Chicken Processing Workshop with Patricia Foreman

In September we had an opportunity to attend a hands-on chicken processing workshop at the Mother Earth News Fair at Seven Springs, Pennsylvania.  The workshop was presented by Patricia (Patty) Foreman, Michael Badger, and Matt Wilkinson.  If you know anything about poultry, you’ll know that these folks are kind of the celebrities of the chicken world.  And they did a fantastic job of leading our group from a live, clucking, flapping chickens to a ready-to-package set of chicken cuts. I’ve butchered plenty of deer, squirrels, and rabbits before.  But I’ve never slaughtered and processed a chicken.  It’s really a very different process.  But it’s really pretty simple when you have experienced people showing you how, and giving you feedback in

Cider from Store-Bought Juice

I’ve done some things on this channel about wine-making.  But what I’m really most interested in are meads and ciders.  My first attempt at mead was a complete flop, not because I made it wrong, but because the recipe was, um questionable (note to self, basil probably doesn’t belong in mead).  But that’s another story. So I wanted to move into ciders in 2016, but there really aren’t a lot of fresh, locally-sourced apples available in January.  So, based on some posts by Jack Spirko at #TheSurvivalPodcast, I started looking at juices available at the grocery store.  Based on the results I can tell you this can be done quickly, easily, and inexpensively, and it can produce fantastic results.  You’re

Ugly Drum Smoker – Part III

We’ll build the charcoal basket, make and install the grate supports, and do the final assembly. It is really a pretty simple build. The materials are easy to find and inexpensive. And the results . . . Well, the results speak for themselves. Having already used this smoker three times in the last two weeks, I can tell you it works like a charm. I’ve done smoker sausage once, and pulled pork twice. I’m thinking maybe ribs this weekend. If you’re interested, I’ll be posting a parts list with prices, and some constructions notes/sketches sometime in the next couple of weeks to help you with your own build. Thanks for checking it out, and please subscribe to see more of

Mmmmmmm, crabs

My family and I vacation in Hilton Head, South Carolina every couple of years.  It’s your typical family vacation with sun, and sand, and a whole lot of doing nothing.  This year, while visiting the pier at Harbor Town, we saw a couple of guys watching a couple of thin ropes trailing down into the water.  When I asked what they were doing they said they were crabbing, and opened a cooler to show me half a dozen or so large blue crabs.  Mind . . .  blown!  You mean I can go out on a public pier and catch my own seafood dinner??? That night I went back to the house and started Googling everything I could find about

Ugly Drum Smoker – Part II

This week we’ll walk through part two of our Ugly Drum Smoker (UDS) build.  We’ll go through the burn out, the grind out, and the assembly of the smoker body.  That leaves us only the charcoal basket and the grills before we’re ready to smoke some tasty brisket! Hope you enjoy.  And, as always, if you have any questions, please feel free to drop me a comment or shoot me an email. Thanks!

Home Wine Making (Part III)

In part 3 of 3 in our home wine making series we look at second clearing, bottling, and corking.  If you haven’t seen the first two videos yet, go back and watch from the beginning on the YouTube playlist. If you like this, check out the other videos on our YouTube channel.  Better yet, subscribe to the channel so you can be alerted when new videos post. Please leave any questions/comments in the space below.  And let me know what topics you’d like to see in the future pertaining to DIY, homesteading, and the self-sufficient lifestyle. Thanks!