Discussion
Has anyone else done a bit of home curing recently?
I tend to do a batch of bacon around this time every year, which lasts me until the autumn. I’m no expert, but the results are improving every time.
I’d be happy to share the process as I go along this time, if anyone’s interested? Post and let me know, otherwise I’ll probably be lazy and not bother taking any photos along the way.
I picked up a side of pig from my favourite butcher at the weekend and plan to get it started tomorrow night.
Looking at doing some pork scratchings from the skin as well …
I tend to do a batch of bacon around this time every year, which lasts me until the autumn. I’m no expert, but the results are improving every time.
I’d be happy to share the process as I go along this time, if anyone’s interested? Post and let me know, otherwise I’ll probably be lazy and not bother taking any photos along the way.
I picked up a side of pig from my favourite butcher at the weekend and plan to get it started tomorrow night.
Looking at doing some pork scratchings from the skin as well …
opcorn: I do a batch of bacon every month and once you get a reliable cure recipe and technique it is a very reliable process. The quality of the bacon is mainly dependent on the quality of the pork you use. I am confident the mine is always better than any bacon you can buy anywhere.
Edited by Tanguero on Tuesday 5th March 08:51
Semi-dry! A proportion of the cure is disolved in water and injected, then the remainder is used as a dry surface rub. So far I have had 100% succes with this technique over several years. I can post the recipie when I get home later if you are interested.
Although there is some injected cure it is not enough to 'pump' the meat and the end result is the same texture and lack of ooze on cooking as a totaly dry cure but with the benefit of consistantly good results.
Although there is some injected cure it is not enough to 'pump' the meat and the end result is the same texture and lack of ooze on cooking as a totaly dry cure but with the benefit of consistantly good results.
You will need;
Piece of pig (loin for back bacon, belly for streaky)
Common salt
Sugar
Prague Powder #1
Saltpetre
Both these are available from places like www.sausagemaking.org ( http://www.sausagemaking.org/acatalog/Cure_1.html and http://www.sausagemaking.org/acatalog/Saltpetre__5... and are essential to prevent any chance of Clostridium botulinum growing. You cannot safely cure meat without these - anything that tells you otherwise is dangerously wrong.
Scales accurate to 1 gram (seriously, do not guess with the Prague Powder or Saltpetre they are toxic above a certain concentration, but totally safe when used at the level given)
Something to inject the liquid part of the cure with. (something like http://www.amazon.com/Marinade-Injector-Syringe-Co...
Bone the meat
For each 1kg of boned meat
27.8 g salt
15.1 g sugar
2.6g Prague Powder #1
1.3g Saltpetre
Mix the dry ingredients thoroughly and split it in half.
Disolve one half in twice its own weight of water.
Leave the other half dry.
I find the best container is a sealable watertight plastic box but a double poly bag would do. If you are using a plastic box, sterilise it with a homebrew type steriliser like VWP before use.
Inject the liquid part of the cure at 5cm intervals all over your meat spaced evenly.
Massage the dry cure into the surface.
Refrigerate for 2 weeks turning daily.
Once cured, remover the bacon form the container and rinse under cold running water.
You can dry it and eat it as green bacon at this stage but if you have facilities hang it in a warm place for 24 hours to dry and form a salt pelicle, then cold smoke over well seasoned fruit wood at 25 centigrade for 8 to 10 hours. Let it rest for a couple of days before slicing and you will have the best bacon you have ever tasted.
The same cure also makes a superb pastrami if you treat beef brisket exactly the same way but instead of smoking it afterwards you rub it with a mix of 70% freshly ground coriander seed, 25% black pepper and 5% smoked paprika. Then wrap it tightly in cling film and steam it for 3-4 hours. Allow to cool and then slice.
Piece of pig (loin for back bacon, belly for streaky)
Common salt
Sugar
Prague Powder #1
Saltpetre
Both these are available from places like www.sausagemaking.org ( http://www.sausagemaking.org/acatalog/Cure_1.html and http://www.sausagemaking.org/acatalog/Saltpetre__5... and are essential to prevent any chance of Clostridium botulinum growing. You cannot safely cure meat without these - anything that tells you otherwise is dangerously wrong.
Scales accurate to 1 gram (seriously, do not guess with the Prague Powder or Saltpetre they are toxic above a certain concentration, but totally safe when used at the level given)
Something to inject the liquid part of the cure with. (something like http://www.amazon.com/Marinade-Injector-Syringe-Co...
Bone the meat
For each 1kg of boned meat
27.8 g salt
15.1 g sugar
2.6g Prague Powder #1
1.3g Saltpetre
Mix the dry ingredients thoroughly and split it in half.
Disolve one half in twice its own weight of water.
Leave the other half dry.
I find the best container is a sealable watertight plastic box but a double poly bag would do. If you are using a plastic box, sterilise it with a homebrew type steriliser like VWP before use.
Inject the liquid part of the cure at 5cm intervals all over your meat spaced evenly.
Massage the dry cure into the surface.
Refrigerate for 2 weeks turning daily.
Once cured, remover the bacon form the container and rinse under cold running water.
You can dry it and eat it as green bacon at this stage but if you have facilities hang it in a warm place for 24 hours to dry and form a salt pelicle, then cold smoke over well seasoned fruit wood at 25 centigrade for 8 to 10 hours. Let it rest for a couple of days before slicing and you will have the best bacon you have ever tasted.
The same cure also makes a superb pastrami if you treat beef brisket exactly the same way but instead of smoking it afterwards you rub it with a mix of 70% freshly ground coriander seed, 25% black pepper and 5% smoked paprika. Then wrap it tightly in cling film and steam it for 3-4 hours. Allow to cool and then slice.
This’ll be my first attempt at the pork scratchings. Undecided yet whether to go down the oven route or the deep fry. Might try half a batch each way.
So far all I have done is dry out the skin in my fridge. It’ll have had 48 hours by this evening. Getting the skin as dry as possible before cooking is crucial. As far as I’ve learned from reading up in various places, it’s then a case of superheating. The hotter and faster you can cook the skin, the better (whether dry in the oven or wet in the deep fry). There’s a school of thought that multiple deep fries is the ‘proper’ way to go—fry once, dry off and cool, fry again … and the third time (supposedly) is the point where it stops being crackling and becomes a proper pork scratching.
So far all I have done is dry out the skin in my fridge. It’ll have had 48 hours by this evening. Getting the skin as dry as possible before cooking is crucial. As far as I’ve learned from reading up in various places, it’s then a case of superheating. The hotter and faster you can cook the skin, the better (whether dry in the oven or wet in the deep fry). There’s a school of thought that multiple deep fries is the ‘proper’ way to go—fry once, dry off and cool, fry again … and the third time (supposedly) is the point where it stops being crackling and becomes a proper pork scratching.
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