[suziequeue]

Dry cure, wet cure, brine, hot smoke, cold smoke... which method do I use for what???

Am I right in thinking that dry cure is for bacon and wet cure is the same as brining and is for gammon?

I want to make bacon this autumn from our pigs. Our butcher makes the most fantastic bacon and said he will let us have some of his cure. He said just to rub it on, vac-pac it for 5 days and Bob's your Uncle. Sounds too simple to me.... is it really that straightforward? I get the impression from bacon books and this forum that there's more to it.

I presume a wet cure is just sticking it in a bucket of salty water basically. What is that used for?

With all this curing going on - where does smoking fit in?

What about ham?

Grateful for some clarification

Susanna

[Hilarysmum]

I cannot claim to be an expert at this, there will be others with far more knowledge but here goes:

Dry cure - I dry cure bacon because that is what my customers like.  I make my own cure, rub it in and leave it sealed in poly bag in fridge for roughly 5 days for a loin and slightly less for a belly.  I wash off the cure, pat dry with kitchen roll.  Then I leave for another couple of days in fridge to air, (no idea why but it works for me) then chill to really, really cold before slicing.

Wet cure can be used for bacon, I tend to use it for gammons (always boned out in our case).  My cure consists of salt, sugar, water, juniper berries, cloves, pepper corns.   I do very large legs so leave them in the cure for 2/3 weeks.  Again it works for me.

For a palma style ham the boned out leg is packed in salt and left in a cool place for up to 30 days, then washed off, dried covered in muslin or other to protect from flies and left to hang outside but protected from rain for about 6 months, after which it is bought in cleaned with wine vinegar, then sliced super thin.  This is far too salty for my palate.

Smoking is only done after the meat is cured.

For the cures a lot of depends on taste.  By some really cheap supermarket pork to experiment with well before hand. Its a lot less heart breaking to ruin a piece of supermarket pork.    Also try your butcher's bacon see if its to your taste, then buy some of his cure if he is willing to sell it.

Hope this helps,

[suziequeue]

Thanks Hilary's Mum

Yes our local butcher does EXACTLY what we are looking for in his cure and he is prepared to sell us some cure.

I don't know why I feel nervous about starting on some supermarket pork..... seems counter-intuitive because - as you say - I have much less of a connection with supermarket meat than I would with our own meat.

SO I must bite the bullet and do that. Also - excuse to get a meat slicer sooner rather than later. javascript:void(0);

I am very interested in ham (like - for sandwiches) - not that thin sliced stuff but a good dry slice with fat around the edge. Is that what you mean by "gammons"?

Susanna

[Wizard]

Suzie go to processing and recipes and I have explained the old way of preserving Pig before deep freezers and vac- pak machines.  When we killed a pig it would weigh some 35 score about 300 kilo's give or take a gram They were grown to have at least 3" of back fat and were only slaughtered when there was no R in the month.Many in October and November so good things could be made for the Christmas Feasts.

[RUSTYME]

 "only slaughtered when there was no R in the month.Many in October and November "    mmmm maybe that should read Octoba and Novemba then George .... he he heeeee ...


cheers

Russ

[Wizard]

No Russ It means when its cooler and there are likely to be no flys to strike the meat

[Hilarysmum]

I am very interested in ham (like - for sandwiches) - not that thin sliced stuff but a good dry slice with fat around the edge. Is that what you mean by "gammons"?

Susanna

The gammon ham is the one we use for sandwich ham.  We bake it after its been cured.  I found that after curing leaving it in the fridge for a few days, makes a huge difference to the finished meat.  No idea why.

[Eve]

Ooh, Hilarysmum, how do you bake it? Any glaze over it and if so - can you really taste the glaze? 

Wizard, how can you keep your bacon for so long - in my house it gets eaten in no time! 



Eve 

[Hilarysmum]

After boiling and leaving to stand and removing the skin I make a glaze from honey mixed with a good teaspoonful of dry mustard.  If I have time I also cut the diamond shapes into the fat before glazing then add a few cloves.  Bake in a very hot oven for only as long as it takes for the glaze to bubble and start to brown. 

If you are slicing bacon or unglazed ham on your slicer chill it till really cold and firm it will make it very much easier to slice.

[Eve]

Oh sounds like heaven!

Thanks!

Eve 

[suziequeue]

So Hilarys Mum

For sandwich ham......

Cure then air then glaze then chill then slice.

Does the meat get cooked at all?

Susanna

[Hilarysmum]

I dont do it that way, I cure, leave for a few days in the fridge.  Then boil, allow to stand and cool.  Then glaze and roast.  Gives a whole new meaning to sandwiches.

Air dried ham is not boiled its not normally glazed as far as I know, just hangs for ever until really dry then sliced extremely fine.   

[Norfolk Newby]

I am a bit late coming to this discussion so please accept my apologies if I seem to be going of on a tangent.

If you want to smoke fish - say a trout - put the cleaned fish in strong brine for an hour, rinse and dry before hanging or laying in a smoker for 1 hour if hot smoking or 4-12 hours if cold smoking.

The times all depend on how you want the result. Less time in the brine will be less salty but needs to eaten immediately. If your smoker is a shed with a small stove in it, the the smoking is very cool and longer smoking is possible. But a small smoker (like a barbecue with a lid) is always going to be warm to hot so it will cook and smoke in an hour or so.

Always use clean wood which has not be treated with any chemicals. No painted wood - ever! Different woods produce subtle changes in flavour. Oak, ash, apple are all worth trying if you have the chance.

A lot of this is experimentation. The basic technique can be used with chops, steaks, chickens and other meats.

NN

[Hilarysmum]

This is unfair reading it at breakfast time and on a really tight budget this month, mouth watering smoked fish.   

[OhLaLa]

Hilarysmum: Would you share your dry curing mix recipe/method with us all?

I haven't had much luck with bacon, and a nice bit of home cured streaky bacon would be a treat...