Ben Starr

The Ultimate Food Geek

Tag: how to

  • A BETTER way to roast Hatch green chiles

    Yesterday I posted this photo of Hatch green chiles flame roasting in my backyard.  A number of folks were VERY concerned about the chiles in the center, which are completely black.  But those chiles look that way intentionally.  Allow me to explain. Some chiles have such a thick skin that they need to be peeled…

  • How to Convert a Refrigerator for Curing Meat or Aging Cheese

    WARNING: Working with electricity is dangerous. This article will teach you several ways to convert a refrigerator into a chamber for curing meat or for aging cheese.  (The same principles can be used to convert a refrigerator into a lagering chamber for making homebrew lager beer, or converting a chest freezer into a kegerator.)  If…

  • Curing Wild Boar

    My wonderful neighbor Ron surprised me a few days ago with some cuts from a few wild boar he shot on a recent hunting trip.  I took that as my excuse to get set up for home-curing…something I’ve been researching for a VERY long time. Curing meat through the application of salt, occasionally smoke, and…

  • How to Cook a Pumpkin and Turn it into Puree

    In the fall, we’ve got pumpkins coming out our ears, and it just pains me to think that 95% of the pumpkins grown in this country are simply carved for Halloween and then tossed into the trash.  Sometimes people buy 4 or 5, carve only one, and let the rest sit on their front porch…