Dale Brand of Rushford has an unusual “man cave.” While he has a big screen TV, a popcorn machine, and a fridge for his beer, he also has a stainless steel sausage filler, a stainless steel processing table, a dehydrator, several food/meat grinders, and some woodworking machines! In the adjoining garage, he has a pellet grill smoker and another smoker where he can adjust air flow easily by opening doors.
Dale got his pellet grill smoker about a year and a half ago after encouragement of many friends. He bought the biggest one he could get and has not regretted it. The grill is easier to adjust the temperature and smoke for his meats than the wood box style smokers. Brand is planning on getting a “blanket” for his smoker since ambient temperatures in the winter make it harder to raise the temperature of the smoker.
Brand uses his smoker almost every weekend, often smoking a couple pork butts that he buys at Rushford Foods. Calling it an easy meal, Dale simply cuts off the excess fat cap on the butts and smokes them for 10 hours. He wraps the butts in foil for the last two hours to retain moisture. He does have a wireless thermometer that he can read from his phone, but, as a former firefighter, he feels better “babysitting” the smoker more closely. He enjoys sharing the meat with his and his wife’s parents and his adult children.
Dale also buys whole chickens by the case which he “spatchcocks” before smoking. In spatchcocking, he removes the backbones of the chicken and splays the chicken flat; this ensures more even smoking. He uses several different kinds of commercial rubs on his meats.
This past Friday, Dale was busy processing 75 pounds of venison and pork into sausage. After grinding the meat, he mixes it by hand with spices in huge meat tubs that hold 25 pounds of meat. Filling the sausage becomes a family affair (Dale’s sister and brother-in-law help him); one person couldn’t run the stuffer, hold the sausage tube, and tie off the tubes.
Brand buys his spices for the sausage locally at Ody’s Country Meats, an old-fashioned meat market near Ostrander. This was the first place he purchased the spices, he likes the blend’s flavor and likes to support local businesses and have his money stay in Fillmore County. For Christmas, Dale and his son-in-law added a high temperature cheese that wouldn’t melt in processing and cranberries (Craisins) to some of his sausage. While Dale says the sausage wasn’t his favorite since it was sweet, after tasting I have to say that it’s fabulous!
Dale smoked the 75 pounds of sausage over the weekend, ending up with 25 ½ sausages. After smoking was complete, he plunged them into ice water for an hour to stop the process and prevent them from drying out. Once sausages are cool, he cuts each into thirds and vacuum seals them for the freezer.
Brand uses a different smoker for hot dogs and ring bologna; this refrigerator-shaped smoker was made from a bread proofer. The smoke injector for the smoker has a container that holds about a coffee can of wood chips. The smoker uses a small air compressor to disburse the smoke. Dale buys his casings and seasonings for hot dogs and ring bologna in New Albin.
Along with smoking meats, Dale has smoked queso dip and cheesy hashbrowns. He follows smoking sites on Facebook, and uses them to find new recipes to experiment with and other help. Dale also has several books on smoking meat and making sausage. He plans on next trying different types of sausages as well as bratwurst. Dale keeps a “bible” of everything he smokes, noting the time and temperatures used.
He’d like to purchase a meat mixer that would attach onto his grinder, but COVID has created back orders for this as well as many other items. Another item on his wishlist is a sink and water supply for cleaning up; now he takes tubs to the house to wash.
Horseradish
Brand is well known for his horseradish in Rushford; he and some friends have labeled the horseradish “Big Steer,” a nickname for Dale. At a recent benefit a pint jar sold for $200. You can’t buy the horseradish; he never sells it. He’ll trade for something or just give it to friends if he has enough.
He started processing horseradish a while back after a friend knew someone who had a ½ acre sweet corn field that had become infused with horseradish. They took a bag of it home, consulted Dale’s mom for advice and made their first horseradish. One year Dale and his sons harvested four garbage bags full of horseradish, picking up after the landowner plowed the field to expose the roots. That year it took two days to finish processing.
Now Dale has some planted; harvesting is done during any month with an “r” in it. Friends come for a day to help peel, grind, and pack the horseradish.
Brand declared, “I’ve read more about horseradish than anything else in my life!” He shared that horseradish isn’t like a pepper; it gives a burst of flavor and then it’s gone. “If you breathe in after taking a bite it burns more,” he added.
“Fumes — that’s the worst and best part of it!” Dale enthused. “Peeling the horseradish is strong for some people, but that’s nothing compared to when you grind it. It’s so strong some of the guys won’t come into the shop. Your eyes just run!”
According to Brand, you can just bite into the root; the real bite comes after grinding it. He had read that letting it sit longer before finishing it would make it stronger, but hadn’t found that to be true. Next vinegar is added to the horseradish; this stops the emulsification process; a little sugar is sprinkled over the batch and the processed horseradish is packed in jars and frozen. Brand has experimented with some batches, adding onion to some which resulted well. Adding jalapeños didn’t have as good results; the horseradish trumped the jalapeños and you couldn’t even notice the jalapeños!
You never know what Dale might be working on in his man cave — if he’s not smoking meat, dehydrating venison jerky, or making horseradish, he might be working on cutting wood projects for his wife Joell’s craft business. You can be sure to find him there often, enjoying his hobbies!
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