Founder – Meat Curer, Salami Maker, Course Creator

Experience & Background

In 2006, I started meat curing – studying, testing, building curing chambers, and savoring cured and smoked meats. It grew into my primary passion.

This site aims to create a useful resource online that’ demystifies’ and gives helpful proven advice about curing and smoking meat.

I want to share what has been the most passionate subject I’ve had all my adult life, both from a preservation perspective and also from a flavor perspective.

Writing, researching, and presenting have always been skills I have enjoyed developing (I can talk, too, but I have slowly developed the subtle art of listening).

I was partially raised on a farm and in the city. I have been fishing and hunting since I was about 5 years old. Luckily, I live in a place with plenty of wildlife and opportunities to hunt everything from rabbits to deer (too many in many instances).

‘Meat’ in abundance, is very useful for meat curing.

“Having worked across the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia and New Zealand – I have been lucky enough to have explored my meat-curing passion all across Europe, spending months at a time in Italy, loitering around classic pig butchers – the Norcini.”

Experience

From every type of meat, wild and farmed, I can get my hands on, I’ve tried meat curing. Expanding into dry cured fish also.

Many mistakes and learning have happened over the decades of practicing this craft.

Many weekends with a friend, we have spent 2-4 days processing from whole animal to whole muscle meats, grilling sausages, emulsified sausages, and dry cured salami.

I’ve taken every opportunity to work with butchers, smokehouses, prosciutto factories, and salami makers in New Zealand, Australia, America, Europe, and the U.K.

I’ve written articles about pellet grill smokers and hot smoking for a company where I had to assemble and use various smokers.

Over the years, I’ve converted six fridges, both domestic and commercial, into drying areas for many types of cured meat projects.

In the last few years, a close friend purchased a Stagionella commercial drying fridge from Italy. This large-capacity drying fridge has also been an exciting experience; here is what it often looks like (this is all non-commercial production for learning, friends and family)

This was some of what came out of 3 pigs we harvested and made grilling sausages and cured meats from.

Personal Story

My father was an expert entertainer and talker. I was involved at an early age in meat and in charge of many catering events around a charcoal, wood, or gas/propane grill.

Catching curing and smoking trout began in my adolescence.

After studying and working in various food-related fields, I’ve evolved from a cook to a meat-curing enthusiast. I now teach others about meat curing and smoking.

We have produced some enticing wild venison biltong, Hungarian salami, and spicy fruity fresh chili salami with dozens of recipes refined over many years of production.

We now enjoy a private charcuterie processing facility—a dedicated ‘man cave’ for those passionate about salami!

After building my first DIY curing chamber over twenty years ago, I really started to experiment and have expanded into not just Mediterranean/European styles of meat curing but also Asian and African styles.

A large canal trout, pretending to be salmon – crazy levels of fat.
Studying salami in Italy whilst living and picking olives for the harvests has been some eye-opening experiences – Lavasi, Italy

Learning the simple techniques of cold smoking and dry curing from a professional Dutch butcher was also insightful in my 20s. I would turn up with a wild boar or pig and learn.

This was at a time when there wasn’t any information available on the subject online.

In the Media

Readers Favorite Articles

Fun Facts about Tom

  • Often I put his nose nearly in cured meat when smelling it!
  • A blend of spices (“what I call spice bombs”), makes me incredibly excited
  • I hunt and fish to procure quality meat; as I’ve matured, I’ve mellowed a lot when it comes to hunting
  • Foraging for mushrooms, fruit, spices, shellfish, and whatever is in the area has been an excellent way to be more aware of the small details that surround us.

Connected with Tom’s & Socials:

Email – tom@eatcuredmeat.com