November 9, 2014: Hofherr's Meat Co and my UDS in action

MY LIFE WITH BACON continues this week with a visit to a new butcher here in the North Shore of Chicago, and some news..

I’ve you’re a regular reader, you know I built an Ugly Drum Smoker (UDS) a couple of weeks back.  One of the challenges in making the UDS with a kit from Big Poppa Smokers is the lid.  The unit’s photos show using the lid that came with the 55-gallon drum – it’s flat and would work well with the adjustable vent supplied with the kit.  However, when you get a sealed drum, you have to rip the top off!  I used a reciprocating saw and it came off pretty cleanly.  However, getting a seal between the lid and the drum (important for regulating the temperature) proved difficult.

My solution was to purchase a $50 Weber-type grill with a lid that fits a 22.5” drum (the typical diameter).  Worked great, but I had to use an idea from this modification to add an aluminum rim. Instead of employing a welder, I simply cut a couple of pieces of 3"wide aluminum and bolted it to the top.  Even then, I didn’t get a great seal.  That’s where the duct tape, something with a million uses, came in.  Great seal (although temporary); easy to regulate the temp, but I’ll need a permanent solution.

This is the weekend where I test it!  Got a nice five pound pork butt, marinated it overnight, and then coated it with a nice rub.  Check out this link for the recipe (modified) that I used.  

Got the smoker warmed up (having trouble getting it down to the right temp: 225 degrees F) and gently placed the piggy hiney on the grill.  I used Applewood chips in aluminum foil (soaked for at least 30 minutes first).  The UDS performed great!

We had a great dinner party last night and I served up braised veal shanks with sage.  A true “go-to” recipe which can be found here.  Where’d I get the meat?  If you live in the North Suburbs, you may know that The Daily Grind (great local butcher in Lake Bluff) had to close its doors.  The shop is moving to downtown Lake Forest in a couple of months, so I had to find an  First, I called Schmeisser’s Sausage – a supermarket of meat.   But they couldn’t accommodate my order! 

So I took a chance on the Hofherr Meat Company - a relatively new butcher in Northfield, IL.  The store is incredibly welcoming, with a large farm table for in-store chowing.  Well lit, clean, friendly people, and a beautiful meat case.  Of course, they also have bacon, which I review below.  The lovely and friendly Emily took care of me.  I'll be back!

 
BACON IN THE NEWS

An Ohio grocery chain recently opened in Lake Bluff – Heinen’s.  The brothers have been doing quite well.  They took the spot vacated by Dominick’s demise, and the place is truly beautiful.  I .called them to see if they had the veal shanks, and it turned out that they did and it was on sale.  Unfortunately, they’re pre-cut somewhere else and I could only get 1” thick – recipe called for 2”

HOWEVER, THEY HAD OSCAR ON SALE – 3 packages for a $10!  As you can see, there weren’t many on the shelf.

THIS WEEK’S BACON IS HOFHERR MEAT COMPANY in-store cured/smoked/prepared.

This bacon came HIGHLY recommended by Emily, of the Hofherr Meat Co.  She said that they made five full pork bellies and they sold out in two days!  Customers rave about the bacon, so naturally I had to try it.

This butcher bacon came in at 1.35 pounds.  I cooked it all up and it netted 9.6 ounces of finished bacon, and produced only 60ml of rendered bacon fat.

On opening the package, I couldn’t detect much of a smell at all.  And the appearance of the bacon was uber-pedestrian.  It looked like a federal government worker on the Metro, headed to Washington DC – dour, 20-year-old overcoat fashion, worn-out sneakers, and bad hair.  We’re not starting out well.

The bacon had minimal stickiness and was very, very thin.  It produced 36 slices!  It cooked very quickly, due to the thinness.  Flavor was excellent, and quite salty.  Couldn’t quite place the other flavors.  Interesting.  But also very dry, which puzzled us.  I certainly didn’t overcook the bacon!  I think this would be perfect bacon on a BLT or in a recipe, and it's an excellent bacon.  I need to ask them to slice it a little thicker, so more of the flavor can come out next time.  That DC government worker let his/her hair down, took off her coat, put on pumps/party shoes and got a little racier…we’ll see how the bacon performs next time!

Rating: I give it a 4 out of 5 on flavor. 3 on cripsiness, 3 on chewiness (Debbie says that the meatier parts were like jerkey) but very low on succulence (2). 
See you next week!