I would like to introduce myself after joining here. I am a retired pharmacist (chemist per U.K.) and am spending some of my retirement time getting a degree in English at a local university. Meat making is a hobby of mine, inspired by a local sausagemaker known to me in my youth.
My wife and I live in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, which is the reason for the listing of Indian Territory as my location. I.T. was one of the old designations for Oklahoma.
Over the years I have made summer sausage, hams, bacon, what we call chipped beef, smoked/cured pork loin, and smoked cheese. Although that might sound like quite a bit, it is not, and I consider myself a relative neophyte. My recipe collection goes back into the middle 1960s.
Before a heart bypass operation, I spent many happy hours smoke-cooking roasts, corned beef (salt beef?), ribs, duck, chicken, pork ribs, and so on. Nowadays, I spend a little less time doing that.
I have built a couple of smokehouses over the years, one out of an old metal refrigerator, and another from two metal 55 gallon drums connected by a metal stovepipe. I just bought a Bradley smoker, but am confined to the house with a broken ankle, so I can't get to it for a while.
The information that I have found here so far seems quite good. Keep it up!