Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
So, I moved away from home (Philadelphia) almost 30 years ago.
And other than a few visits, I have not had any Scrapple for a very long time.
So I created a thread asking who sells it in my area... I finally found some - the exact brand too; however it is sold in a 1 pound block that is frozen solid. Folks, this block of food is so hard it is as if it had been in deep space for the past 20 years.
The label says to keep frozen, but I was hoping I would be able to slice off and cook a little each day.
Right now the only way I see to cook it is to actually let it thaw and cook it all at the same time, putting the uneaten portions in the fridge and eating a little every morning.
Is there another way?
I am assuming that thawing, cutting and then re-freezing is not a good idea safety wise, and I don't like the idea of cutting it on my table saw (maybe if I had my band saw), anyway, do you believe I should strictly obey the "keep frozen" notice, or is thawing in the fridge, cutting, and then refreezing permitted?
A coping saw - used only on the scrapple (or other frozen food). Or a hacksaw, but that's kinda unwieldy. A coping saw would do, I should think. Or even a chisel - tap along the cut you want & then a good whack, or just keep deepening the cut. But that's noisy & messy. Whichever tool you use, make sure it's really clean before use, & clean it periodically before slicing off more - better safe than sorry.
A really hot wire would also do - but if the food's frozen solid, it's not like you can use a cheese cutting wire. You might also ask a butcher how they deal with the same problem.
ask the butchers to slice it on the bandsaw …. they may or may not- better luck in an independently owned store than a chain
ive done this a few times..
I sell scrapple in my stores.... in maine .
oh, and how to cut a frozen block?? ive used reciprocal saw on frozen turkeys before -sanitized the blade
I use a boiling hot knife blade with a sharply serrated edge to saw off a chunk big enough to last me a few days to a week. Then I put the rest of the bigger frozen block back in the freezer and put the cut off chunk in the fridge to thaw naturally. It's okay for the cut off chunk to sit thawed in the fridge for around a week and I'll slice off whatever I want from it as I need it after it's thawed.
Dip the serrated knife repeatedly in boiling water to re-heat the blade while you are sawing through the big block. The heat from the blade melts the ice crystals in the immediate vicinity of the cut as you are sawing through it.
I use a boiling hot knife blade with a sharply serrated edge to saw off a chunk big enough to last me a few days to a week. Then I put the rest of the bigger frozen block back in the freezer and put the cut off chunk in the fridge to thaw naturally. It's okay for the cut off chunk to sit thawed in the fridge for around a week and I'll slice off whatever I want from it as I need it after it's thawed.
Dip the serrated knife repeatedly in boiling water to re-heat the blade while you are sawing through the big block. The heat from the blade melts the ice crystals in the immediate vicinity of the cut as you are sawing through it.
.
Thanks...
Hard to imagine someone from BC with Scrapple experience, or is your advice generic?
Hard to imagine someone from BC with Scrapple experience, or is your advice generic?
I come from homesteading farmer stock, we used to make our own scrapple from our own livestock when they were butchered. No parts of the meat went to waste, it all was made into something or other, even the bones.
If I make scrapple now to freeze, I prepare it and then portion it out to freeze in one-person size plastic containers i.e. small or medium size cottage cheese containers or else Ziploc bags. I do the same portioning thing with gelatinized head cheese that I make, then label and freeze.
The heated serrated knife trick will work to saw through just about any kind of frozen solid food, not only scrapple.
Wouldn't the hot knife bring the edge to an unsafe temperature?
No. The frozen food cools the blade before the blade gets a chance to warm up the cut edge, that's why the blade needs to be re-heated frequently in boiling water because it cools during cutting. Try it yourself with some frozen hard meat, you'll see for yourself that the edge of the cut meat never gets warmed, it stays cold. The part that gets warmed and softened is the cut itself that is being created, not what is on either side of the cut. It's not quite as quick and labour-free as cutting through frozen butter or ice cream with a boiling hot knife of course but it's a good option if there are no other more appropriate cutting tools to use and no other alternative except to thaw the entire thing.
I've used a heated chisel or very sharp axe blade and beat on it with a hammer to cut through frozen meat too.
Wouldn't the hot knife bring the edge to an unsafe temperature?
If one is going to cook it, the rise in temperature won't matter. It's going to go up during cooking. If one is going to refrigerate or refreeze the rest of a block, that will also not matter as it will freeze again. The texture may change a bit, but I doubt safety is a concern. It's not going to be out for hours at a higher temperature--a few minutes at most.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Taking a cut @ it
