The question is – how to avoid the ham being too salty; because after brine curing or wet brining the ham you want the result to be perfect. Buying a big chunk of ham or using a precious piece from a pig you’ve reared – it’s a beautiful thing! It should not be too salty to be enjoyed. This blog …
What Pork Fat to Use for Sausages (Diagrams and Details)
When you are making sausages at home, the type of fat you want to use depends sometimes on the type of fat you can get. The big assumption is that all fat is the same – but it is not quite like that. When making sausages it’s either fresh sausage, smoked/cooked (hot smoked) sausage, or a type of dry-cured salami …
Best Book for Sausage Making (Sausage or Salami)
If you search for the best book on sausage making, you will find a lot of books about this topic on Google, the good old algorithm. However, you want the best of the best. One answer that will give you that answer is someone who actually reads them, crazy! I want to make sure you’re getting the best book if …
Does Cured Meat Need to be Cooked?
Because cured meats come in many different types and variations, whether you have to cook them or not depends on a few things. Meat curing has fascinated me for a long time. I’ve gone across Europe (especially Italy) purely to savor the types of cured meats they have there. For example, Calabrian Njuda (a spreadable pork sausage, or Parma from …
What Does Cured Meat Mean?
The meaning of cured meat seems like a pretty simple question, but due to the variations and different types of cured meat, I want to get into more detail. For instance, some cured meats like dry cured meats are ready-to-eat like prosciutto or dry cured picante salami. Then, on the other hand, you have dry cured cold smoked bacon which …
Is Cold Smoking Bacon Safe? (Detailed Answer)
Cold-smoking bacon and whether it’s safe depends on how you go about it. Just think about the bacon in supermarkets; most are cold-smoked. I’ve been cold smoking bacon and other cured meats for nearly 20 years, and I write on this site, my online resource, which is all about curing and cold smoking. It all started when I had some …
How to Smoke Bacon With a Pellet Tube Smoker
Using a pellet grill for smoking bacon is pretty straightforward when using a pellet tube smoker. However, there are some key points that I’ve learned over the years that can help make things easier and more straightforward. Of course, like most things, experience and going through the learning curve is part of the process. The bacon we normally eat at …
Can I Cure Meat Without Nitrates/Nitrites (Pink Curing Salt)
Over the years I’ve done a lot of meat curing using sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite. Another name for these is pink curing salt. A question that comes up a lot around here, is whether you need to use them to make cured meats. Curing meat also has a wide meaning, whether it’s dry cured or smoked/cooked (hot smoking). So …
What Salami Does Not Need to be Refrigerated And Different Types
Some salami must be kept in the refrigerator, and some do not. I have made salami for a few decades, and people often ask this question when they want to take salami on a trip or holiday. Even though there are thousands of variations of salamis, most of the ones I make don’t need refrigeration because they are dry-cured types. …
Why Does my Bacon Taste Like Ham?
Bacon can definitely taste like ham, and there is one main reason why this happens. It comes down to the technique that’s used to make the bacon. I’ve been making bacon and ham for nearly 20 years and have tried many different techniques. Hams comes in many varieties and so does bacon! But the main reason is this one below: …
Curing Bacon at Home (Guide, Links and Pictures)
Cold smoking bacon at home is probably my favorite type of curing and cold smoking that I do. I have refined my process over many years and wanted to share a breakdown step-by-step on how I do this. For me cold smoked bacon is real bacon. The other main method is hot smoking bacon until it’s cooked means you really …
InkBird Humidity Controller Review
I want to give some insight about InkBird humidity controllers since this is a key component to review when you’re looking at building a DIY meat curing chamber. Or you may have other projects needing an environmentally controlled environment with a humidity controller. Primarily I’m using the humidity controller for salami fermentation and growing mushrooms. When I started doing meat …
Bad Molds, Good Molds and Cured Meat – Including Pictures
When it comes to curing meat especially dry-cured meat over a few months or more, the aspects of mold are one of the more challenging hurdles I’ve found in the beginning. There’s not a lot of detail online or in many of the meat curing books that I’ve read about the good mold and the bad mold. So I hope …
Which Meat Mincer/Grinder to Make Salami or Fresh Sausages?
When it comes to mincing meat for salami and sausages there are some subtleties and mincer/grinder designs that I think you want in your equipment. Over the years I used many different types of meat mincers – from the cheap ones to more expensive ones, through to commercial equipment. I want to be as helpful as possible, firstly I’ll go …
Do I Need to add Curing Salt to Bacon?
Adding curing salt to your bacon is one of those things that many new meat curers ask. It’s also a question that often comes up here on my blog, so I thought I would share many years of research and give you some facts about it. I’ll go into it, how I do it and how I approach it. I …
How to Cook Trout on a Campfire (and Other Methods)
When it comes to fishing, catching and cooking trout on an open campfire this is something I love to do, either at home out the back or out in the bush. As a young kid I had an ability to catch trout nearly every single time I went out (after a few years maybe a decade of practice). I was …
Dry Cured Meats of New Zealand
There are a few dry-curing meat producers in New Zealand but due to globalization, you can get now many imported portions of meat from Spain or Italy. However, in New Zealand, some areas have the quality of the soil, farming practices, feed, and dedication to animal husbandry which produces the outcomes that are desired. After studying, making, and writing about …
Dry Curing Vs Wet Brining for Meat Curing
The two main methods of curing meat are dry curing and wet brining. I have done both methods in various ways over the years, and it will be helpful to provide explanations about how I do it. As well as which method suits different types of meat curing better. I start with a quick summary of each method and then …
Smokai Cold & Hot Smoke Generator Review in Detail
Being a super keen guy on curing and smoking all kinds of stuff, I’ve spent hundreds if not thousands of hours smoking over the years (not just meat either). As I’ve learned many of the in’s and out’s of cold smoking over 20 odd years, like everything I’m still learning. But it’s kind of become second nature too. Smokai is …
Cold Smoking Process, Theory & Equipment
There is some mystical of cold smoking, maybe it’s the 1,000’s of years of tradition hard-wired into out genetics, maybe. Maybe not. I’ve spent a long time, compiling – what I think is a very useful resource for a full rundown on cold smoking meat (obviously), fruit, spices, or whatever you come with. It’s a part of meat curing that …