The Art of Smoking... food that is

The modern method of smoking foods evolved from its roots as a process for preserving. Long before refrigeration and chemical preservatives, smoke was used to extend the shelf life of most foods, especially meat. Wood smoke contains many of the chemicals (formaldehyde and acetic acid, among others) that slow the growth of microbes. In addition, the pH level of smoke is a very low 2.5, which is extremely friendly to microbes.

Today, smoking has become much more than an age-old technique for preserving, tenderizing, and adding flavor to food. Smoking has become an institution to festivals, clubs, organizations and above all, competitions. People are smoking cheeses, fruits, nuts, vegetables, salts, and anything else they can get their hands on.

This post, however, is about smoking meats. C'mon, its a Paleo blog, did you expect nothing less?

Meat to Use

Grill Night!

It's my favorite night of the week.

Partly because i don't have to cook, but mostly...

Come on, seriously?  What's tastier than lots and lots of grilled MEAT!?

Meat is Transcendent

My wife wanted meat today. Badly. How bad? She actually went to the store and purchased chicken and beef, which is always relegated to a job that is for me only since I know what to buy. Regardless of my wife's lack of understanding of meat, she picked up the right stuff and I commenced to grilling.

First up was the carrots, of which we had more than 5lbs of and we ate through 2lbs at least.

Paleo Carrots

In Which I Gather Meat

Our indoor grill has stopped working a month ago, and during our search for the same model or a different model that would suit our needs, we came up empty handed. Luckily, it is getting warm around here again, making outdoor grilling much easier to be done. There is one problem: I procrastinate. I have been procrastinating this past week in taking the propane tank to get exchanged so that I can actually use the gas grill that my father bought me last year (two years ago?).

What moved me to actually do the deed? We had been consuming farm-fresh eggs for the past two weeks and last night we used up the rest in a quiche. Now, that we are out of eggs is not a problem, it is the fact that my wife has started to get sick from eating all these eggs, and mainly only eggs as her source of protein. Even felt sick to her stomach after eating the quiche that featured pork sausage.

Because of this, I promised her meat.

Bacon Food Porn and a Primal-Friendly Cheddar Spread

Yes, that is a wonderful sight: A plate full of freshly cooked bacon.

Now, far be it from me to tell you what to do with your bacon, but if you are planning on inviting people over and you want to keep things Primal (meaning, this will contain dairy), I have just the dip for you.