The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Food & crafts => Food processing => Topic started by: Mel on January 18, 2012, 11:03:03 am
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Hi,
My Ham and bacon are ready to be taken out of their curing,however,I understand I need to hang it to allow it to dry off and so forth.I have converted an old shed to use for curing and smoking-and I have a rail in there to hang it,problem is,is this weather,do you think it would freeze inside a shed considering we are just about to have another cold spell?
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If meat has only just cured and still drying or resting before smoking or cooking, then I just leave it uncovered in the fridge. The drying for air dried hams and salami's happens up in the loft.
Do you have a thermometer in the shed? I'd imagine that without extra insulation (since you need to keep light out anyway) it might freeze in there. Brrrr....
:wave:
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Is freezing a "deal breaker"?
Do you have an enclosed porch?
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Hi,
I have hanged sides of bacon and yorkshire hams out in my shed in freezing conditions, and it never bothered the sides/hams. the main thing I find is long as they are not touching each another ham/side, and it is a well ventilated building.
Good luck :wave:
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What Smiffy said. The important thing is ventilation, the air flow will dry the surface and the pellicle will form - this is a layer of protein that prevents fat from getting to the surface and spoiling the meat, and if you're going on to smoke any of it, the pellicle helps the smoke to 'cling' to the surface.
If the surface looks shiny and is just tacky to the touch they're doing fine. :thumbsup:
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have you done this hanging in Scotland Dan this is of the hams :farmer:
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Yes, we've done this with bacon and ham in Alloa. Not sure the atmosphere is any different there :D the main thing is that it's cool enough and there's sufficient airflow.
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right it just that others have tried it on the south side of the forth and it did not work although i met an Italian that was doing it successfully over by kelty but then he had the prior knowledge
you could be right about the atmosphere to many trees here at alloa you were getting the wind there or were you trying to crack a joke there ;) ;) :farmer:
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We had the wind and beginner's luck on our side probably. We'll find out when we try it here, although it's fair blowy here too at times. Like I said, I know ventilation is really important, so a damp, still environment is likely to end in disaster.
If it was a joke it wasn't a very good one. :D ;)
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i take it it will be later in the year your next venture into hanging :farmer:
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Yes, once this year's weaners are away in late summer/early autumn, and we've got the smoker setup.
I'm assuming you were talking about the ham and bacon. :D
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yes i was unless you have something planned :o :farmer:
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Dan, you will need to let us know what like your bacon and hams turn out when you have finished with them, ;)even putting some photos on, look forward to the end product. :pig: :pig:
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Here's some bacon from a few years ago, after smoking, will be happy if it turns out this well again. :)
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Now Dan who get the praise for this then is it you or Rosemary, whoever it is it's a lovely piece of streaky bacon and looks fab and probably tasted equally as good :P :P
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It was smoked in a Heath Robinson smoker my dad built, but other than that it was all me, honestly! :D
It did taste good, just hope I can reproduce it this time around. It's hard for those of us who only get to try once a year, and aren't seasoned processors like yourselves. :)
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you having a giraffe trying to crack jokes twice in one day
it is not you that has to eat the experiments : ;) :farmer:
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Ok,Thanks for that,do I need to black out the window?-does it need to be in the dark?
My first lot were due to come out of their wet cure today-I used Butchers choice quick cure.However,the hams are brown and pink,should it not all be the same even colour?I shall add a pic later...I hope it is all ok? They have been in 10 days now.
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did you turn it every day
is it in an airtight container plastic
have they been weighted down
to late to ammend now it is all trial and error
did you prick with a darning needle to let the cure penetrate
it should be pink :farmer:
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did you turn it every day- yes
is it in an airtight container plastic yes
have they been weighted down yes
to late to ammend now it is all trial and error
did you prick with a darning needle to let the cure penetrate
it should be pink :farmer:
Hi Robert,
as per above.originally I had it all done by a butcher,he sealed it in vacuum packs with sweet cure.told me to check it in 3 weeks and it should be ready.
However,I cut some off of a loin,washed it etc,ended up boiling it and once cooked,the meat fell apart like boiled pork,tasted somewhat like gammon ham but the fat was as soft as lard!
I was advised it was not ready,not the hams or bacon.going through Dan's procedures it advises when you dry cure,it leaches.So,I bought some cure,done exactly as Dan's and placed in a cool box.24hrs later-it was a third full of liquid,I have been emptying and rotating since,this is due to come out on Tuesday.
The other hams are due out on Wednesday.
I did think,because my gilts were very fat,the butcher cut off all the skin and trimmed it right down to 1/4 of an inch,this was prior to any cure being put on.
Mel
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and
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Ok,Thanks for that,do I need to black out the window?-does it need to be in the dark?
My first lot were due to come out of their wet cure today-I used Butchers choice quick cure.However,the hams are brown and pink,should it not all be the same even colour?I shall add a pic later...I hope it is all ok? They have been in 10 days now.
No, it doesn't have to be in the dark, but it shouldn't be in direct sunlight because it will heat up. We hung ours in old pillowcases one year, cheese cloth another - so long as it's cool and ventilated it will be fine.
Colour variation is also normal on the surface from what I've seen and read. If you used saltpetre or another nitrate (or maybe a nitrite in your butcher's cure) then it should be pink when cut.
If it smells bad then there's something wrong, so trust your nose.
Hope this helps, the science of curing is quite straightforward, but getting good, consistent results when home curing is also something of an art, and takes experimentation and experience, and the occasional disaster!
HTH! :)
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Ok,Thanks for that,do I need to black out the window?-does it need to be in the dark?
My first lot were due to come out of their wet cure today-I used Butchers choice quick cure.However,the hams are brown and pink,should it not all be the same even colour?I shall add a pic later...I hope it is all ok? They have been in 10 days now.
No, it doesn't have to be in the dark, but it shouldn't be in direct sunlight because it will heat up. We hung ours in old pillowcases one year, cheese cloth another - so long as it's cool and ventilated it will be fine.
Colour variation is also normal on the surface from what I've seen and read. If you used saltpetre or another nitrate (or maybe a nitrite in your butcher's cure) then it should be pink when cut.
If it smells bad then there's something wrong, so trust your nose.
Hope this helps, the science of curing is quite straightforward, but getting good, consistent results when home curing is also something of an art, and takes experimentation and experience, and the occasional disaster!
HTH! :)
Hi Dan,
Oh Thank you so much,perhaps because it is my first time I may be worried.I have already hung the streaky up to dry on butchers hooks on a rail,,the hams I am taking out tomorrow so fingers crossed.
I have to say,if it all went wrong,what an expensive failure!
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please always remember that curing meat is a science not an art, for all the times i have done curing (that has been a few times) i should have perfected it by now, but next time more salt will be added then hey presto finally at last i can have bacon that Robert will eat :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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please always remember that curing meat is a science not an art
Definitely! Curing meat safely is all science, curing it to taste good is the art.
next time more salt will be added then hey presto finally at last i can have bacon that Robert will eat
I hope he knows how good you are to him. :) :D
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You are all so very helpful,I cannot thank you enough.
I am starting to smoke the streaky today,my first lot of hams are coming out later.would it be best to dry it off prior to hanging it,in Dan's processing about bacon and about soaking it,I guess this is the same for hams?
some of my joints are a whole leg and whole hand,would it be best to cut them into smaller joints prior to hanging and smoking? I was going to do it this way so was in more manageable pieces.