word of warning to any one who is thinking of making a timber type sentry box smoker , do tell your neighbours what it is just in case you are not there & they see smoke coming out of it & call the bloody fire brigade to report your new shed on fire !.

 

Pole Star

Ive had lots of failures with fish in the early days but had plenty to play with.Ive now perfected the smoked Salmon here is what I do and see if its different from yourself.

1 Wild Salmon 12lbs. The silver and fresher the better. Salmon that are starting to go red and colour are not good.

Fillet the Salmon and leave the hard bit on behind the gills for hanging. Make a bed of Vacuum salt on a flat surface 1/2inch thick. Lay the Salmon fillets on it skin down. Cover with Vacuum salt and not too much near the tail as its thinner. Leave for 8hrs. If you like less salt 5/6hrs is fine more salt 10/12hrs is ok. Take them out of the salt and wash with cold water until clean. Hang them up to dry. somewhere that's not too hot or too cold for 36hrs ( very important) When dried put them in the smoker and smoke using Oak

for 14hrs or more. Take them out the smoker and lay them flat to cure ( I put mine in the loft) for 3 Days ( very important ) After 3days trim the Fillets up take out all the pin bones and Vacuum pack. I cut some sides in three and some I pack whole. The trimmings that are left Cut all the good bits of Salmon off and blitz in a blender. Find a recipe and make Smoked Salmon pate put in the fridge over night and spread on warm buttered toast in the morning. Or make an duck egg omelet sprinkle in the Salmon and fresh chopped Coriander.

I used to cure them in brown sugar and black heart rum. Other sugar and rums

I used to spray them with a fine mist of Whiskey/Brandy for the last hour of smoking

I used to smoke them with lots of different woods

For me the Oak smoked is the best. This is for Wild Salmon as I can get enough, you can apply the same formula for farmed Salmon. I hot smoke farmed Salmon when its half price for a side in Tesco with lemon/lime,herbs de provence,salt,pepper and fresh dill or anything you like.Put in the Bradley smoker and it comes out excellent leave it to cure for a few hours and go cold and serve with a salad.

 

PS. The bigger the Salmon more salt time and the smaller less. 6/8hrs is about right for 10/12lbs Salmon. You can use the dry salt again if you want.

PSS. Dont thow the salt or Brine away as it is an excellent weed killer especially inbetween flagstones

[Pole Star]

Ive had lots of failures with fish in the early days but had plenty to play with.Ive now perfected the smoked Salmon here is what I do and see if its different from yourself.

1 Wild Salmon 12lbs. The silver and fresher the better. Salmon that are starting to go red and colour are not good.

Fillet the Salmon and leave the hard bit on behind the gills for hanging. Make a bed of Vacuum salt on a flat surface 1/2inch thick. Lay the Salmon fillets on it skin down. Cover with Vacuum salt and not too much near the tail as its thinner. Leave for 8hrs. If you like less salt 5/6hrs is fine more salt 10/12hrs is ok. Take them out of the salt and wash with cold water until clean. Hang them up to dry. somewhere that's not too hot or too cold for 36hrs ( very important) When dried put them in the smoker and smoke using Oak

for 14hrs or more. Take them out the smoker and lay them flat to cure ( I put mine in the loft) for 3 Days ( very important ) After 3days trim the Fillets up take out all the pin bones and Vacuum pack. I cut some sides in three and some I pack whole. The trimmings that are left Cut all the good bits of Salmon off and blitz in a blender. Find a recipe and make Smoked Salmon pate put in the fridge over night and spread on warm buttered toast in the morning. Or make an duck egg omelet sprinkle in the Salmon and fresh chopped Coriander.

I used to cure them in brown sugar and black heart rum. Other sugar and rums

I used to spray them with a fine mist of Whiskey/Brandy for the last hour of smoking

I used to smoke them with lots of different woods

For me the Oak smoked is the best. This is for Wild Salmon as I can get enough, you can apply the same formula for farmed Salmon. I hot smoke farmed Salmon when its half price for a side in Tesco with lemon/lime,herbs de provence,salt,pepper and fresh dill or anything you like.Put in the Bradley smoker and it comes out excellent leave it to cure for a few hours and go cold and serve with a salad.

 

PS. The bigger the Salmon more salt time and the smaller less. 6/8hrs is about right for 10/12lbs Salmon. You can use the dry salt again if you want.

PSS. Dont thow the salt or Brine away as it is an excellent weed killer especially inbetween flagstones

 

Bill you are a genius & many thanks for that info & as soon as I get back into it I will post on here .

[bill425g6]

Just had hot smoked greylag breast from last season,had it soaking in coke then in the freezer,took it out cut it very thin then hot smoked them and it was tough chewy too smoky,not sure if smoker was too hot, cooked to quick or what. I know a bloke who had some a while ago and said it was delicious! might of been cold smoked. Anyone else tried this. Pole Star your bound to have dabbled with this.

 

 

Just had hot smoked greylag breast from last season,had it soaking in coke then in the freezer,took it out cut it very thin then hot smoked them and it was tough chewy too smoky,not sure if smoker was too hot, cooked to quick or what. I know a bloke who had some a while ago and said it was delicious! might of been cold smoked. Anyone else tried this. Pole Star your bound to have dabbled with this.

Im home now and have some photos of the smoker.can you tell me how to attach them is it through media

[happy.plinker]

Hi Bill, havn't posted any photos yet but 'my media' looks like its the way to do it,theres also 'image', just have to try I guess,look forward to seeing them.

[bill425g6]

 

Bill you are a genius & many thanks for that info & as soon as I get back into it I will post on here .

 

 

 

Bill you are a genius & many thanks for that info & as soon as I get back into it I will post on here .

Can you tell me how to attach photos

[Pole Star]

 

 

Can you tell me how to attach photos

I only managed it once Bill & sorry too say its not as easy as you would like it to be & I have not managed to load any up since the last lot ! Can anyone tell Bill how it is done & if there is an easy way

[rimfire4969]

 

 

Can you tell me how to attach photos

This topic is great reading, I am going to give smoking a try this year. I already cure my own bacon from another great thread on PW.

 

So photos:

I download mine onto Photobucket.com then copy the img thing onto here. I wish I could explain computer talk better.

[bill425g6]

Ive got some great photos of my old smoker.Ill have a look tonight and try and send them. Its normally dead simple. Im building a new one tomorrow and once finished Ill post the photos if I can find out how to.

I only managed it once Bill & sorry too say its not as easy as you would like it to be & I have not managed to load any up since the last lot ! Can anyone tell Bill how it is done & if there is an easy way

 

 

I only managed it once Bill & sorry too say its not as easy as you would like it to be & I have not managed to load any up since the last lot ! Can anyone tell Bill how it is done & if there is an easy way

Ive got some great photos of my old smoker.Ill have a look tonight and try and send them. Its normally dead simple. Im building a new one tomorrow and once finished Ill post the photos if I can find out how to.