Malabar's Smokehouse

Malabar's smokehouse was built by Louis Bromfield after he purchased the farm, using bricks from the home of Henry Wallace's grandfather in Mansfield. Wallace was Vice-President of the United States from 1941 to 1945 under Franklin D. Roosevelt. For pioneers, a smokehouse answered the need to preserve food without refrigeration. In the fall, meat to be smoked was cut into sections and soaked in brine, a salt water solution, for several months to draw out blood and body fluids. The smoking took place the following spring, when the salt-cured meat was hung from the rafters and green wood or bark from hickory or maple trees was set on fire. The goal was not to cook the meat but to smoke it, drawing fat out of the meat, encasing it in a thick coat of fat, and adding flavor.

Ohio · United States