The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Food & crafts => Food processing => Topic started by: FrostyM on March 08, 2014, 07:04:05 pm
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I started about curing and drying my own prosciutto in October last year. Despite people telling me I was mad and I should just roast the leg of pork it actually turned out really well :thumbsup:
I have attached a photo and there is more information on my blog here:
http://myovercrowdedgarden.blogspot.com/2013/10/elderberry-wine-and-prosciutto.html (http://myovercrowdedgarden.blogspot.com/2013/10/elderberry-wine-and-prosciutto.html)
http://myovercrowdedgarden.blogspot.com/2014/03/prosciutto-tasting.html (http://myovercrowdedgarden.blogspot.com/2014/03/prosciutto-tasting.html)
I would really recommend anyone keeping pigs to give this a go. It's not as difficult as it seems, and it tastes great.
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Fantastic. Well done :-) How did it taste?
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It was lovely. When I first tasted it after slicing I liked it but was a little underwhelmed. Maybe because I had been waiting 5 months and it couldnt live up to my expectations. But once I cooked with it, it was well worth the wait. I wrapped chicken thighs in it and put them in the oven. There was a really rich, meaty, salty flavour all through the chicken. And when I used the juices from it to make a sauce it was brilliant. When it is cooked the fat melts and really adds a richness to whatever its with. I also made a "pork wellington" basically a beef wellington but with a pork tenderloin wrapped in the prosciutto instead of fillet steak. Again the richness it adds was amazing. Even the family have been convinced and thats saying something because they all thought I was mad to even to try hanging pork for 5 months and eating it ;D
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It looks lovely and is very pink. Did you use saltpetre?
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No I didn't use any. I just used a mixture of table salt and rock salt. The recipe I had didn't call for any. In the same book it is used for other recipes but mostly for sausages and salamis. I think it is to do with a sausage being a more suitable location for bacteria to grow. I had looked at getting some but its a controlled substance here and I need to prove why I need it and have to go to the police station to get a letter before I can even buy any. I have seen it for sale in small amounts on amazon but wonder would it get intercepted if I ordered some.
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Interesting! I never use saltpetre but my prosciutto never looks as pink as that - looks lovely!
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No I didn't use any. I just used a mixture of table salt and rock salt. The recipe I had didn't call for any. In the same book it is used for other recipes but mostly for sausages and salamis. I think it is to do with a sausage being a more suitable location for bacteria to grow. I had looked at getting some but its a controlled substance here and I need to prove why I need it and have to go to the police station to get a letter before I can even buy any. I have seen it for sale in small amounts on amazon but wonder would it get intercepted if I ordered some.
Frosty & others interested ,
Weschenfelder .co.uk
They sell various premade cures etc & all manner of helpful pre packed salted skins & devices .. perhaps having the nitrate mixed in with the salt is enough to avoid the restrictions.
After all we can make nitrate by boiling human and animal pee but the smell is awful and might just give the explosives game away for miles and miles around unless it's boiled off under vacuum .
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Thanks for that link. I will give them a try. They mention shipping to Ireland. Probably a little easier than boiling up buckets of pee anyway :D