I wish! But while we are decorating the house I can get away with all sorts of liberties, like drying my bread along the radiators. I can't imagine the local
décor-gendarmerie agreeing to that once the decorating is finished and the carpets are down.
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| 49½p a can... |
While I am decorating the utility room I get to use if for a fishing space - I might start calling it 'The fishing room' and see if the idea sticks... Be that as it may, I have been making my next batch of Two-Dog groundbait ready for the match on Wednesday. The bread had been drying on the radiators, Sue had collected the biscuits and secured a new supply of hot dogs at two tins of 8, for 99p.
In the past I have added the 'wet' ingredients at the water's edge, but now I like to add the 'second dog' here in advance to give it a chance to soak in properly. This means blitzing the whole can to a sludge - it looks and smells absolutely revolting. To complete the revolution, all the fat and gristle floats about in the resultant purée making it look like something the cat has just thrown up. This is supposed to be for human consumption, I tell you this for nothing, I have been put off hot dogs for life - Yuck!
The groundbait will need more water added before it is ready for use, but this can come from the lake. It will need to be left to soak up the water properly and will need to be riddled a couple of times on the bank before it is finally ready to use.
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| Hot dogs and brine are loaded into the processor together |
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| The transformation begins... |
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| Revolting... and you can't smell it! |
The mixture is stirred into the basic mix and then you have to get your hands in a mix it around. Leave it to stand for an hour or so and work it through your fingers again.
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| Stir it in a bit at a time... |
Once the mixing has been completed, as far as is possible by hand, it is time to riddle, riddle and riddle again. This will not only break down the lumps but also help to distributable the meat particles more evenly.
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| Riddle, riddle, riddle and then, riddle again! |
The secret to good groundbait is to aim for a smooth friable consistency. In this case the groundbait has some water content as well as the meat. For this reason I always keep it frozen until it is about to be used.
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| Finished and ready for bagging |
See I did all that in my fishing room and did not get told off once - Mind you, Sue was out at the time...
Ralph.
