The Smoke House

The Smoke House. Harrison Homestead. As was common for rural families during the early occupation of the Harrison property, hunting deer and raising cattle and hogs for meat was practiced. Central to the process of preparing various meats for the family was the Smoke House. The Smoke House outbuilding served a variety of functions including butchering, smoking meat, storing canned foods and as an outdoor kitchen. Outdoor kitchen fires were common and the Friesenhahn's kitchen was no exception. It burned down in 1953 at which point the kitchen was moved indoors. The replacement structure continued to serve for smoking meat and food storage. The Friesenhahns used the Smoke House to primarily prepare link sausage and bacon. The smoking process involved placing a wash tub in the middle of the room with sand in the bottom covered with wood coals. The coals were burned down to what was referred to as a "cold fire". Oak and mesquite wood were gathered from areas on the farm to make the coals. As the smoking process proceeded, fresh wood chips, typically of pecan wood, were added to assist in producing smoke. , Sausage was produced in a variety of mixtures depending on the meats on hand. The sausage may have been pork only or pork mixed with beef or venison. Sausage was smoked for 3-4 hours then air dried for 2-3 weeks. Bacon was typically smoked for 2 weeks then cured with salt. , Friesenhahn Sausage Recipe , 30 pounds of meat , 1 c. salt , 1/3 c. red pepper , 1/3 c. black pepper , 8 oz. garlic powder, Rural practices of the day used every structure available as efficiently as possible. In addition to this building being a kitchen, smoke house, and storage, the Friesenhahns used the porch for doing laundry. In earlier days, large cast iron kettles sat just off of the porch and were used to make hot water for washing clothes. The cleaned clothes were dried in the sun on the nearby clothes line. With the advent of the wringer washing machine one such washer was placed on the smoke house porch which replaced the cast iron kettles. This machine dates to the mid-1900s.