Jim, I've added a touch of pepper on occasion, but besides that, I try and get the blends that are already spiced up. That batch I made when you came over was straight from the box though, nothing added.

It could be in the prep? I cut the meat fairly thin, about 1/8-1/4" thick at the most, then spread the cure and seasoning fairly thick accross all of it, flip it over and do the other side, then tightly pack them in a gallon size zip lock, squeeze all the air out, and put the meat in the fridge for at least 24 hours. Maybe that is why it tasted spicier, I put more of the stuff than the directions instruct to. You are supposed to get about 15 pounds of meat from a package, the way I make it, I get about 10-12 pounds of meat per package. When I first started making the stuff, it wasn't nearly as good as it tastes now.

When it is in the oven, I'll leave it in for the hour it suggests, but some chunks might stay in there a couple of hours until its done to my liking. You can usually tell by how squishy it is.

Nimrod, I went through all the proposals and noticed a few odd ones, but nothing near as bad as last time around. What is the status of the bear baiting ballot box initiative? Is that going to the ballots, or did it fail? I wrote down all the proposals I plan to write in on, but I'll be talking to you to see if there are some more you want added support on. I will be in Fairbanks on the 3rd of March, so I'll miss the public testimony unfortunately. Should be interesting. I plan to call Fish and Game and find out if any funding went into arrow weight research. Those old proposals are back up again, so that'll be a fun one to play with. Looks like Fish and Game wants to go to a one grizzly bear every year for 26B DHCMA... But, it stays as a drawing. Interesting.