I have been a member of Smoking Meat Forums for some time now and I have learned a lot and have found many great ideas. One of the most creative members is Bearcarver. He came up with a method for making a spicy beef loaf to cut up into snacks. It is wonderful and the link to his post making them is:
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/106904/smoked-bear-loaf-hot-all-beef
I have tweaked his recipe to my tastes and added a bit of pork as I like the taste and texture it gives.
Ingredients:
- 1.5 kg/3 pounds lean ground beef
- 0.5 kg/1 pound pork shoulder, ground
- 8 ml/1/2 tablespoon ground black pepper
- 8 ml/1/2 tablespoon red pepper flakes
- 8 ml/1/2 tablespoon cayenne
- 8 ml/1/2 tablespoon mustard seed
- 8 ml/1/2 tablespoon fennel seed, slightly crushed
- 5 ml/1 teaspoon Italian seasonings
- 26 grams/1 ounces (2 tablespoons) Morton’s Tenderquick (a curing salt available in most super markets)
- 40 ml/1.5 ounces soy sauce
- 50 ml/2 ounces ice water
I ground a pound of pork shoulder steak and added it to the ground beef. I mixed the pepper, pepper flakes, cayenne, mustard seed, fennel seed and Italian seasonings in a bowl. I mixed the Tenderquick, soysauce and ice water in a separate bowl until the Tenderquick dissovled.
I mixed the spices and liquid mixture into the meat by hand, folding the meat into the centre for 3 minutes. Then I put the mixture in a bowl on my Kitchenaid and put the paddle on and mixed for 1 minute at medium speed.
I lined a 9 by 11 pyrex pan with plastic wrap leaving enough wrap to fold over the top. I pressed the meat mixture into the pan and pressed out as much air as possible. Then I folded the wrap over to cover the meat mix. I put the meat in the fridge for four hours.
Then I took the plastic wrap off the top of the meat and turned it over on to a smoking rack and removed the plastic wrap. Put it in the fridge for four hours to overnight to dry.
If you do not have a smoker, put the loaf in a 200 F oven forabout5 hours.Do not rely on time, test the internal temperature of the meat until it is an internal temperature of 165F. This will vary depending on the density of the meat and the thickness you packed it.
If you have a smoker, put it in the smoker at 140 F for three hours. Increase the smoker to 160 F for2 hours. Then, increase the temperature to 180 F for 2 hours. Turn the smokerup to 200F until the internal temperature of the meat is 165F.
Take the meat out and pat it with paper towel to remove any surface fat
Put the meat in the fridge, covered, overnight. Slice it to a thickness you like and then wrap it in plastic wrap in packages that you will likely use at one time. Place the packages in a large Ziploc bag and put it in the freezer until ready to use.
This is a wonderful meat snack. Bear’s technique gives a great result and there is just enough heat to make it tasty! I will be making these regularly. Thank you, Bearcarver!
The Old Fat Guy
