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The Smoker
in Gubbeen is based on the Pinney system, using a kiln in which selected
pieces of wind felled hard woods (sweet woods like beech, oak, or fruit
trees) slowly smolder down to become charcoal. This process produces the
smoke that is used to create the signature Gubbeen flavour. The smoker is a
wood-lined room where the bacon, hams, salami, sausage and various cured
meats are hung from the roof, to air dry before the smoking process. After
the smoking period, which can take up to a couple of days, the cured meats
are brought to a cold room to air dry once again for several days before
being sliced or packed as our smoked range. Gubbeen Dry Cured Bacon is a slowly cured labour of love, made by rubbing
our pork with a mixture of sea salt, raw cane sugar, a subtle mixture of
organic or wild herbs and spices, and the naturally found mineral salt petre.
After rubbing in this mixture, the curing piece of pork is massaged weekly
for up to one month, before being washed and hung to air dry in our curing
room for a period of days. It is then sliced packed as part of our unsmoked
range or goes on to be placed in the smoker! Gubbeen Ham
is made from a process of pickling our pork or collars in a very traditional
brine based on a recipe by the famous charcutier Jane Grigson. It has
similarity to a French brine due to the addition of a whole bottle of white
wine, a bouquet Garnis (rosemary, thyme and bay) as well as a subtle gesture
of pepper and juniper. The pork is placed in the brine for a week, then
removed and hand trussed / tied to be air-dried for a further week before
being placed in the smoker or being packed for sale! Gubbeen Sausages and Burgers are based on a very simple principle of taking the very best fresh
ingredients, herbs from Clovisse’s garden, eggs from our chickens, wild or
organic spices (provided from Green Saffron Indian spices company) and no
added artificial preservatives. We carefully blend the fresh ingredients,
herbs and spices, with low salt the day of production, adding them to the
specially selected pork, venison, lamb or beef, all of which are either
produced on our farm or from our local producers. The sausages are then made
using natural casings. Continental
Sausage Recipes include: Sun
dried tomato, fresh basil and garlic. Roast
peppers, sheep Feta, and fresh oregano. Cajun
(paprika, chili, onion, fresh
mint, pepper) Fresh
Italian (fennel and subtle chili
and garlic) Toulouse (white wine, pepper, Gubbeen bacon,) Lamb
sausage / burger (rosemary,
thyme, mint, pepper) Boerwoers
(South African sausage based on
venison and pork, toasted coriander, herbs and spices, Worcestershire sauce
and malt vinegar) Cumberland
(based on the hearty English
banger, contains bacon, marjoram and spices, a little milk, 2% rusk) Venison
sausage (pork fat 23%, white wine, herbs and
spices) Venison
burgers (sun dried tomato, eggs,
Worcestershire sauce, parsley, pepper, and subtle herbs and spices) The breakfast sausages include Honey
and mustard (10% rusk, Dijon wholegrain mustard, runny honey) Gubbeen breakfast (2% rusk, cream, eggs, herbs and spices) Gubbeen Salami is based on a traditional European air-dried,
lactic fermented salami. This means that we add dextrose to the meat to feed
the natural cultures, which create the flavour and long shelf life of our
salami. The curing salts are important to preserve and keep the rich colour. We first started making salami for our
own family about 10 years ago, and found the complexities of making it as
exciting as making our cheese, we are now making several varieties, the first
salami being the Chorizo, due to my mothers family that are based in southern
Spain in Andalucia, in a village called Jimena Del A Frontera. As a child I
would look forward to visiting there and tasting the wonderful strong and
confidant flavors of Spanish cuisine, and when old enough I used family
recipes and some of the knowledge from books and what I had picked up from
cheesemaking ( both based on
Fermentation ) to make the first few trial salamis! Over the years we are
know making our salami in almost exactly the same way using authentic
ingredients, and the addition of our subtle smoked flavour, We hope you enjoy! Gubbeen salami is made by carefully selecting
meat cuts, adding a selection of salts, sugars, herbs and spices, and
allowing the blend to rest for 48 hours. Meat is then minced and stuffed into
either natural or collagen casings. Salami’s are then hung in the smoker and
air dried before smoking for several days. After smoking, the salami is taken
to our unique curing rooms where we control the temperature and humidity,
12–15 °C and 80 % humidity. Varieties: Venison salami (Pork fat is added (23 %), rosemary, thyme,
pepper, juniper, white wine) Gubbeen Salami (based on Italian Pepperoni. Fennel, coriander,
chili, garlic). Gubbeen Salami with pistachios Gubbeen Salami with peppercorns Chorizo (based on southern Spain’s famous spicy salami. Pimenton, chili,
garlic, oregano, pepper) Fresh chorizo (as above, but in small thumb size pieces, low in
salt and packed post smoking) Salcichon (based on another Spanish salami. Spanish Anis spirit, pepper,
nutmeg, garlic) Chistorra (A Spanish cooking sausage. Pork, pimenton, garlic. Try it with
crusty bread after quickly frying it in good olive oil, in stews or
casseroles, or with eggs for breakfast) Gubbeen is founded on five generations of farming
and we strongly believe that animal husbandry is vital. The pigs bred
on our farm are from Saddleback, Large White, Duroc, and Tamworth
and are reared both outside and indoors in big straw pens (we do live
in a cold windy boggy area!). The pigs thrive on a diet of G.M. free
feeds, cheese whey from our dairy, and when they are lucky, leftover
olives from the Real Olive Company! we also source pork from a local
supplier here in west cork! We at Gubbeen have a strong policy of not using
what we believe to be unnecessary ingredients, so no Phosphates, MSG,
metabisulphate’s, fillers, artificial colorings or flavorings. We like to use all natural ingredients, and
carefully chosen herbs and spices. Our recipes are based on traditional
methods with modern flavors! We are not organic, but we do use organic herbs
and spices for the superior tastes and flavors. |
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Contact Fingal: smokehouse@gubbeen.com |
