A smoking oldfella

[oldfella]

Built my smoker last year and today smoked a couple of trout fillets, delicious with a salad and toast. So I was wondering if any of you folk are into sausage making, smoke preserving, and sun-drying.
Last year we sun dried tomatoes and a lot of fruit, plums, apples, damsons, peaches, pears as well as many herbs.
We have been making our own sausages for a while now ( we buy half a pig from neighbor every year) and we have received recipes from all over the world many of which are of the smoked variety, and of course smoked fish, kippers, mackerel, salmon cutlets, and fillets so much cheaper and tastier than shop bought. So if there are any smokers or sun-dryers out there let us in to your secrets and recipes and lets compare notes.

[Wombat]

G'Day Oldfella,

I have done some solar drying of fruits and veggies and used to make sausages but was not very adventurous!

BTW do you have any idea of what an "oldfella" is in colloquial Australian?

Nev

[oldfella]

Good on yer mate, I wondered how long that would take, when I found that you lot down under, were up here with us on top

[frozenthunderbolt]

Hey there, I have dried plumbs and plumcotts as 1/2 fruit and as fruit leather using verey fine well oiled mesh screens. jerky is made by cutting meet to .5-.8 cm strips and soaking overnight in salt sugar chile rosemary oregano mustard soy and W.H.Y. then haning in the sun with S shaped hooks attached to a chain strung accross the deck. once it is dry it is stored in old peanutbutter jars.
Never had any problems with it going bad, but that said we have neve got to make enought that it lasted more than a week anyways!

[Helsbells]

Hi,
Just wondering how you do the sun-dried stuff? Do you use a solar drier? or literally just put them in the sun, I want to try to dry some of my own herbs, but not sure how.
thanks,

[Millymollymandy]

BTW do you have any idea of what an "oldfella" is in colloquial Australian?

Nev

What is it then? I can't google it because there are too many people called that on forums all over the bloody world!

[frozenthunderbolt]

Hi,
Just wondering how you do the sun-dried stuff? Do you use a solar drier? or literally just put them in the sun, I want to try to dry some of my own herbs, but not sure how.
thanks,

nononononononono. hehe sory but dont dry herbs in the sun! it destroys their colour flavour and alot of the active principles in them. they should be dried in a cool dark dry place with good air flow. some thicker/fleshier herbs and roots may have gentle heat applied to them after being cut to a sutible size.

Ive always just sun and airdried my fruit but am working on a solar dryer as we speak. made a tiny solar oven and used it for infusing oils and vinegars which woirked quite nicely though!

[oldfella]

Hi,
Just wondering how you do the sun-dried stuff? Do you use a solar drier? or literally just put them in the sun, I want to try to dry some of my own herbs, but not sure how.
thanks,

Hi Helsbells, I built a solar dryer based on a design from a book The Solar Food Dryer written by a Eben Fodor, and if you can use a saw and screwdriver it is quite an easy thing to make. If I can find out to put pictures in here I will post a few to show what it looks like.

[oldfella]

BTW do you have any idea of what an "oldfella" is in colloquial Australian?

Nev

What is it then? I can't google it because there are too many people called that on forums all over the bloody world!

Willy

[contadina]

Oldfella has the same meaning in the UK too. You boys!

I sundried tomatoes by covering them in salt (to keep flies away) putting them out in the sun during the day and bringing them in at night until their moisture had evaporated. Then drop them in some wine vinegar and squeeze them before layering them in a jar with some olive oil. How do you do yours Oldfella?

I put figs covered in muslin (some whole and some split in half) out in the sun (bring them in at night again) until they were dry. None of my neighbours cover their figs when they dry them but it worked so I'm going too stick with it.

Oregano's a great herb to dry - tie it up in small bunches, somewhere cool and dry and rub between your hands into a bowl when dry.

Not drying or smoking, but I've lots of sott'olio (under oil) recipes for veg like aubergines and artichokes if anyone is interested. I also bottle capers if anyone has a bush and didn't know what to do with it.

[mrsflibble]

I only dry herbs and mushrooms o far. mushrooms in slices, on strings, in my airing cupboard, herbs in the room I'm sitting in now 'cos it's dry, not too warm and doesn't get a lot of sun.

[oldfella]

Hi Cotadina, We slice the tomatoes dry them in the dryer so no flies as it is an enclosed unit, and then we let them stand for an hour before dipping them wine (you can use vinegar ) then we add garlic,oregano and a good olive oil. Store them in jars.

[oldfella]

To find out how to make a very cheap and easy way to solar sun dryer go www.knowledgehound.com. and go to Solar Sun dryers

[Wombat]

Solarcooking.org is good to look at as well as my article on the front page about my solar food drier.

Nev

PS Onya oldfella!

Nev

[oldfella]

Gud Day Wombat

Having a party later in the year; thought we might have a go at roasting a sheep over a pit, but have no idea about how to go about it, so I have of course come to the Expert as I understand that you guys there, do nothing but drink beer and eat bar bee's. So mate any tips. The party is for about a hundred folk, and if any of you are in the region the Lot in SW France on holiday in July PM me and you are welcome to join us. If any of you are campers then we plenty of room and you would be welcome (no charge for ish folk)
Eddy