[welshlass181]

Hi all i've never cured anything ever  i have found myself being the proud owner of lots of home reared pork from 4 kune crosses.  I cooked a back leg in the oven the other day and found out that hubby does not like roast pork and neither do i.  The smell made me want to be sick  anyway to cut a long story short i want to try to cure something .... we like pork cooked in a smoker and on a BBQ and glazed ribs and stuff like that.  We've got a spit roaster and a 45 gal drum that we cook over.  We're going to unvest in a smoker for BBQ season so us and our friends can benefit from our piggies

Everything on a scale of normal pigs are very small but very tasty.  Does anybody have any suggestions?  My pigs were cut in a primary cut as they were small bless um lol so we're got the back legs, front legs/shoulders and ribs/belly pork.  Not sure if thats the right names for it.

[HappyHippy]

The smell made me want to be sick 

And that is boar taint (I'm 99.9% certain  )

If you look back in the receipe section and also on the main TAS site there are guides and receipes for curing, I've not attempted a home cure myself yet sorry can't be of more help 
Karen x

[welshlass181]

Hi HH it was one of the gilts that we did.  My mother reminded me that i don't like roast pork after i cooked it and thinking back on it now i never cook pork ever.  If i am honest i cannot stand the smell of roasting chicken, pork, beef and when i cook mince i heave.  I like the smell of roasting beef and lamb thats it.  I've not cooked pork for so long i completely forgot i didn't like it lol oh well live and learn.

[HappyHippy]

Ooops  Goes to show how much I know  lol!
I have to admit to not being a huge fan of pork (Yes, I know how bad that sounds  ) BUT I love sausages and cured pork - bacon, ham, gammons   
Have a go at sausages Welshlass, you can add in all sorts of flavourings and herbs which smell lovely when they're cooking on the BBQ  Good luck with the curing 

[welshlass181]

Funny you should say that about sausages as the biggest gilt i took had a skin rash and the vet/meat inspector person said that she needed to be skinned.  They phoned me and told me the best thing to do was bone her too.  I've over 30kgs of boned meat ready to make into mince for sausages.  Need to order some casings to have a blast at making my own.  I've got lots of ideas down on paper to try and ppl are telling me their faves so i can make some for them.  I had completely forgotten about me not liking roast pork it had been so long since i'd eaten it obviously hehe

[SallyintNorth]

welshlass do you like ham & bacon or only smoked / barbied things? 

Either way, have you already had a look at Rosemary & Dan's articles right here at http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/articles/bacon/makingbacon/ ?

[suziequeue]

Hilarys Mum has a FANTASTIC recipe for curing ham. It turns out really beautiful.

I did post it all up here once but can;t find it.
I'll keep looking

[SallyintNorth]

Hilarysmum's recipe is at http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=6992.msg72338#msg72338
(I keep it in my Favourites!  Thanks Hilarysmum!)  

[welshlass181]

I like bacon, gammon (has to be quite salty though), chops, diced pork but i just don't like it roasted if that makes sense at all 

[SallyintNorth]

Oh, it'll be salty alright - many of us will soak the cured meat to get rid of some of the salt, and I then boil with a potato in the pan to take out yet more (I don't use salt at all ever, except for curing my pork!)

Anyways, if you like bacon & gammon then sounds like a good idea to have a go at curing - loads of recipes here, I've already posted the links for you.

Have fun!

[southwestpoultry]

I know this is a little off subject but we have a ProQ BBQ smoker and it is excellent, a little cheaper than the Brinkmann ones.
Luckily we had a good deal last year from a seller on ebay and managed to get the full one (about 5 1/2 feet tall) for about £135.00

Just thought I would share this.

Regards
Robert.

South West Poultry.

[welshlass181]

We're going to make one out of a 45gallon drum and an old gas bottle.  We've made burners out of gas bottles so just going to adjust the design to make the smoker.  We've got a rotissery that has been fitted to another 45gl half drum but it doesn't have enough oomph to turn a weaner (even a Kune wearner lol) i am going to make one that has a bit more power so we can have our own mini hog roast in the summer.  We had a half pig on the spit and had some lovely BBQ glaze for it and to be totally honest it was stunning the meat fell off lol i couldn't carve it

[Olly398]

I find leg is far too dry and lean to be roasted, and only use it for curing (salami as it happens, mixed with back fat/belly). I would urge you to try a small loin joint in the oven (perhaps with the window open?) as the combination of crisp crackling and tender loin meat is fantastic.

I also have a horizontal barrel hot smoker and find shoulder is the best cut to use here, with a long, slow smoking time.

Enjoy!

[welshlass181]

I find leg is far too dry and lean to be roasted, and only use it for curing (salami as it happens, mixed with back fat/belly). I would urge you to try a small loin joint in the oven (perhaps with the window open?) as the combination of crisp crackling and tender loin meat is fantastic.

I also have a horizontal barrel hot smoker and find shoulder is the best cut to use here, with a long, slow smoking time.

Enjoy!

The pigs i sent in were small (kune crosses) so therefore i only had primary cuts.  Rear legs, front legs/shoulders and the ribs/belly pork.  The plan is to experiment with the meat that we have as it was very cheap to gain lol and if we don't like something then our staffys will have a belly full of pork. 

We've got 8 shoulder joints to play with once we get the smoker up and running 

[Olly398]

In that case you are in for a treat. I take it you are hot smoking? Proper "pulled pork" is delicious and very satisfying. Hardest thing is temperature regulation, as a quick flash up to 200 degC plus can blacken and ruin the meat. You are looking for 6-8 hours (for a normal sized shoulder joint or two) at 130 ish.  So design a nice big firebox with an easily controllable inlet damper to vary the amount of incoming air. And I would recommend a temp probe in the smoking chamber - I got mine off ebay.

This American website is good for smoking and BBQ tips.

Here is my smoker.