Before refrigeration was available, curing was just about the only way to save up meat in warm weather months. Or how to get a more intense flavor from your meat? Think chipped beef. FYI, we use cookies on this website. Very helpful photos and instructions, but not a very natural result to eat sadly. This is definitely a good idea to when starting this craft, especially useful for the saltbox method of making bacon for instance either hot or cold smoked, see here for how to make bacon post. Put it in the bag and throw in more salt. So for a lot of different meat curing projects you want to use meat injectors for legs of ham for instance, for thick dense meat like a pork leg this can be vary important. Smoking is a process of curing meat that involves prolonged exposure to wood smoke (usually hickory, maple, cherry, oak, and other fragrant hardwoods. Just click "Ok" and keep browsing. 3. Nowadays I have a canning/ food processing shed. October when weather starts cooling off, git your ham, a big bag of curing salt, an old feed sack or burlap bag that a little air can circulate in. The meat here smelled a bit off after I washed the pork. I never had the chance to learn from Mama or Aunt Edna. Curing Salt Red pepper Black pepper Brown sugar For every 2 cups of curing salt add: 1 cup brown sugar 1 tablespoon red pepper 1 tablespoon black pepper Preparation process: For one ham start with 6-8 cups of mix. We used a real *built 1912) pine board smokehouse with built in wooden trays fior salting. Ensure you cut the area with whole muscle groups like pork belly and loin, mutton legs, and duck breasts. There are two ways to salt-cure meat. Smoking also helps to dehydrate the meat, again changing the environment within the meat so that it is less hospitable for bacteria to thrive in. If you have an old recipe for cornflake drop candy peanut butter, corn syrup, I would be very appreciative. Vacuum packing does mean you can leave the curing for longer and not worry at all about anything funky growing inside. I want to bake it to help heat kitchen in 167 year old 2 story house. Did I mention you need to rub the 'ol pork belly down with the sugar and salt? Using salt which contain iodine and anti-caking agents can have a unfavorable effect on cured meat. As for the pioneers or any other people in history doing cures without nitrites and instead only salt, they also had many cases of bottumlism in those days, something that the introduction of nitirites ended. Curing also helps to extend the freshness and flavor of meat. So this method does cure the meat and draw out moisture making a more intense flavor. Sodium nitrite is poisonous in too large of a dose plain old non iodized works great, Saltpeter technically is potassium nitrate (kno3). Ive taken it out and washed it and am currently smoking it but wonder if it will be dog food??? Boil over a gentle heat, removing scum as it rises. However, wet curing is usually the safest to do at home. Hi my name is james I like this cure ham recipe but I had to put it in large should I turn ham ? There are basically two ways to salt-cure meat. Roll out some biscuit dough, use a big mouth jar and make your biscuits (catheads). How long to smoke the ham and at what temp? So I pour water in with the meat to get an idea of the requirements of quarts/liters. For this, youll need a salt block, a salt shaker, and a thermometer. If using a cooler, be sure to check your ice daily and replenish it as needed. One of the techniques I use for creating a lasting protein snack, just uses salt and vinegar to preserve. Grab some newspaper and put on ya kitchen table, sprinkle good with flour. Some kinds of grills can be reworked to be either hot or cold smokers or you can build your own. Survival Sunday - 4/19/2015 - The Prepared Ninja, [] How To Salt Cure Ham Old-Fashioned Preserving I dont have a homestead, but this may be beneficial information to have on hand in the event that a need comes along to be able preserve your own meat. A lot of wasted poor interpretation of research on nitrites & nitrates, at the low levels that now regulated and followed below, personally I think there arent any concerns. Remove the bacon from the bag, rinse it and pat it dry. Its traditionally used to cure a salmon fillet. We use cookies to personalize content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyze our traffic. An old-fashioned meat cure used in the late 1800's involved sugar, salt and saltpeter. Method 1: Dry Curing This method is best for ham, bacon, and small pieces of meat. They will do the cutting, but we are going to cure the bacon and the ham!! They call her chicken Mama at home where she considers herself an expert pitchfork operator. However, there are ways to cure meat that dont involve salt, or salt substitutes. You just can't get the same flavor and melt-in-your-mouth texture any other way! Curing meat has so many different variations; the meat curing world is infinitely much larger than Italian classic salami or salumi. Who among us could say that in the event of a catastrophe, we would be able to do what is necessary to maintain a hearty stock of food for ourselves and our families? All these different methods of curing meat with salt, depend on the outcome youre trying to achieve. What smoking and curing tips do you have? Salt can be used to preserve meat, and cure it of certain bacteria that can cause spoilage. Lord, a few fried eggs and you got a whale of a breakfast. The best way to do this is to cut the meat into thin slices. Do you have a recipe/process to sugar cure a ham? Most country and Christmas hams are done with an injection brine. Is the nitrate necessary? I hope I can salvage it somehow, cut a piece off, salt it again, something rather than throwing it away. Rub your pigs azz with molasses, just barely enough for a good thick layer of salt to hold on it good. Here on the homestead, cured hams are just one of the products we make from our own hogs. The next method is to smoke the meat, either using a barbecue smoker or a home smoker. I think you are talking about curing salt that has the pink salt already added when you say use two cups. Folks we are now on INSTAGRAM.GET SNEAK PEAKS BEFORE THE VIDEOS COME OUT.FOLLOW US HERE: instagram.com/stoneyridgefarmer --~--CUSTOM SHIRTS: STONEY RIDGE. This process can also give it a deeper, savory flavor. Many people prefer dry curing as opposed to injecting or immersing the ham with a curing solution. Using a salt cure saturation method, with a fully penetrated salt cure. If you want to know about curing in a normal fridge, check out a post here. The process of curing is simply using the benefits of salt to preserve meat. Brining is used before cold smoking in many countries. Old Smokehouses were impressive structures that served both as meat smokers and as storage facilities. Happy Holidays, i.e. Any idea what this could be? Mix thoroughly, taste, and add more salt if desired. The salt draws out the moisture, which in turn helps to draw out the sodium thats naturally present in meat. Step 2: Mix the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. After adding the sauce, wrap the meat in a plastic food storage bag. Basics of it as you are using a percentage of the total weight to work out how much salt you will use. Set your meat in the container, then pour salt to completely cover the meat. Step 1: Rinse desired fresh meat in cold or lukewarm water (never use hot or boiling) Step 2: Pour thin layer of salt, preferably/generally kosher salt all over the meat and rub it in. For How long should the ham be smoked if we chose to smoke it. Hi there For the most consistent results, pure sea salt or kosher salt should be used. Sodium nitrate can be found in all kinds of leafy green vegetables and can be added to your salt mixture in the form of celery juice, ground spinach or pink salt (curing salt #1, which is 7 percent sodium nitrate). There are two types of nitrates you can buy pink curing salt 1 & 2. Seeking the passionate behind the passion. The same was true of bread ovens. Of course, you can also use this curing process for smoked meat, my preference is using EQ curing, which I will talk about below. The salt box method generally gets a lot of salt into the meat, so you do get a fully cured product. Fashioncoached They were far too expensive for one household to own, so many shared the same one. Depending on the recipe, you can place the meat in a ziplock bag also. Saltpetre has long been banned from food production in most countries due to the health risk, sodium nitrite is a much safer alternative. It differently suits many larger salt curing projects. Dry Rubs For low & slow barbecue smoking dry rubs are often used. The process is as easy as mixing salt with the meat, but for better flavor, spices and herbs are often used. Like smoking for fresh bacon sausage and ham. Hence, why I created the site about curing meat and using salt in many different ways. This site is owned by eatcuredmeat.com, it participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. The sides too. Personally, I dont like to waste salt brine. Do I just keep adding mix? A bit of drying to form the pellicle and then its ready to smoke. I am a follower of JESUS as well. That means ya did it right. Meat can be preserved in salt solution, too; it is called "brining." 1/2 cup of granulated sugar nitrate per 100 lbs. Salt is also used as a curing agent. 2. So actually weighing meat before curing or brining will help figure out the exact final weight and when the meat is fully preserved. What should the internal temperature be when I am finished? But at a certain point of cutting into the ham, a small amount of clear, syrupy liquid seeps out from the meat. How long do you smoke the ham and at what temp? There is no science backing up that nitrates are bad. My question is, how can you cure meats without using sodium nitrate or pink salt, because my wife cant have it, Help please. Having the meat completely salt cured means that the harmful bacteria has no chance of multiplying. As you can see its my go-to method for a lot of the curing projects. Just leave the corner of the bag unzipped to get the maximum amount of air. This method reduces the weight of the ham anywhere from 18-25% which results in a more concentrated ham flavor. It has a good pink inside so far. This is a process of coating the meat with a salt cure rub which draws out the moisture. The temperature will need to be between 36 and 40 degrees Fahrenheit. As an organic homesteader myself I stay away from it. When crafting home-cured meat, experiment with different herbs and spices to create variations in flavor. Pour in 2 cups of salt, 1 cup of sugar (white or brown), 1 ounce of whole black peppercorns and 5 sprigs of oregano. you didnt tell me how much the ham weighed for your recipe. I have found using a regular refrigerator you can cure meat with either the salt box method or equilibrium method. There is then calculations that can be done for uptake of the brine, so you can weigh it to see the added brine/cure weight. 1/2 cup of brown sugar Ham flavor meat that dont involve salt, depend on the homestead, cured hams are one! Up that nitrates are bad kosher salt should be used to preserve.. 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Prefer dry curing as opposed to injecting or immersing the ham,,.