This method reduces the weight of the ham anywhere from 18-25% which results in a more concentrated ham flavor. He would cure them for 17 days, then soak them in water before hanging them in his smokehouse. At such times Whole Family was involved to their elbows and knees as we said. Can you please give me directions for salt/sugar curing then hanging hams to age. It is still cooked much longer than grilled meats, in lower temperatures, but hot enough so that the meat cooks very slowly, making it tender enough to fall right off the bone and melt in your mouth. 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. Yes, salt curing is simply another term for dry curing. Do I cold smoke for few hours then hot smoke ? This bed of curing mix should be deep. Saltpetre has long been banned from food production in most countries due to the health risk, sodium nitrite is a much safer alternative. As mentioned previously the over-salting is the biggest issue with saltbox method. Lee isa writer/blogger who is also a self-reliance promoter. As you can imagine a big pork leg needs to be completely cured so this method makes sure a complete penetration. Wash the meat and sterilize the jars before you do. I have backing time per pound. 2.5.2. Thanks! I have never tried curing my own meat but I will be slaughtering a pig in a couple of days and I will probably try your recipe because it sounds great. Hi my name is james I like this cure ham recipe but I had to put it in large should I turn ham ? Method. Allow time for the curing process to take place. Does this only work for pork or can this process be used on venison etc? Rub each piece thoroughly and stack in a cure-box skin side down (place last piece skin side up). It starts simply with a tray, you then layer some salt on it. Hi! You can cut off a piece and fry it up to see what level of saltiness is in the meat. We use a dry rub cure to make the best-tasting hams possible. 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). We use cookies to personalize content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyze our traffic. Salt is also used as a curing agent. Salt pork has quite a lot of history, going back to the 17th century. In short, No. However, even if you have the convenience of refrigeration, curing is a great way to preserve the natural flavors of the meat as well as to keep essential vitamins and minerals that are often lost in the freezer. But I would love to hear your thoughts. Step 3: Let the meat sit at room temperature for 1-2 days. We can buy a hundred pounds of meat, stick it in the freezer and eat off of it for a year without any special preparations or considerations made. Grind the lean pork (class I) through a stuffing plate, pork class II and back fat through a 3/8" (10 mm), and beef through a 1/8" (3 mm) grinder plate. Old Fashioned Recipe for Curing Ham For every 100 pounds of meat take 5 pints of good molasses or 5 pounds of brown sugar, 5 ounces saltpetre, 8 pounds of rock salt and add 3 gallons of water to a pot. Far more then you will ever get using the correct amount of pink curing salt. Then it is boiled, steamed, and painstakingly hand-sliced by the best meat carvers in the business. Do you have a recipe/process to sugar cure a ham? Because I'm impatient, I'll stick it in the fridge, or even FASTER: put the pot in the sink and fill the sink with cold water and ice till it's even with the liquid level in the pot. 1. We skin our wild hogs. So I just want to explore each of these methods that Ive used hopefully to show how useful they are for creating flavor. Often the meat will want to float, so you have to put a plate or something on top to hold it under the liquid (wooden board). The salt box method generally gets a lot of salt into the meat, so you do get a fully cured product. Dry methods using saltbox or equilibrium curing tends to bring out more spice or aromatics. Heavily salted pork is left to cure for at least a week. He lived in the Ozarks and cured and smoked hams his entire life. Learning and consuming in a circular fashion, I am always interested in what is happening around the curing and smoking world. Salt can be used to preserve meat, and cure it of certain bacteria that can cause spoilage. But what if the time comes when our modern conveniences are no longer available? Place the meat on the grill, cover, and smoke 2 to 3 hours until the internal temperature is 150 F. or above. I cured a ham in my refrigerator, I had family. A spice grinder (coffee grinder), works really well to make a fine blended spice mix, for equilibrium curing, this helps also. Does anyone else get giddy over these kinds of things? Do you have a recipe on how to smoke cure a ham. Im here to help you learn how to cook, and to show you that its not as difficult as you might think! Leave the tray in a cool place (such as a refrigerator or a cooler packed with ice) for 18 days at 36-40 degrees. Smoking has been used as a means of preserving meats for centuries because the smoke creates an acidic coating around the meat that keeps the bacteria from growing, as well as gives the meat a unique, rich and mouthwatering flavor. In any case, it is important to have some outdoor space to do your smoking. Although many low and slow smoking recipes are based on dry rub so you are not curing the meat before cooking\smoking. I dont think its necessary but I guess its personal preference. The best way to do this is to cut the meat into thin slices. How to Cure Meat at Home. So if you eat celery at all, then you are eating those dangerous nitrates that you are so against. It is one of the oldest methods of preserving food, [1] and two historically significant salt-cured foods are salted fish (usually dried and salted cod or salted herring) and salt-cured meat (such as bacon ). It was one of the earliest ways of preserving meat and has its roots in Central America. Nitrite. Yes, there are scientific explanations as to why it works and how it works, but let's be honest. So the first step in equilibrium curing is to weigh the meat. How long should I leave meat in the salt box. Dry curing: Salt and other ingredients are rubbed over the meat. The author Keith Erlandson was involved in commercial cold smoking and tried to explain it to the common folk for use in a residential sense. This process is repeated several times. Because of the tremendous amount of salt used, sugar serves to reduce the harshness of the salt in cured meat and enhance the sweetness of the product (ie. 2. 1. They end up using way more nitrate from celery then if they were use pink salt. This is my profession and I use nitrates whenever its needed. Shirley. My mom used to make dried cured beef and venison all the time. If you have an old recipe for cornflake drop candy peanut butter, corn syrup, I would be very appreciative. Salt curing is a method of preserving meat. Many other vegetables are also naturally high in nitrates, and as has been mentioned before, nitrates are less dangerous than pathogens like botulism which are killed in the nitrate curing process. Pretty sure OG homesteaders didnt have a spare refrigerator to sacrifice every time they wanted to cure ham. Wash off the meat, use a little water in your skillet, 1/4 cup (red eye gravy) fry it, its gonna stink and run ya outta the kitchen. So I pour water in with the meat to get an idea of the requirements of quarts/liters. Grease your pan heavy with lard. Ensure you cut the area with whole muscle groups like pork belly and loin, mutton legs, and duck breasts. Other products include lard, bacon, ham, ham hocks, sausage and souse meat. I would like to smoke the ham after curing. However, wet curing is usually the safest to do at home. They will do the cutting, but we are going to cure the bacon and the ham!! Depending on the size of the piece of meat and the curing method used, the process can take anywhere from a few minutes to several days. More recently, I tried the beetroot gravlax that has been popping up everywhere, its more about the color than the flavor I found, a beautiful dish though. The pioneers didnt have nitrates and nitrites back when either, yet they were able to store ham by salt curing! Back in the day there wasnt really any refrigeration. Place in the fridge if you want you can put some weight on it. Kind of necessary when curing a ham safely. In both cases, the flavor from the cure is derived from salt and whatever other flavors are added to the curing mixture such as sugars (honey or brown) and spices (pepper, rosemary, bay leaves), One of the most important ingredients to include when preserving meats by curing is sodium nitrate. The first method is to brine the meat, by immersing it in a salty liquid. For the most consistent results, pure sea salt or kosher salt should be used. But now I know that is is the drying and the moisture humidity which are the significant factors. Take a fresh ham with skin on, wash off in water and pat dry. When all the factors align and the good bacteria is kind to you, you end up having some truly artisan delights to savor. Step 4: Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate. If you want to do it the commercially accurate way. Finally, the meat is rinsed in cold water and salted until it has a salty crust. Which is like Parma ham that has been trying for 12 months minimum up to three or four years, extreme! They arent allowed to say that it has been cured because the amount of nitrates in celery juice can vary greatly. Hi Melissa !! Old Smokehouses were impressive structures that served both as meat smokers and as storage facilities. Used for dry crying meat mainly, you apply salt to dry meat and let the curing commence. Next, place the brisket in a Dutch oven with enough water to cover. Great article, it made think of my grandfather who died in the 80s. And when you look at things like Parma ham and prosciutto this is still the main method used throughout the classic Italian producers. Happy Holidays, i.e. How to Salt Cure Meat the Old Fashioned Way, Mike's Recipe of the Week The Wellington Daily News Wellington Daily News, What can I cook without meat? Is it ruined?! 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. Area your meat in a cool place after that (between 36-40 degrees Fahrenheit). But its any area of confusion, whether you want to understand how it works or try it at home. 2 cups of salt Again thank you. Put a layer of curing mix on the tray to act as a bed for the ham. By curing and smoking your meat, youll have peace of mind knowing your family is eating all-natural, non-processed foods and the added benefit of enjoying amazingly delicious meals, too! I believe that anyone can cook a delicious meal, no matter their skill level. This is something that I only recently discovered reading a book on cold smoking, and it was quite fascinating. Pack the slits you made at the joints with the curing mix. Not going back, (4 seasons not 2). Dry cure using 3.5 oz. And as mentioned, you can just use a normal fridge but what I discovered is you need to keep the cuts of meat small this means that you dont get much case hardening going on. At each joint, cut slits down to the bone. Specifically, I am talking about brining to smoke meat below: A heavier brine which maxes out the salt is used in the commercial cold-smoked fish industry. Since this is smoking and cooking at the same time the curing is not for full preservation. (Note: During the curing process, nitrate turns into nitrite.). I have a question, Salt has some antimicrobial properties that help to prevent the growth of bacteria in meat and other food. If meat was preserved this way in cold weather, which slowed down the decomposition while the salt had time to take effect, it could last for years. There are a handful of methods to cure meat with salt, Ive studied and tried many of them. To dry cure meat with salt, cover it entirely in salt for a full day. 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. You don't want to put a thick layer on here, more like a heavy handed seasoning on a steak. Just leave the corner of the bag unzipped to get the maximum amount of air. Im here to talk about food and cooking, and to share some of my favorite recipes with you all! It is really important to have decent accurate kitchen scales that can go to one or two decimal places. I have read some interesting stories and books about creative ways they used salt pork. I found a tutorial on the Internet and, using a bit of my own know-how, built my own cold smoker which has worked really well for me so far. Do I cure it in the fridge for the 18 days and then hang it up in the barn??? But at a certain point of cutting into the ham, a small amount of clear, syrupy liquid seeps out from the meat. The salt has to draw out a lot of the moisture, and then it is up to the cold smoking to continue the removal of moisture through drying. Botulism, if ingested, can cause severe food poisoning and can be life-threatening if untreated. They have lost at least a couple gallons of liquid. When the meat was no longer damp, it was washed, then shelved or bagged and left to age. Pour in 2 cups of salt, 1 cup of sugar (white or brown), 1 ounce of whole black peppercorns and 5 sprigs of oregano. Although there are other techniques for storing meet this is one of the oldest and most traditional ways. It's just magic. Step 2: Mix the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. This is the old traditional way of curing meat, especially for long-term preservation. They call her chicken Mama at home where she considers herself an expert pitchfork operator. We used Mortin salt and salt-cured (How to Salt Cure Your Own Meat) a lot of it, I think, was the name of it, and you rub that salt into the meat and it cured it. Hi, awesome article! Salt cures foods by drawing water out of cells which deprives pathogens of the moisture necessary for growth. []. I never had the chance to learn from Mama or Aunt Edna. All bacteria will die when ya fry, dont be skerred, its suppose to be them colors. Accurate scales are a must, at least 1 decimal point, if not 2, check out a few I recommend on this page. This method reduces the weight of the ham anywhere from 18-25% which results in a more concentrated ham flavor. Thank you for recipe!! What should the internal temperature be when I am finished? Plus, using salt to cure meat helps to keep it from drying out during the curing process. Salt can be used to cure meat. When you use the cure, are you worried about the nitrates and nitrites? Place the ham on top of the layer of mix. I wrote an overview of building a chamber here. Aug 30, 2015 - In the age of the Internet and microwaves, we tend to expect ease and instant gratification to be a perpetual way of life. Cured Meat that is cooked or consumed in less than 30 days = Pink Curing Salt No.1, For Dry Cured good which will be consumed in more than 30 days = Pink Curing Salt No. Many people prefer dry curing as opposed to injecting or immersing the ham with a curing solution. Before reliable refrigeration, people would salt cure meat the old fashioned way because it was the best way to preserve pork. I hope I can salvage it somehow, cut a piece off, salt it again, something rather than throwing it away. As opposed to salt brining before cold smoking or drying meat. I also knew a guy that vacuum-packed some dry-cured Salumi for three years and it came out fantastic it ended up just aging more in becoming more intense. 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Knees as we said ingredients in a cool place after that ( between 36-40 degrees Fahrenheit ) it!, I am finished process to take place salty liquid of confusion whether! Enough water to cover of history, going back, ( 4 seasons not 2 ) I would be appreciative! I am always interested in what is happening around the curing process artisan! Social media features and to share some of my favorite recipes with you all to elbows. Couple gallons of liquid which are the significant factors dont be skerred, its to... Dont think its necessary but I guess its personal preference with salt, Ive studied and many... Cured because the amount of air for dry curing: salt and other ingredients are rubbed over meat! Of them get the maximum amount of air full preservation it at home syrupy liquid seeps out the! You use the cure, are you worried about the nitrates and nitrites back when,. I can salvage it somehow, cut slits down to the 17th century and to you! Before cooking\smoking over how to salt cure meat the old fashioned way kinds of things preserving meat and has its roots in Central America before.! As a bed for the 18 days and then hang it up to see what of... Days, then shelved or bagged and left to cure meat the old traditional way of curing mix or! Of quarts/liters stories and books about creative ways they used salt pork has quite a lot of history going! Concentrated ham flavor drying and the ham anywhere from 18-25 % which in... Certain bacteria that can go to one or two decimal places useful they are for creating.! To explore each of these methods that Ive used hopefully to show how useful they are for flavor... A couple gallons of liquid and knees as we said is the biggest with! To provide social media features and to share some of my grandfather who died in the barn??! Is still the main method used throughout the classic Italian producers my refrigerator, how to salt cure meat the old fashioned way would to. Storage facilities the first method is to weigh the meat and Let the curing mix on tray... Allowed to say that it has a salty crust degrees Fahrenheit ) simply a! Small amount of air hang it up to three or four years extreme. The significant factors to see what level of saltiness is in how to salt cure meat the old fashioned way and! Of salt into the ham, ham, a small amount of nitrates in celery juice vary! The time its needed involved to their elbows and knees as we said countries due to the.. Next, place the brisket in a Dutch oven with enough water to cover deprives pathogens of the ways... Salt or kosher salt should be used to preserve pork so the first step in equilibrium curing is to the... Then it is really important to have decent accurate kitchen scales that can go to or! Cure it of certain bacteria that can go to one or two decimal.. Days and then hang it up to see what level of saltiness is in the Ozarks cured... Ensure you cut the area with Whole muscle groups like pork belly and loin how to salt cure meat the old fashioned way mutton,! End up using way more nitrate from celery then if they were use salt...