For the important aspects of temperature control, I’ve been ‘reviewing’ the INKBIRD ITC-308 for many years now and using it to get a target temperature range. I’ve used this for charcuterie, dry cured meats and many other temperature controlled environment projects at home which I’ll talk about. For about 20 years I’ve had many hobbies (food and alcohol based) that …
The Joys of Meat Curing & Crafting Charcuterie at Home
I wanted to showcase what it’s like making cured meats and charcuterie at home for someone unfamiliar with this topic. I’ve been doing it for over 20 years. Whilst also writing about it for many years online. It all began, when I was lucky enough to obtain high-quality wild meat, and seeking ways to celebrate and honor the animal that …
Best Woods for Smoking Cured Meats
I’ve used about 15 different kinds of wood to smoke-cured meats. Often, I’ve found it easier to categorize wood used for smoking into light, medium, and strong flavors. The best woods for smoking cured meats are often the woods you’ll find locally in abundance and sustainable. Local, Non-resin-filled, deciduous wood is often the best wood for smoking cured meats. This …
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Curing Meat
Over the first 10 years I was curing meat, I made many mistakes. This had a lot to do with the lack of information, and I just hadn’t read the textbooks that are available nowadays, the internet was quite young at the time in the early 2000’s! Over the second 10 years, I practiced and learned meat curing at home …
Frequently Asked Questions About Meat Curing
There are a lot of questions that are frequently asked about meat curing that I have to answer from this site. So I thought I would put all of these common FAQs in one article. I love to cure meat and have been doing so for many many years, I’ve been to places in Italy or America specifically just to …
How to Store Cured Meat: Tips and Tricks
The way you store cured meats does depend a lot on what style of cured meats you have. I’ve got a true passion for cured meats of all kinds, and that’s why I started this website. I buy and make my own types of cured meats of every style you can imagine across the globe. I thought it would be …
Cured and Hot Smoked Trout Recipe
I want to dive deep into what I’ve learnt and also about tips and tricks on how to cure and hot smoke trout at home or when you are outdoors. I’ve been curing and smoking trout for 25 years, as well as, catching probably over a thousand trout across New Zealand. The odd one also in Scotland when living on …
Can you Make Sausage Without Nitrites
You can very definitely make sausages without nitrites or nitrates, the decision is always yours, especially if you are making them at home. The reason why I decided to write this article was, because I have been reading, studying and making all the different types of sausages you come across in the world over the last 25 years. I thought …
List of Spices Good for Sausage (Quantity Guide also)
When it comes to the spices, herbs and aromatics you can use in a sausage, it’s pretty endless. The combination and synergy definitely can produce more then the ingredients separately. However, not all things work together in terms of spices and herbs! Over the 20 odd years I’ve been making and studying sausages. I’ve had friends and acquaintances that have …
Is Cured Meat Raw?
It gets a little bit confusing with the cured meats and raw meats since the definition of cured meats does have a lot of variations across the globe. I’ve been lucky enough to have tasted and experienced, as well as made, many of the variations of cured meats in the traditional and modern context. I will try to give a …
Different Types of Cured Sausage
A cured sausage can have many types and variations, most people I come across don’t really even know what a cured sausage is! Defining a cured sausage, specifically needs to be done to categorize it, there is wide interpretation I’ve foundboth online and offline. I’ve been curing and making sausage, even uncured sausages for more than a few decades. I’ve …