(http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q74/benn2001/puck002.jpg)(http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q74/benn2001/puck004.jpg)
Hi folks
thought you may be interested in my puck making experiments. After a lot of trial and error I've hit on a fairly authentic and reapeatable system.
Basic product is oak shavings/dust which I put through my wifes smoothie maker ( !!!) till I get the right particle size. Takes a couple of minutes to get half a bucket full.
For the hardware I bought a 1/2 ton arbour press off ebay for 20 pounds . For the mould I use 48mm internal dia. stainless tube about 35mm long. For the dye a thick flat washer slightly smaller.
I dampen the wood a little with cup of water mixed with 2 teaspoons of white flour. Pack loosely into the tube
, put the tube under the ram, washer on top and SQUEEZE. I use a 2 foot extension tube on the bar to get some extra leverage.
Press the puck out with your thumbs against the washer and hey presto! home made puck. Takes around 30 secs to make one.
One problem I encountered is that they swell making them too thick so I make about 30 or so, sandwich them between two thick baking trays or what have you and put a heavy weight on top. Then bake in the oven for 1/2 hour.
It takes a fair bit of experimentation to get the thing to fit the BS , cycle correctly and burn for 20 mins but hey! its just a bit of fun.
I don't know about other woods but damp oak stains your hands a very fetching purple that is very hard to scrub off !!
MY puck is on the left.
Hey DS, sounds like you are perfecting it nicely! Do you plan on making all your own pucks?
Quotemy wifes smoothie maker
Mmmmm ....I suspect you will be buying them in again when she finds out!! Banana and oak flavoured smoothie...... yuk!! On second thoughts I'll keep an eye out for the your press and BS on ebay, when they appear we will know she has twigged!! :D :D :D :D :D
Hi Manx
Yeah, I just can't get my head around the price of pucks over here. 40 quid inc. p&p for 120? Nah!
I"ll make my own. I've enough oak to last me literally years.
As for my darling, long suffering wife, I think she will be won over by the oak smoked pheasant. Thats despite completely filling the house full of smoke when the wind changed the other day and blew all the smoke back into the garage for several hours while we were out. Certainly made the dogs eyes water!
This is my new hunting companion this season, "Finn"
(http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q74/benn2001/finn1006.jpg)
That is one beautiful dog!!.....nice job on the pucks also.
Bubbagump
Wow, that is one beautiful dog! How old?
Thanks for that guys. He's just short of a year old. Very quiet and soft for a working springer. A dream to train. Almost ready to go. A bit more polish and we'll be out at christmas
He's a replacement for my older dog who's now permanently lame after breaking a leg last season.
Been trying to recognise where the picture was taken with no luck? Initially thought Port Soderick but not so sure now.
Where abouts on the island do you live, can't remember if I have asked already and forgot? :-[
Next time I go to the US I plan on bringing a suitcase full of pucks back with me, just hope the exchange rate continues to be as favourable as it is at the moment! ;)
The price of the pucks is silly over here but I have got quite a good bartering system going with a couple of people so some things like calig, mackerel and cheese I smoke in large quantities and barter/swap which helps offset the costs.
It is great to have an understanding partner is'nt it, makes a big difference. ;D
I hope that you're already marketing the advantages of "high fiber" smoothies to you wife, Spook! ;) ;D
Finn is a beaut!! My wife asked me if there will be dogs in heaven and I told her that it IS indeed the presence of dogs that will identify that we've made it to the right place......if she sees cats though, she's in deep kimchee!! ;) ;D ;D
The puckmaker sounds like good therapy....I'm glad that pucks aren't soooooo danged expensive up here....I already have enough projects, er, ah, make that "therapy sessions" to last me three lifetimes! :o I noticed that you used flour as a binder.....I don't know how that might "adjust" the smoke flavor, (opps....I meant "flavour" ;) ;D), but my first thought was the foul smell of burnt toast ??? ??? Have you experimented with any kind of gelatin mix? Don't know if that would make a difference, but I'm just wondering about a binder that wouldn't produce acrid smoke?!?!? Just a random thought from another inventor?!?!?
Hi guys,
Manx, I live in Onchan and the pic was taken at the top end of Molly Quirks glen, just above Whitebridge. You fish out of Port St Mary.
Are you a southside "spaniard"? By the way, if you want any game give me a shout and I,ll get you a brace.
Kummock, I think there is so little flour involved it does'nt seem to alter the flavour. I hav'nt had chance to do a control test against Bradley pucks. Now the weather has gone cold here I'll try with gelatine again. Darling wife hit the roof when the first batch fell to pieces in the fridge. Boys and their toys!!!
Very VERY nice looking dog.O and the puck looks good too. ;D
QuoteManx, I live in Onchan and the pic was taken at the top end of Molly Quirks glen, just above Whitebridge. You fish out of Port St Mary.Are you a southside "spaniard"? By the way, if you want any game give me a shout and I,ll get you a brace.
Yes, Port St Mary born and bred although spent 10-12 years living in Onchan as it was handy for the hospital where I work plus I played a lot of sport at that time, but living in Kirk Michael at the moment. Plan on a move back to PSM at some stage as my boat is moored/stored down there.
Would love a brace if you have any going spare, if you fancy trying some smoked calig I will do you a swap. ;)
ManX/Spook.....Can't speak for the other colonists on the forum, but I LOVE "listening" to your "English-speak"....I'm learning all kinds of new words/phrases! Adding a little culture to my little "hamlet-by-the-sea" up here;) ;D
Dang, Spook.....yer mangling the blender, the reefer, and the oven with this "puck therapy". Your wife must REALLY love you....I'd be sleeping with my Newfy by now if I tried that! ;) ;) ;D :o
Dang, Spook.....yer mangling the blender, the reefer, and the oven with this "puck therapy". Your wife must REALLY love you....I'd be sleeping with my Newfy by now if I tried that! Hahaha.......... yes I agree Kummock! Not many of us would get away with that and I thought I had an understanding partner!! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
QuoteManX/Spook.....Can't speak for the other colonists on the forum, but I LOVE "listening" to your "English-speak"....I'm learning all kinds of new words/phrases! Adding a little culture to my little "hamlet-by-the-sea" up here;)
It's exactly the same in reverse, I really enjoy the cosmopolitan nature of the forum with the similarities and differences between the people here..... great. ;D
A bit of the Manx language well worth remembering is "traa dy liooar", it means "time enough" and not only is it official Government policy over here ( ;) ) it also represents how many Manx people view life! ;D ;D
Guys, I'll give you a snapshot of the mechanics of my marriage over the last 22 years:
Wife: " sterilisation seems a lot more involved than a vasectomy, don't you agree?
Translation: "If you really want that 1000cc Suzuki, ring the doctors."
Wife; "I see they have loaded your life insurance by 25% since you bought that bike"
Translation; " Get rid of that noisy deathtrap and We,ll consider a new boat"
Finally,
"How on earth are we going to afford Heathers university fees this year?"
Means: Farewell, boat. Hellow Bradley smoker and Rickenbacker guitar.
So i guess we understand each other perfectly!!
Quote.....A bit of the Manx language well worth remembering is "traa dy liooar", it means "time enough" and not only is it official Government policy over here ( ;) ) it also represents how many Manx people view life! ;D ;D
I like "traa dy liooar"....it's the same meaning to me as "TJ time" and represents the view of those waaaaay smarter about life than am I. Biblically, it's the "Mary" of the "Mary and Martha" team....a great place to be in your view of life on Earth! ;)
Now in return, here's a native Alaskan word, a VERY important word up here..... "T'a" ......it is what the Tlingets call the King Salmon and as far as I'm concerned it is where the food cycle begins and ends....all the other good things to eat fall somewhere in between... ;) ;) ;)
I'm loving this conversation between you guys! Yes, our globe is shrinking & it is very interesting to learn others' local terms. :)
On that note, let me introduce you to some of ours:
"Corn"--The stuff that occupies half of the land.
"Soybeans"--The stuff that occupies half of the land.
"Basketball"--Where you go on Fridays to forget the corn & soybeans.
I need a life! ;D ;D ;D
Kirk
We have grits down here along with football!
Manx, "Cosmopolitan Nature" on the Forum. I had thought of the group as kind of a smokey bunch. Cosmopolitan, I like that... think i better look it up again.
Cosmopolitan is about 2 syllables past my etymological limit, WCK, so I'm in trouble before I even get to my Funk & Wagnels! "Smokey bunch" though....THAT sound cool...kinda ethereal!! ;D ;D ;D
Kirk, sounds like you need to hookup to a 38# T'a !! ;) ;D ;D
Quote"Smokey bunch" though....THAT sound cool...kinda ethereal!!
Yeah, must agree "smokey bunch" beats cosmopolitan hands down! ;D :D :D :D
(ST. Petersburg Florida) A Cracker.... that phase is now a no no! Anti Black American. However, I'm a Florida Cracker and more of my neighbors are now Black American than not. We all get along very well... thank you very much! In fact the only "neighbor" to give me trouble is that white red neck who turn loose his two dogs on me and Skyway. After I beat them back with my hickory cain he came after us with a pistol...To late though the cops got to us first!
(Vidalia Georgia) C_O_C_K = Female... go figure that one out. (Filters kick in and remove the word.)
(Philadelphia PA) Yo Guys! A single female calling out to a group of females...another one to figure out!
This is a Manx parable (ie Isle of Man) that gives a flavour of small island life;
An old Manx fisherman was unloading his catch of crab onto the quay. A curious tourist was watching the efforts of the crabs to climb up and out of the wicker baskets.
"Are you not concerned one of those crabs will reach the top and escape?" asked the tourist.
"Not at all" replied the fisherman. "You see these are Manx crabs. If one gets too near the top, there are plenty of others to pull him back down again."
Hence the the popular local phrase " Manx crab syndrome"
We're not so different, Spook.....I've used what I call the "Crab Bucket Theory" for years to explain the petty territorial jealousies that can rage at times in the fire/emergency service (and elsewhere).
I distinctly recall the first time I saw this crusteceon behavior as a kid in Alaska and figured it was just lack of human reasoning that prevented them from banding together to form a "ladder" and providing safe escape for ALL of them. Imagine my surprise when I later learned that humans can emulate the same behavior, (opps, "behaviour" :o ;) ;) in a staff meeting! If you want to see a GREAT example of humans performing like crabs in a bucket, come on up to a town council meeting when there's a controversial subject on the agenda (like a "no-smoking anywhere" or a "hunting is okay in city limits" ordinance proposal ;) :D :D)
Hmmmmm......interesting how we start with home brewed pucks and morph into "-ologies" ;D ;D ;D
Sounds like this is common in many small communities, I can certainly vouch for the "Manx Crab syndrome". Many of our politicians/town councillors are the worst culprits! :D
QuoteHmmmmm......interesting how we start with home brewed pucks and morph into "-ologies"
This has turned into a really good thread.
Well Kummock & Manx, I agree it's a tenuous link from the original topic but I,ll go full circle and tell you I spent 10 years in sport & leisure management and became so sick of the petty scrambling & wheedling that I bailed out and went delivering the mail for a living. That was 8 years ago. No stress but sore feet.
Now I spend much of that spare time ( finish midday) fishing in summer, hunting in winter and inventing puck making machines!
QuoteNow I spend much of that spare time ( finish midday) fishing in summer, hunting in winter and inventing puck making machines!
Now that sounds good! ;)
Quote from: Dalby Spook on November 29, 2006, 10:29:15 AM
Well Kummock & Manx, I agree it's a tenuous link from the original topic but I,ll go full circle and tell you I spent 10 years in sport & leisure management and became so sick of the petty scrambling & wheedling that I bailed out and went delivering the mail for a living. That was 8 years ago. No stress but sore feet.
Now I spend much of that spare time ( finish midday) fishing in summer, hunting in winter and inventing puck making machines!
Once again, not so different Spook, you and I......same, same!
I came into work one day, told the boss that I wouldn't be coming to his staff meeting, EVER!, and that I didn't like the view from my office window. Retired early, sold my corporation, and hit the road to Alaska. Life has been
lived as God intended since then and the rewards just keep pouring in. As I type this, it is still dark, but the sun is going to rise within the hour and majestically blast it's orange/yellow/red/blue hues over the snow capped mountains and glaciers across the Bay's frigid but tranquil clear waters, full of King Salmon! (Last night, we were treated to an awesome display of Northern Lights!) Instead of sitting in some windowless room with a bunch of other "crabs" trying to provide sustenence for our various divisions and listening to my old boss droning on about how he's done this/that/another thing, I will be visiting my dad in long term care, talking of past hunting adventures and watching this performance of sunrise splendor! .....life is GREAT!
Manx has shared with me, some photos of your surroundings there...WOW! Sounds/looks to me like you've got your priorities straight, Spook! ;D ;D ;D
Sounds like you're living my dream Kummock. If God grants me the years, as soon as my kids are all through university I plan some big life changes. I see so many guys at work carrying on past retirement and I feel like saying "why?. Can you not think of something more constructive & imaginiative than this?"
My pop is my role model. Retired from the post office in his late 50's. The days are not long enough for him. Always up to something. Getting the BS was partly his idea anyway.
Which reminds me of one of his smoking exploits when I was a kid in the mid 60"s.
Thousands of tons of Herring used to be caught commercially back then in the summer and were stored in big wooden barrels on the quay.
Pop says he's going to make Kippers using one of these barrels as a smoker. It looked very impressive with loads of smoke billowing out of the top. He left it and went indoors only to be called out again a little later by the presence of the fire brigade bravely hosing a subtantial conflagration that had been his smoker. Unbeknown to pop the barrels had a thick coat of tallow inside to seal them. Boy did it burn!
Ahh! Happy days.
Kummok
I tried another batch of pucks with gelatine. The damned things won't set. Tried chilling, freezing. Zilch. They just fall to bits. Although the amount of flour I use is probably less than 1% by weight I would prefer to use something more inert or neutral. Any thoughts?
QuoteI came into work one day, told the boss that I wouldn't be coming to his staff meeting, EVER!, and that I didn't like the view from my office window. Retired early, sold my corporation, and hit the road to Alaska. Life has been lived as God intended since then and the rewards just keep pouring in. As I type this, it is still dark, but the sun is going to rise within the hour and majestically blast it's orange/yellow/red/blue hues over the snow capped mountains and glaciers across the Bay's frigid but tranquil clear waters, full of King Salmon! (Last night, we were treated to an awesome display of Northern Lights!) Instead of sitting in some windowless room with a bunch of other "crabs" trying to provide sustenence for our various divisions and listening to my old boss droning on about how he's done this/that/another thing, I will be visiting my dad in long term care, talking of past hunting adventures and watching this performance of sunrise splendor! .....life is GREAT!
Sounds like you are living the dream of a lot of people Ralph, sounds absolutely out of this world. :) Having said that, I count myself as very lucky living where I do and living the life I do, just that work gets in the way quite a lot. well, a heck of a lot actually. >:( Really pleased you liked the pics.
DS was kind enough to drop off a couple of pheasants at the house for me, another excellent meal in the offing!! ;)
Dalby, I don't think the small amount of flour paste that you're using is enough to push the inert/neutral limit. If you want more binder bang for your buck try a paste with gluten flour. 8)
Thanks for that Tom. I have tried using no binder but no go with the modest pressures I'm using.
It's that tricky balance of just enough binder so you can handle them afterwards without imparting any distorting flavour.
Im' putting a boned out duck through today with some "low flour dose" pucks. i.e. one teaspoon full for 30 pucks. I'll post you when it's been eaten.
John
John, Have you actually had problems with "toasty" off flavors using the flour binder or is the problem theoretical?
I'm tempted to use a stack of bagels for my next smoke to see if I can come up with a new ethnic flavor. ;D ;D
To be honest, Tom I hav,nt been at this smoking caper long enough to make a defiitive judgement.
The stuff I have been putting through is pretty strong flavoured anyway. Herrings, duck, pheasant and the like.
I plan to do some free range bacon and a couple of sides of atlantic salmon for christmas. I think these will be the acid test that shows up any burnt crouton flavours. Then again I might bottle out and use the Bradley pecans I have left.
Mmmm! bagels as pucks. Cinnimon or plain?
Great idea. ;D I thought a similar thing, except instead of a Ram, just use a heavey weight on top of the tube and leave it a few days. Ie , maybe a container of water, or a box full of something dense like scrap iron etc.
I wonder if a mild mixture of molasses n' water with the wood-chips, instead of flour might not work too?? Maybe make the wood too sweet however? Never tried anything like it, so I D' no..
Thoughts?
MH, git er dun
TomG has his finger on the pulse of this one.....when I asked the question, it was purely conjecture. It is quite possibly similar to the old Hi-Fi purest challenge to obtain the purest sound when most of us couldn't tell the difference between Motorola and Magnovox ???
I still couldn't say for certain IF the flour (or molasses?) binder would affect the smoke flavor, but I DO recall the nasty smells eminating from kitchen fires where larger doses of food product, subjected to carbonizing temperatures made an odoriferous impression, in a negative sense, on the olfactory nerves. (That'd be "stunk to high heaven when burnt to a crisp" for us plain talkin' folks! ;) ) I'm vaguely recalling that when this discussion took place a year or so ago, there was some speculation that Bradley used a glycerin binder, but I have no evidence of that either. It'll be interesting to her back from you on your actual experience this, Spook!
Yeah kummock, the binder turns out to be gelatine. At least thats what i came up with on the web when I punched in the chemical name off the box.
Have tried it. No go. Fall to bits.
Gelatin is the binder, but it's the pressure used in forming that holds the pucks together. If you had (I'm purely guessing here) a 10,000psi press & mold, I bet the results would be better.
Kirk
The single argument against high pressure compression is that a puck weights 14 grams and if you start with 14 grams of sawdust and 1-2 grams of binder, compress it with 5-10k psi, you'll probably end up with a 2 ΒΌ" disc, 1/8" thick, not the 5/8" thick Bisquettes that we've all learned to love. 8)
See Tom, there you go again, introducing knowledge! ;)
I may as well stop wasting my posts.
Kirk 8) 8)
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=2857.msg26153#msg26153 just one of my previous posts for info purposes
Quote from: Dalby Spook on December 15, 2006, 12:22:23 PM
Yeah kummock, the binder turns out to be gelatine. At least thats what i came up with on the web when I punched in the chemical name off the box.
my box says it's hydrolyzed collagen, which is just old-fashioned glue.
"old-fashioned" is the key here; over the past few decades most glues have become synthetic, but the Old Ways are still followed for things like furniture restoration and bookbinding and musical instruments and art canvases, so it's still available. what you want is a "hide glue"; one I found online is Titebond Liquid Hide Glue: http://www.titebond.com/ProductLineTB.asp?prodline=5&prodcat=1
collagen is what makes connective tissue connect. it's a main ingredient of cartilage, tendons, ligaments, and bones. the main point of low heat for long time in bbqing is to break down the collagen in the meat's connective tissues, leaving it oh so tender (and to "brown" the resulting components). hydrolyzing is just reacting with water, like in boiling. so hydrolyzed collagen is boiled bones and cartilage - aka glue.
you're right that this is just gelatin, but normal food-grade gelatin usually has a significantly lower collagen concentration than glue and so doesn't bind as well. you probably need glue concentrations here, not jello concentrations.
hide glue was the first glue ever made (about 8000 years ago!) and was the common glue in use from then through WWII. that's why the elmer's glue logo is a bull: it was made by boiling him down (though now elmer's has switched to synthetic glue). gotta love it when the logo is also the ingredient list! more than you care to know on this subject: http://www.wpatrickedwards.com/gluearticle.htm
it's appealing to glue together the pucks with the same thing you're smoking! hydrolized collagen itself is perfectly safe to eat (maybe even yummy, if you cook it right!) and won't gum up your smoker because it should itself easily break down/burn off at bbq temps. just make sure the preservatives they put in your hide glue (since it's just beef soup this stuff can spoil) aren't nasty to people - read the MSDS before you eat it. they probably use less preservatives in the dried hide glue flakes than in the liquids.
general hide glue info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hide_glue
Quote from: Kummok on November 27, 2006, 09:22:22 AM
Finn is a beaut!! My wife asked me if there will be dogs in heaven and I told her that it IS indeed the presence of dogs that will identify that we've made it to the right place.....
All I have to say is, if there ain't no dogs in heaven I'm not going!!!
Just a update on my original post as I've been using home brewed for several months now and compared with Bradley ones I cannot detect any real difference.