Curing
meat on proper way is indeed very
important work as it determines whether one will have good tasting
cured
meat or meat that is too salty or possibly that is far removed from
the original taste of the raw product.
What you should know:
All meat that is to be cured
should always be thoroughly cooled
and cut into the desired convenient sizes before it is put into the
brine or packed in dry salt.
The pieces most commonly used
for curing are the ham, shoulder
and bacon pieces from pork.
From
beef we use the cheaper, tougher
cuts such as the plate, shoulder and chuck ribs.
Mutton
is seldom
cured and preserved.
The
ham should be cut off at the hock joint, the spare ribs
taken out of the bacon, and the ragged edges trimmed off smooth. If
ragged edges or scraggy ends are left these portions will become
too dry in the curing and will practically be wasted.
After
all the animal heat is removed from the meat and it is
properly cut it is then ready for the curing.
If
salt is put on the
meat before the animal heat is all removed, it will have a tendency
to shrink the muscles and form a coating on the outside which will
not allow the generating gases to escape.
Meat
should never be in a
frozen condition when the salt is added as the frost will prevent
the proper penetration of the brine and uneven curing will be the
result.
For
all curing always use pickling salt and
not table salt, as the latter contains starch to keep it dry
and this starch may cause the meat to spoil.
The
two most common methods of curing meat are first the traditional brine
cure
or sugar cure process and second the dry-curing process.
For
general farm use the brine cured process is the better. It requires
less time, less effort and not such an exacting place for the work.
On most farms it is impossible to secure a desirable place in which
to do the dry-curing as the meat is exposed to rats, cats, flies
and other insects. The dry-curing requires considerable time to rub
and salt the meat at different times while the only attention that
is necessary for brine-curing is to properly prepare and pack the
meat in the vessel and prepare the brine for it.
If
possible use a round container for the curing. It is easier
to put the meat in tightly, and the space can be used to better
advantage.
A
hardwood barrel of some kind is excellent for meat curing. Sirup,
molasses or lard barrels which have been thoroughly cleaned are
very satisfactory.
Stone
crocks or certain types of jars are
sometimes used for curing meat but they are expensive and difficult to
handle besides the constant danger of loss of
brine from breakage.
