In a message dated 8/30/2007 7:08:02 PM Eastern Standard Time, reberkheiser@earthlink.net writes: My parents and I were discussing smoke houses at the supper table a little while ago, and I had asked my mother if she remembered how long meat would keep in there? My father's parents always used to hang the meat in the stairwell to the basement wrapped in what he thought was cheesecloth. My mother's parents and grandparents were from the farm and they had an actual smoke house near the barn. Any thoughts on this? Rick B I'm no expert but I think the meat was just put in there for smoking which was a way of preserving it, and then stored elsewhere and would keep over the winter in a cold cellar or icehouse. Joan ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour