And so it begins...

The smoke house is complete, now its time to begin the curing process.  I did a lot of research on the topic of curing meat by asking the older generation, through books and internet research.  The typical answer I got when asking someone how they cure meat was interesting.  They would have the process down pact but when I asked about specifics, like how much salt to add their answer was always the same... just eyeball it!  Unfortunately I can't eyeball it, I live in the world of absolute not approximate.  I turned to the internet and more specifically to a great book by ____ which gave me more scientific information.

Basically, there are 5 steps in curing meat:

1. Purchasing and processing the meat.
2. Weighing the processed meat and adding the cure.
3. Equalization period.
4. Smoking the meat (optional).
5. Drying the meat.

Not very complicated as a whole but each step has several sub steps that are important to the success of the final product.

Lets begin with the meat itself.  I can't emphasize enough how important fresh quality meat is to the health and safety of the consumer.  Search out and only buy the best quality and freshest meat you can find.  As the old saying goes, garbage in, garbage out and when dealing with cured meats that can mean sickness and even death.

Once you've identified the meat source its time to go purchase the meat.  A couple of important thing to look for when buying pork or beef:

1. The amount of fat on the particular cut
2. Color of the fat 
3. The total thickness of the piece of meat.  

If I'm curing a lean cut like a loin or a beef round I'm looking for pieces with the least amount of surface fat as possible since the loin is a lean cut.  When it comes to dried meats marbling isn't really an issue like it would be for a fresh cut you wanted to grill.  Also when I'm curing pork bellies I'm trying to find the belly with nice clean distinct layers.  The best quality belly has 6 layers, 7 if you include the skin.  But again your looking for a nice meat to fat ratio.

Loin that has been washed and is ready for trimming

Loin after trimming and has been cut in half ready for salting

The loin on the left is ready for trimming.  I usually use a very sharp boning knife, poke it under the fat then raise the blade up and quickly cut in a back and forth motion towards the end of the loin.

Take a look at the color of the fat in the photo, its white and clean, not yellow or grey.  There is no off odor from this piece of meat.  Some meats that are cryopaked will smell right after opening.  Wash the meat off, dry it and check it again, if it smells off don't use it.  Meat should be processed as soon as you get it home, try not to let it sit in your fridge.  If you need to store meat it must be stored at 38F or cooler.

Look at the color of the meat on the left, after trimming its very pink/red.  Meat should not be grey or brown, that is a clear sign of oxidation or spoilage. 

Similar precautions should be taken with beef.  The one main difference is that some beef fats can be yellow.  Typically grass fed beef will have yellow fat.  If you see it don't be alarmed, its more important to know where your beef came from, how old it is and how it smells.  The yellow fat in grass fed beef comes from beta-carotene which is found in plants the cow eats.

When your buying multiple pieces of meat be sure to try and find similarly sized meats.  You'll weigh each individual piece of meat and apply the necessary amount of cure but each piece will cure at a different rate.  The thicker the piece of meat the longer it will need to cure.  Also when your drying the meat you want it all to finish at about the same time.  There is nothing worse than having the same cuts of meat finish at different times.