Salt curing meat

[Oldbloke]

Anyone here tried it?
Tips
Pros.
Cons

I'm thinking of giving it a crack next time I bowl one over.

https://youtu.be/Iy521cz3TnM?si=B2AR7DmeuShL0B5U

[on_one_wheel]

I haven't, however I know 10kg bags of salt are really cheap, you should be able to find then for about $15

Check out the canning process too, iv wanted to try that out for some long-term meat.

[Oldbloke]

I already have about 10kg of course salt.

[Blr243]

In the Kimberley s on donkey shooting trips we used to cut meat into thin jerky strips and just air dry it … never tried salt methods. I guess research and safety paramount. Food poisoning drastically reduces my ability to be bright and cheerful

[Lazarus]

I regularly make bacon from unrolled pork loin roasts.

I have 2 plastic trays that were packaging from some lamb chops, I put the pork in on a thin layer of sea salt, then a good covering of salt on top of the meat, put the other tray on top and tape it at the join.
In the fridge for seven days rinse and you have a rock hard block of salt pork.
If I want to store it, I leave it as is, if I'm smoking it straight away, I soak it overnight in fresh water, it rehydrates and removes most of the salt.

I used to just put it in a clip seal bag as in the pic

rsz_20181201_183230.jpg (441.79 KiB) Viewed 1066 times

[bladeracer]

In the Kimberley s on donkey shooting trips we used to cut meat into thin jerky strips and just air dry it … never tried salt methods. I guess research and safety paramount. Food poisoning drastically reduces my ability to be bright and cheerful

I used to do the same with rabbits when I was a kid, wasn't until years later I heard of people cooking jerky meat.

[Flyonline]

I've done a fair few hams and bacons all wet cured then smoked and the hams are then cooked/hot smoked so can be eaten cold. 10x the product you can buy, but they do taste and look different so you won't be getting something exactly the same as a commercial product (same as most home made stuff really).

I've also corned (brined) venison and goat cuts to tenderise them slightly and add other flavours before cooking. I find I don't have to be so particular about removing membranes/silverskin etc. so you could do a full shoulder roast and it won't be so tough as non brined. It's not going to be melt in the mouth, but is a little softer and more flavorsome from the salt and herbs/spices.

Recently did a couple of batches of jerky which were wet cured then dried in the de-hydrator which came out a treat.

So far I've only done a couple of dry cures, the most interesting was a lamscuitto - small lamb leg dry cured then hung for about 2months from memory. Was 'interesting' in aroma, I was only game to cut a few slivers to taste and threw the rest but I probably could have eaten it. Had a rancid smell that you get sometimes with air cured meats. I've also done a few duckscuitto (duck breasts dry cured and air dried). These are great, and they don't take long because they're so small but you don't get a lot of end product.

Wet curing is good because you can work out your final salt and sugar % and get it right each time, rather than guesstimating with a dry cure. It does leave a wetter meat obviously, so you have to dry out a heap more water before it's at safe levels of moisture to eat/store.

Somewhere here I've got a spreadsheet with a calculator so you can dial in exactly the salt and sugar %'s taking into account the weight of meat, water and final salt concentration of the meat so removing the guesswork. There's some of my records on there too if you're interested. Send me a PM with your email if you'd like a copy.

[stihl88]

We make salami (cacciatore), Capocollo and sausages all natural salt cured (no nitrates), wait for the right time of year (middle of winter in Victoria) to give it time and cold temperature outdoor in cold shed to cure or you could go the fridge option but that has it's problems. Many different ways to do it, my advise is you're probably best to take a course if you've never done it.

I've done dry aged meats in a modified fridge also, very cool and very yum!

Homemade cured jerky in a dehydrator is a worthwhile exercise, price per kg for jerky in the supermarket is stupid.

[Faedy]

I do my own wet brine hams, and EQ dry brine bacon as well as jerky.
Plenty of Aussie facebook groups to join - start with the one below.. You are now gonna more more broke than ever.. Haahahahahha
https://www.facebook.com/groups/322919659417665

[Oldbloke]

Is the course salt OK to use? Or does have to be fine like table salt?