The Texas BBQ Forum

Just to show an example of value.
Those that attended my sausage class in January 2010 will be happy to see that my high dollar cold smoker is still alive and well and working 3 years later smoking 25 lb of andouille....

and a HI TECH one I see so is there ever gonna be another sausage class?

Papa, you are clearly a dyed in the wool, steely-eyed pitman. I can't think of many people that would actually take the time and trouble to go out and buy a dishwasher just so they could get their hands on a cardboard box with precisely the right dimensions to make a cold smoker with. I mean, you must have spent hours in the storeroom over to the Sears with a Craftsman tape measure, running the pimply faced teenage clerk ragged, measuring all those boxes just to get the perfect one. And I bet money it was the very last one, perched in the very back, about 30 feet up on the pallet rack. And no extension ladder or cherry picker anywhere to be seen! But do you think that would stop Papa Tom? Heck and hockey sticks, no way. Just reached over and grabbed himself a coil of 40 foot three phase extension cord, formed it into a lasso, and with a hearty "Hiyo Silver!", he roped the top jagged end of that peg and hole prefabricated stanchion, and planting his Noconas firmly on the head of the nearest yard gnome in the bottom rack, with a mighty heave he rappelled up the side of that stanchion, past the yard sprinklers and paint stripper. On reaching the top, with a final Herculean effort, he hauled himself over top, landing with a thump on top, only to find himself surrounded by a pack of vacuum hose pool snakes ("Snakes. Why does it always have to be snakes!"). Undaunted, he soldiered on down the shelf, almost decapitated by a falling yo yo weed whacker, and finally arrived at the prize, an obsolete analog Frigidaire, the culmination of Cold War CIA technology re-engineered for industrial use, and the last of the pre-Taiwan, PROUDLY MADE IN THE USA MODELS.

About this time, the Scottish born store manager shows up, and yells up at Papa Tom, "What the heck are ya doing up theer, ya blinkin' Gillie?". To which Papa Tom coldly replies, "I mean to be off with this washer in one minute, or hang you by the thumbs at Mama Papa's convenience. Which'll it be?". The Scot eyeballs Papa keenly for a moment, and then hollers out, "That's bold talk for a one-eyed Fatman, ye bugger!". Papa Tom snorts. "FILL YER HANDS, YEW KILT WEARING IMMIGRANT!!!". And with that, Papa yanks up the 3 Phase cord, grabs up the Frigidaire under one arm, and swinging the end of the extension cord up over a rafter like a bullwhip, he swings down like Saturday night Tarzan to see Jane, and plows the store manager with his size 12 Noconas into the cheap toilet seats in Aisle 5 down by the Cham-Wow display next to the Oxy Tornado cleaner.

After loading the Frigidaire up into the back of his '82 Toronado convertible and strapping down the trunk lid with some Arkansas chrome, Papa roars off into the night, leaving the pimply faced clerk mumbling, "I thought John Wayne was dead?!".

Well done.

PT, the TBBQF sausage guru who shares his talents and knowledge with all who ask.

Bet that cardboard box tastes pretty darn good as well. Neaux sauce for me.

I'm new to this forum and appreciate all of the knowledge shared.

If there is an upcoming class on how to make sausage I'm very interested in attending.

Thanks

So if you do decide to have a sausage class could you do it after jan. 1 please. I'm out of vacation time for the year and I will need to take a day off to come. I can score boxes at work and have most of the parts to make a miss Betty cold smoke generator.

Well played Boots

I get a big kick out of Papa Tom's knowledge and sharing of science, so wanted to try and do something special. Hope he liked it. I call it "The Ballad of Papa Tom".

Acquisition was nothing you should see what it took to make the contents fit mama's kitchen........

I did actually conduct another sausage class earlier this year it was a private affair however it was streamed on the internet but I don't think it was recorded.

I thought I knew how to be resourceful

Papa Tom, you may be my new hero.....

Fish and teach wrote:Papa Tom, you may be my new hero.....

The story behind the smoker. I wanted to promote sausage making amongst the forum members but heard that the reason many hadn't tried it was the initial cost of startup. To dispel this I made some summer type beef sausage from 2.5 lb package of ground chuck from Krogers, one tablespoon of KC steak seasoning from Dollar Tree ($1 for the bottle) and a half teaspoon of pink salt (a little harder to come by but still cheap) with no casing and smoked in the pictured box. The smoke generator was a repurposed wire bird feeder full of wood pellets and sawdust. I sliced and passed out the sausage at the start of the class and asked if folks liked it (they all did) then told them the total cost of making it and showed the smoker.

After that class rather than tossing the good smelling box I thought why not keep and use it? In the wooden fence cabinet under that box is a Traeger pellet cooker. The chimney of the Traeger provides the smoke for the box as a cold smoker, works good, folds flat and stores in shed seen in background providing shed aroma therapy.

Papa Tom wrote:

Fish and teach wrote:Papa Tom, you may be my new hero.....

The story behind the smoker. I wanted to promote sausage making amongst the forum members but heard that the reason many hadn't tried it was the initial cost of startup. To dispel this I made some summer type beef sausage from 2.5 lb package of ground chuck from Krogers, one tablespoon of KC steak seasoning from Dollar Tree ($1 for the bottle) and a half teaspoon of pink salt (a little harder to come by but still cheap) with no casing and smoked in the pictured box. The smoke generator was a repurposed wire bird feeder full of wood pellets and sawdust. I sliced and passed out the sausage at the start of the class and asked if folks liked it (they all did) then told them the total cost of making it and showed the smoker.

After that class rather than tossing the good smelling box I thought why not keep and use it? In the wooden fence cabinet under that box is a Traeger pellet cooker. The chimney of the Traeger provides the smoke for the box as a cold smoker, works good, folds flat and stores in shed seen in background providing shed aroma therapy.

That's awesome!
Thanks for sharing the story on that, Papa Tom!

Very Kewl PT!
dj

Papa Tom, I love your KISS approach. Please help to continue this art we love.