What other foods/drinks do you craft?

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I make cheese, cured sausages and meats, yogurt, bread, pickles, beer and rum.
 
I love to cook. So, about 15 years ago, I got heavily into BBQ. Did contests for about 10 years. Did some cooking for large events 300-400 people. Largest was 800.

I’ve cut back in that. Now, my son and I process all our own venison. So, we make various kinds of sausage. Our favorites are summer sausage and a dried sausage called “hard tack”. Also, venison ham, corned venison.

I’ve made bacon before, need to do that again. Much better than store bought.

We also garden quite a bit so process the normal tomatoes and peppers...etc.

I made my own hot sauce this year but I’m the only one that likes hot sauce, so doubt if I do that again.

Making bread this afternoon.
 
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Lots of Korean stores in Suburban Detroit, supplies were never an issue. When I asked my Korean freinds were they go to get their gochugaru : Amazon! Finding a real good Daikon may still be an issue(no real subsitute). Attached is my recipe if you are intrested.

Kimchi in progress!

I largely followed your recipe, with some influences from random online recipes, and fairly liberal substitutions and shortcuts. I am confident it will still be tasty!

Pro-tip: When packing a wide-mouth Mason jar, a small quilted jelly jar makes an excellent muddler!

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Kimchi in progress!

I largely followed your recipe, with some influences from random online recipes, and fairly liberal substitutions and shortcuts. I am confident it will still be tasty!

Pro-tip: When packing a wide-mouth Mason jar, a small quilted jelly jar makes an excellent muddler!

View attachment 70290View attachment 70291
Looks great! Kimchi is like chili, there's no bad way to make it once you get the basics down
 
Yeah it's great to see all the different things this group does! I've been making bread for a long time though it got serious after the no-knead craze. Sourdough is now my standard. I too sous vide but only use it occasionally. My main love is gardening and lately my focus has been no dig. Non scientifically its seems beneficial. It has also been nice not having to grocery shop often during covid!
The main reason I got into country wine making is because I have so much fruit! There really is a limit to how much jam and rhubarb crumble you can eat. My wine is starting to be very drinkable and my fruited sour beer is awesome thanks to advice from the beer site. It's funny though, beer making is starting to seem like work whereas wine making is a slower more enjoyable chemistry project that I check on more often than is healthy.
 
smoker1.jpg wine, garden, smoke meats in offset stick smoker, have a all metal 8 x 8 smoke house, raise my own beef, pork. chickens, eggs,, Polk salad in early spring, deer burgers, raise a few Dexter cattle, raise a mule or 2 now an then, train a mule or 2,, to pull a buggy,
Dawg
 
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Kimchi in progress!

I largely followed your recipe, with some influences from random online recipes, and fairly liberal substitutions and shortcuts. I am confident it will still be tasty!

Pro-tip: When packing a wide-mouth Mason jar, a small quilted jelly jar makes an excellent muddler!

View attachment 70290View attachment 70291
oh that looks good, very good
Dawg
 
For me, the dubious situation has been a bit of a silver lining in helping me put life in perspective, and prioritizing things in life differently, and learning and respecting "craft" has been a big part of that.

First it was getting the mead making bug.

Followed by country wine.

Then homemade pasta: mostly fettuccini, ravioli and udon.

Then homemade bread.

Now, sausage - just raw fresh sausage like breakfast, Italian, Mexican chorizo and merguez for now.

Got a smoker for Xmas, so bacon and other smoked meats are on the list.

Gave cheese a couple shots, but my only problem with it is that everything in the store is ultra pasteurized and won't work, and my only source for raw costs 12 dollars a gallon, so it isn't an economically practical hobby for me.

Also honing my cooking skills in general.

I guess homemade aioli, jams, etc count as well
 
Also honing DIY: relandscaping the house, building a garden, building a workshop
 
Gave cheese a couple shots, but my only problem with it is that everything in the store is ultra pasteurized and won't work, and my only source for raw costs 12 dollars a gallon, so it isn't an economically practical hobby for me.
Where are you that you can only find ultra-pasteurized. My sources don't carry any ultra-pasteurized milk. Utra-pasteurized cream and 1/2+1/2, yes, but not milk
 
That is all the major chain stores carry in my neck of the woods as well. I wanted to try my hand at making cheese a while back, especially Cheve'. Bought a kit and then went to try and source some goats milk. Found it finally in a small co-op store but its 80 miles roundtrip and then was like $12 for a quart. I can buy Cheve' at Costco all day (2) 10oz logs for like $8 and its good stuff.

I am (pretty) sure it would not be as good as ho-made but still, it makes no sense to me to spend my time and energy and more $$$ than something I can source for 1/2 the price and no work involved.

Where are you that you can only find ultra-pasteurized. My sources don't carry any ultra-pasteurized milk. Utra-pasteurized cream and 1/2+1/2, yes, but not milk
 
That is all the major chain stores carry in my neck of the woods as well. I wanted to try my hand at making cheese a while back, especially Cheve'. Bought a kit and then went to try and source some goats milk. Found it finally in a small co-op store but its 80 miles roundtrip and then was like $12 for a quart. I can buy Cheve' at Costco all day (2) 10oz logs for like $8 and its good stuff.

I am (pretty) sure it would not be as good as ho-made but still, it makes no sense to me to spend my time and energy and more $$$ than something I can source for 1/2 the price and no work involved.

Costco products are surprisingly good - many people do not know that their name-brand items are actually produced by big name manufacturers (their vodka is made by Grey Goose), and heavily lean toward high quality, healthy ingredients now (eg, their peanut butter is organic, and they dont use additives like corn syrup)
 
I love everything about BBQ. Since my son presented me premium german bbq grill, I realized how universal this thing is. Most of the time I'm living in Malaga, so I can cook outdoor every day. I really forget what the kitchen stove and other kitchen appliances are. However, it's not that easy to pick up a proper wine for smoked dishes. Sometimes my dinner is just cut cheese or fruits. Besides, finding a decent bbq thermometer could take a lot of time, not to mention other parts. Soon I plan to try myself in drying mediterranean fish.
ever time i smoke meat, i always squeeze it, ever little bit, before long you can tell when your meats are done no thermometer, now that been said, i ain't a clue what a premium German BBQ is, I use a off set stick smoker, it can be used to grill from hotdogs to steaks, but i go for pork ribs and both pork or beef pull meat, and salmon, and tuna,
Dawg
 
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