Curing and smoking your own pastrami sounds intimidating, but with a bit of patience and attention to detail, it’s absolutely doable in a backyard setup. This guide walks through an 8-day cure, desalination, and an efficient smoke using separated point and flat—plus how to avoid the classic slicing mistake that can ruin tender meat.

Most cold-smoked cheese guides insist you should let the cheese “breathe” before vacuum sealing, supposedly to tone down the smoke. A side‑by‑side gouda experiment with a blind taste test told a very different story: the rested cheese actually tasted smokier—and better—to almost everyone. Here’s how the test was done, what might be happening inside that block of cheese, and how you can dial in your own smoke level at home.

Volunteered (or “voluntold”) to smoke the holiday turkey this year? Skip the 3 a.m. wake‑up and the dried‑out bird. This guide walks you through a hot‑and‑fast method for an 18‑pound, butter‑injected, dry‑rubbed turkey that finishes in around 7–8 hours with juicy meat and crisp skin—without wrecking your sleep or your gravy.

Move over turkey—this year’s star of the table might just be a perfectly grilled tenderloin steak. From choosing ultra-marbled beef to trimming, portioning, and nailing the cook, here’s how to turn high-end tenderloin into an unforgettable Thanksgiving centerpiece.

Move over turkey—this year’s star of the table might just be a perfectly grilled tenderloin steak. From choosing ultra-marbled beef to trimming, portioning, and nailing the cook, here’s how to turn high-end tenderloin into an unforgettable Thanksgiving centerpiece.

Some folks swear smoking a turkey isn’t worth the effort. Pitmasters who know what they’re doing strongly disagree. This guide walks you through how to smoke a turkey that’s juicy, deeply flavorful, and crowned with crisp skin—plus how to turn the leftovers into next‑level meals.