Chapter 53: Chapter 53: The Sturdy Smokehouse

Lin Yu’an came up, looking at the broth and the boiling venison heart chunks in the pot, his throat subconsciously moved.

His stomach, which had just felt overstuffed, seemed to miraculously clear a little space.

“I swear, I’m already stuffed, really… but…”

“But this venison heart soup… it’s too fragrant! It’s still tempting me!”

“No way, even if my stomach bursts, I can’t miss this delicacy!”

He found a perfect excuse for himself, scooping up a spoonful of the clear, slightly yellow venison heart soup with a wooden spoon.

A few pieces of wild onion leaves floated in the soup. He tasted a small amount and felt the flavor was a bit light, so he added a little salt.

“Mmm—!”

An indescribably delicious taste exploded in his mouth instantly!

The addition of wild chives greatly reduced the gamey taste, leaving more of the pure and intense meat aroma.

“This soup… this soup is fantastic!”

He scooped up a piece of the soft and tender venison heart and put it in his mouth.

The venison heart chunks required almost no effort to chew, the texture was bouncy and tender, with every fiber soaked in the soup’s freshness and the wild onion’s fragrance.

“I must say, this pot of venison heart soup is definitely the highlight of my ’presidential feast’ this time!”

“The freshness of the ingredients, combined with just the right amount of simple seasoning, made this pot of ultimate wilderness delicacy.”

After eating and drinking to his heart’s content, Lin Yu’an put down the clay bowl in his hand, his face filled with an irrepressible sense of satisfaction.

Day forty-seven.

The morning at Chilco Lakefront started to become windy again, with the cold becoming increasingly intense.

Inside the stone house shelter, warmed by the remnants of last night’s stove and a thick sleeping bag, Lin Yu’an slept soundly.

For him now, food was temporarily no longer an urgent issue.

This allowed him to plan and execute some “big projects” with a more composed mindset.

“Good morning.”

“Last night I slept so well! Today will be another busy day, building a dedicated ’sauna room’ for those over forty kilos of venison.”

He walked to the stove, where there were still some remnants of warmth in the hearth.

Skilfully, he added some dry pine cones and split kindling, and soon the flames were joyously dancing again.

For breakfast, he pan-fried a few slices of fresh venison tenderloin in a stainless steel pan, sprinkled with a little salt and chopped wild onions.

The golden crispy venison tenderloin sizzled lightly in the pan, its aroma mingling with the pungent smell of onions.

Paired with a steaming cup of pine needle tea, it was the top culinary experience in the wilderness.

After enjoying this energy-filled breakfast, Lin Yu’an began to undertake the construction of the smokehouse.

Although the temperature at Chilco Lakefront had now dropped close to below zero, greatly slowing the process of meat spoilage.

But to preserve this precious batch of venison for the long term, smoking treatment was essential.

“To build the smokehouse, I chose a clearing in the woods about a hundred meters downwind of the shelter.”

“This location allows me to clearly see the full view from the shelter, and even if a bear catches the scent and comes, it can give me a bit of buffer time.”

Since Lin Yu’an used the last piece of waterproof tarp to make a canoe, he intended to build a sturdy smokehouse this time.

Needing a large amount of logs as materials for the smokehouse’s wall, he wandered in the nearby forest, his eyes scanning over each tall spruce and pine tree.

“No need for overly thick logs, otherwise transporting and subsequent processing and construction would be extremely difficult.”

“A diameter of about fifteen to twenty centimeters, straight trunks with few branches, is my ideal target.”

He selected a spruce tree that met the requirements, then took out the sharp hand saw he had made from a chainsaw blade.

He pressed the chain’s teeth tightly against one side of the trunk, his arms alternating in force, and the hand saw began reciprocating on the trunk.

“Swish… swish…”

The hard chain teeth and the spruce wood fibers rubbed violently, emitting a penetrating sound.

With each pull, a fine spray of fresh pine-scented sawdust was carried out, accumulating in a thin layer at his feet.

He controlled the saw cut’s angle, forming a slightly downward slanted “V” shaped notch, which would determine the direction in which the tree would fall.

When this guide notch penetrated about two-thirds of the trunk’s diameter, Lin Yu’an stopped using the saw.

He picked up the logging axe, walked to the other side of the trunk, and began cutting at a position slightly above the bottom of the guide notch by about five to ten centimeters.

“The main cut should be slightly higher than the bottom of the notch, so that the tree will naturally fall in the direction of the notch due to gravity.”

He gripped the axe handle tightly with both hands, swinging his arms in a full arc, and the axe blade sliced through the air in a flash of cold light before precisely and powerfully striking the trunk! Wood chips flew everywhere!

He chopped rhythmically, one axe blow after another, each blow landing in nearly the same spot.

As the logging axe cut deeper and deeper, only the sound of a crisp and loud crack was heard!

The spruce tree swayed sharply, then with a whistling sound, fell precisely toward his predetermined direction.

Finally, with a “thud,” it crashed to the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust and fallen leaves, and making a dull, thunderous noise.

Using the same method, cleverly combining the saw and the logging axe, he felled enough logs one after another.

After each tree fell, he would quickly use the logging axe to remove all the varying thicknesses of branches from the trunk.

Then, using a stick as a “measuring rod,” and a hand saw, he would cut the logs into uniformly long sections according to the measuring rod.

“Next, it’s time to build the main structure of the smokehouse.”

“I plan to use a simple yet sturdy ’crib’ structure, stacking the logs crosswise layer by layer.”

“Using the weight of the logs and the interlocking to ensure stability.”

He first carefully laid out the foundation of the smokehouse on the cleared ground using four logs.

Forming a square with sides about 1.2 meters in length, ensuring the angles between them were as close to ninety degrees as possible.

Then, he began creating crucial “saddle notches” on both ends of each log.

Lin Yu’an first used the tip of his multi-tool knife to gently carve out two parallel shallow marks as precise markers for the saddle notch width.

“When making the saddle notch, our goal is to make the curve of this groove perfectly fit the round side of the next layer of logs, like a saddle.”

Next, he used an axe to chop away bit by bit.

Dry wood chips flew everywhere, and a semi-circular groove gradually took shape in his hands.

Once one saddle notch was basically formed, he used the same method to make a saddle notch on the other end, ensuring both notches were on the same horizontal line.

After handling the saddle notches on the first layer of four logs, he began stacking the second layer.

The two logs of the second layer were placed perpendicularly to the two logs of the first layer.

Their ends, after being notched, could firmly slot into the arches of the first layer’s logs.

One layer, two layers, three layers… Patiently, he stacked the logs with prepared saddle notches in a staggered manner.

As he built up to about half the height, he reserved a “door opening” on one of the walls.

On both sides of the door opening, he vertically inserted two short wooden stakes as temporary supports.

Then, he placed a thicker log horizontally on top of the door opening as a “lintel” to carry the logs of the upper wall.

When the four wooden walls of the smokehouse stacked up to the intended height of roughly 1.2 meters, a solid “wooden box” had formed.

After completing the walls, Lin Yu’an began to fill the gaps, collecting a lot of dry moss and some flexible small branches from the forest.

Carefully, he placed them into the unavoidable small gaps between the log walls.

“These mosses and twigs will provide excellent sealing to prevent the smoke from escaping too quickly.”

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