Meat Curing

[margaretcarnes]

I've got a lump of pork loin in the freezer ready to cold cure for Christmas bacon. I've never tried curing before and the recipe seems just too easy - will report back!

[Dannie Boy]

I've got a lump of pork loin in the freezer ready to cold cure for Christmas bacon. I've never tried curing before and the recipe seems just too easy - will report back!

It is surprisingly simple Margaret, I just wish I had stumbled on the method years ago!! I bought my curing agent (a mixture of saltpeter, brown sugar and a few other things) from a commercial supplier in the UK and all you do is spread the mixture all over the pork, vacpac if you have one, but if not use cling film and a plastic bag. Put in the fridge and turn every 24 hours. Depends on the size of the joint how long it takes, but should be about one week and then you will have your own lovely bacon with no water injection as they use in normal supermarket bacon.

[jingjoe]

is there no smoking involved?
surely after the week curing in the bag it will need to be smoked in a bbq or something similar

[m_right]

saltpeter!!! Not for me please.

[blue05]

saltpeter!!! Not for me please.

if you dont use saltpeter then it will not cure

[blue05]

is there no smoking involved?
surely after the week curing in the bag it will need to be smoked in a bbq or something similar

most people I know just use Dannie Boys method above, to smoke it you really need a commercial smoker and have not seen one around

[jingjoe]

sounds simple enough,can any one post the exact recipe and where to buy the ingredients,also anyone know of a store in hua hin that sells breadmakers.
cheers

[Dannie Boy]

is there no smoking involved?
surely after the week curing in the bag it will need to be smoked in a bbq or something similar

most people I know just use Dannie Boys method above, to smoke it you really need a commercial smoker and have not seen one around

I doubt very much that you will find a proper somoker here in Thailand and doubt that a BBQ could be substituted - too difficult to get the temperature correct. The curing agent I buy comes either smoked or unsmoked, although i dont know what the additives are - natural or chemical? but what i do no is that the taste is great and better than anything i have bought here, plus for me it is very satisfying to know it is your own efforts. A few pics to get your taste buds working.

[Winkie]

No saltpeter for me either please!

[Korkenzieher]

You don't need saltpeter. It helps in preserving the colour. Without it, dry cure bacon looks a bit greyish. It has become much more difficult to obtain in the UK, due to its other (ab)uses - some butchers will supply you with small amounts. It ought not to be too difficult to get here. Been making my own occasionally for several years, though often leave it longer to make a cheap substitute for pancetta. Recipes all over the internet. Also smoker designs - loads of them out there. The hardest thing is to get the smoke cool enough, and keeping it going long enough to cure properly without cooking.

[Dannie Boy]

I've got a lump of pork loin in the freezer ready to cold cure for Christmas bacon. I've never tried curing before and the recipe seems just too easy - will report back!

It is surprisingly simple Margaret, I just wish I had stumbled on the method years ago!! I bought my curing agent (a mixture of saltpeter, brown sugar and a few other things) from a commercial supplier in the UK and all you do is spread the mixture all over the pork, vacpac if you have one, but if not use cling film and a plastic bag. Put in the fridge and turn every 24 hours. Depends on the size of the joint how long it takes, but should be about one week and then you will have your own lovely bacon with no water injection as they use in normal supermarket bacon.

Having looked at my suppliers website, I don't think it is saltpeter that they use, but am checking to be sure, because this is all the product description contains:

Smoked bacon dry cure - This is premixed with natural smoke powder and is the easy way to make smoked bacon without a smoker.

They do sell an organic product that states the following:

Organic Bacon Dry Cure - a mix made with sea salt and organic demerara sugar and is low in nitrates.

[poosmate]

I make ham and use Sodium Nitrite as the curing agent. I purchased this in Bangkok. I have previously successfully used Potassium Nitrate used here for Naam and sour sausages. This is available locally and I believe has agricultural uses - cost about 80 baht for a bag of crystals that will last for years.

[Dannie Boy]

Having looked at my suppliers website, I don't think it is saltpeter that they use, but am checking to be sure, because this is all the product description contains:

Smoked bacon dry cure - This is premixed with natural smoke powder and is the easy way to make smoked bacon without a smoker.

They do sell an organic product that states the following:

Organic Bacon Dry Cure - a mix made with sea salt and organic demerara sugar and is low in nitrates.

The ingredients of the dry smoke curing agent are apparently:
Salt, Sugar, Flavouring, Acidity Regulator E500, Preservatives (E250, E252),
Antioxidant (E301).

Not sure if any of the E's are bad?

[Siani]

You can make a smoker out of a dust/garbage bin. Steel drum or similar.
"How to make a smoker from a bin"
Hugh from the River Cottage made a small one, please see youtube just type in "How to make a smoker from a bin" he used it for fish, but in another programme he had a bigger one from a dustbin for larger items.
This could be also useful if you want to smoke cheese.

images.jpg (6.46 KiB) Viewed 1328 times

I also read another made from a pot belly stove

You will Need:
1 old kettle-type barbecue
1 old-fashioned metal dustbin with a tight-fitting lid
1 length of flexible piping (about 3m long, the type used for chimney flue fittings)
1 empty tin can
metal cement (the type of glue used for fixing holes in metal or bonding metal parts together)
electric drill
metal-cutting bit for the drill
5 stiff metal rods
6 bricks

Take off the lid from the bind and turn on its side. Place the pipe on the side of the bin, near the base and mark around it. Take your drill and cut out a hole in the side of the bin, large enough for the pipe to fit through. Insert the pipe through this hole, so it extends a few centimetres into the bin. Bond in place with the metal cement.

As the cement is setting, take the bin lid and cut a hole in the top just slightly smaller than the diameter of your tin can (this is for your 'chimney). Now take the tin can and drill about six or eight holes on the sides of the tin, near the base. Invert the tin to cover the hole you made in the dustbin lid and bond in place with the metal cement. Your dustbin lid will now have a chimney with holes in the sides to allow excess smoke to escape (but no water will be able to get in.

When the cement attaching the pipe to the base of the bin has set, take the free end of the pipe and match it to the lid of the barbecue. Inscribe around the pipe on the 'shoulder' of the barbecue lid (ie where it curves up towards the top. Cut a hole here that's large enough for the pipe to pass through. Insert the pipe a few centimetres through this hole and bond in place with the metal cement, ensuring you have an air-tight seal. Put aside until completely set.

You are almost done. Now take the bin itself and put on the lid. Mark where the lid sits and use a drill to make holes just below this level so that you can insert the rods through the bin. Make a pair of holes through the centre and set a rod in these. Put the other rods, evenly spaced, on either side of this central rod.

This will allow you to add more or fewer rods, as needed and to hang your meat on hooks over these rods.

To use, light a wood chip fire in the barbecue. Set the bin on bricks next to the barbecue. Once the wood chips are smokin well, secure the lid on the bin then place the lid on the barbecue. The smoke will be pulled from the barbecue into the bin.

Once the smoke begins to billow from the chimnely on top of the rubbish bin, you are ready to use. With this set-up, a whole ham will be smoked in about 40 hours. But ensure you keep the smoke going during this time. You can smoke overnight or as per instructions.

[pharvey]

Bacon looks superb DB - something I would love to have a go at myself. I've been searching the net to see if there's anywhere I can buy some pre-mixed dry rub online, but have come up blank. I would like to try and get a small amount sent to China - I can't see it being a real issue with customs/import as it's basically just dried spices (?)..... but you never know!!

So, if anyone knows of an online store.... please post the address/link.

On the smoker Siani, it's pretty simple to make one up, but as others have stated, I'd be concerned about temperature control...... certainly the method DB uses is the easier option and the one I would go with (bit of a lazy g*t you know ).