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Originally Posted by AKMIMNAK
Going to try curing some pork belly this Fall for the freezer. Couple questions:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AKMIMNAK
1. Will you share your best recipe and what you like about it?
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You are limited only by your imagination as far as additional flavors
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Originally Posted by AKMIMNAK
2. How important is "pink salt" a.k.a. Prague powder #1? Are there other options?
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It's a very important tool for curing, but it needs to be weighed according to the weight of the meat for proper quantities.
The curing agent is simply just a tool, albeit a very important one. Once you understand the how and why to properly calculate the ingredients, the rest will fall into place. There is just no substitution for accuracy when it come to health and safety of your family when curing meats. When curing meat; the cure ingredients should always be weighed, never measured, for safety, accuracy, and consistency.
The problem with volume measurements is that they are simply just approximates. You will see recipes on the internet that call for varying amounts of cure for the same weight of meat, some call for 1 teaspoon for 5 pounds, some call for two teaspoons, and even some that call for 3 or 4 teaspoons for the same 5 pounds of meat.
So the question is, which recipe has the correct measure?
NONE OF THEM ! Simply because the ingredients need to be weighed and not measured.
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Originally Posted by AKMIMNAK
3. How long can I leave pork belly in the cure? For example, if I decide to put off smoking it for a week or two after it's initial 3-5 day curing period, is that a big deal?
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If you properly weigh the cure, you can exceed the cure time without fear of nitrite burn.
Finding a reliable recipe on the Internet becomes increasingly harder every day because there is a big difference between writing about curing and actually testing the recipe and doing it the proper way. There are many questionable recipes on the internet, just because they are out there, doesn't imply accuracy or safety of the resulting product(s). From many of these "bad" recipes we can clearly see that the author/poster has never properly calculated the ingredients let alone tested the final product. Having a collection of recipes on a website does not make a person proficient in the skill of curing. You have to know the How and Why of curing; you have to know the rules that dictate the process.
