Re: Tasty home curing of pork

[Guest guest]

how much salt did you use (ie: dense heavy covering on both sides or more of

a to-taste " normal " salting)? did you rinse off the chops before cooking or

leave the salt/sugar on as a marinade?

oliver...

On Sat, May 3, 2008 at 5:55 PM, haecklers <haecklers@...> wrote:

> I've been experimenting with charcuterie and came up with a pork chop

> treatment that tastes as good as ham that's easy to do at home. I

> salted each side of some thin sliced pork chops and left them in the

> refrigerator overnight, uncovered. The next day I sugared both sides

> (organic turbinado) and let it go overnight again. Today I fried one

> and it was delicious!

>

[Guest guest]

Boy that's hard to describe! It wasn't caked in salt, but there was

pretty much a solid coating of sugar/salt on the surface, i.e. not

very big gaps between crystals, if that helps. I didn't rinse it and

wondered if it would taste salty but it didn't at all. Next time I

fry it, tho, I will rinse it because the sugar on the outside turned

black when I fried it. If you think about curing, you don't want any

meat exposed without the salt/sugar because that can mold, so I tried

to imitate that, keeping in mind that the crystals will dissolve in

the meat juice and spread out a little bit. I'd guess for a thicker

piece of meat, like the 1 inch chops, you'd want to apply it more

heavily so it can penetrate to the center of the meat, and probably

let it go another day or so.

>

> > I've been experimenting with charcuterie and came up with a

pork chop

> > treatment that tastes as good as ham that's easy to do at home. I

> > salted each side of some thin sliced pork chops and left them in

the

> > refrigerator overnight, uncovered. The next day I sugared both

sides

> > (organic turbinado) and let it go overnight again. Today I fried

one

> > and it was delicious!

> >

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

good deal, i'm giving it a go with some chops tonight (starting the cure).

two days in the fridge doesn't present much worry of mold so i'll go a bit

lighter but i'd like to try a longer warmer temperature cure at some point.

figure i'll ease into it this-aways.

thanks,

oliver...

On Sat, May 3, 2008 at 6:38 PM, haecklers <haecklers@...> wrote:

> Boy that's hard to describe! It wasn't caked in salt, but there was

> pretty much a solid coating of sugar/salt on the surface, i.e. not

> very big gaps between crystals, if that helps.

>

[Guest guest]

This sounds great! I am doing some right now! Thank you!!

May I also add that I have found a wonderful recipe we are going to try when

we slaughter our pigs? It is from “The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating” by

Fergus . His recipe for cured ham (and pork chops :-)) calls for 2

bottles of red wine, 1 T of saltpeter OR 1 ½ c coarse sea salt (which he

prefers), 12 whole cloves, 2 heads of garlic with skin on and cut in half,

12 peppercorns. Combine all and marinate pork in fridge for 12 days. Remove

and dry with towel. Lay chopsticks or other wooden strips across bottom of

container and rub 4 ½ c coarse salt with 4 c sugar into the pork. Lay in

container and pack the rest of the sugar/salt mix around and on top. Store

in fridge for 2 weeks. If it becomes wet and runs off the pork, make up

another batch and reapply. Then (Little House on the Prairie time) rinse

pork and dry. Roll up pork as tight as you can and tie. Wrap in cheesecloth

and hang for 2 months in cool, airy and dry place. All set!

It sounds like a long time, but I figure if we are doing 3 pigs that one can

be our interim and the other two will last all winter with no refrigeration

(at least after the initial cure) and good for out here in the country!

Besides, always loved the picture in Little House! Chrissie

BunnyearsFamily Heritage Farm

firstclassskagitcounty.org

N. Snohomish/Camano Is. WAPF

[Guest guest]

As the French say, 'tout est bon dans le couchon'.

Desh