Pigs back leg and blood ideas

[derbyduck]

jonty you are correct about what you said about the saltpetre so no offence taken ,

 

i totally aggree its not something a first time curer should play with thats the reason why i added the caution to check with current food hygine regs .

 

the cures that my father used were passed down through the generations in our family ( every farming family in the south wales valleys had there own special cures for bacon , gammon, and hams ) sadly curing skills like this have all but died out with the older generation ( i do however dabble now and again though to keep the tradition alive , i still have the blue pennant salting stone that my g g grandfather used in 1862 for salting sides of bacon ) .

 

jonty do you buy your cures from scoobie direct , sounds like one of their mixes .

this is a good post ,Iv'e got an old book with the curing methods for hams and bacon from all over the uk in it,hafood if you would like to take a look at it send me a pm with phone no and i'll get in touch........DD

Edited October 2, 2012 by derbyduck

[docholiday]

how far are you from Bedford i can let you know when i am next making some chorizo you could come and have a go

 

colin

 

i did a venison butchery display for pw this time last year if we could get enough people interested i could do the same for dry and wet curing and other charcuterie

 

colin

 

 

I am about 135 miles away so about 5 hrs driving round trip

still could be interested

[hafod]

Doc,

 

a haunch is on my to do list along with a goat leg too. It would need closer watching than a pig leg as the absence of skin would mean that it woud dry out very quickly, one way around this is to smear lard to retard the drying, some others just accept the quicker drying process, I'd be really interested to give it a go.

 

 

jonty

 

another trick my father taught me with regards to protecting bacon , gammon , ham etc from drying out , was after it finished curing , was to wash off the excess salt ( dad always dry cured flitches of bacon and brine cured gammons and hams ) ,he would then hang it up to dry , when it was dry he then painted it all over with melted lard allowing the lard to go hard forming a protective shell over the cured joint

 

he would then mix up a barrel of stiff whitewash , ( the type of wash used to whitewash walls ) he then dunked the cured joint in the barrel allowing the coat of whitewash to dry before applying another coat , ( if memory serves me right 2 or 3 coats were needed to ensure a good even coat ) then it was left hanging off the beams in the dairy untill required , the whitewash formed a protective shell around the bacon,gammon,ham ( the remaining whitewash was then used to whitewash the dairy )

 

tapping the whitewash off the amount you were going to cut off the cured joint with the back of the knife before slicing ,the wash would easlily break off allowing you to cut off what you needed , the lard acted as a barrier to the lime in the whitewash from comming into contact with the meat .

 

according to my father this method was very popular by all accounts up untill the1940s , though he did show me this method for old times sake and i must say the method worked very well indeed .

[Mungler]

Great thread. Cracking read

[Jonty]

jonty

 

another trick my father taught me with regards to protecting bacon , gammon , ham etc from drying out , was after it finished curing , was to wash off the excess salt ( dad always dry cured flitches of bacon and brine cured gammons and hams ) ,he would then hang it up to dry , when it was dry he then painted it all over with melted lard allowing the lard to go hard forming a protective shell over the cured joint

 

he would then mix up a barrel of stiff whitewash , ( the type of wash used to whitewash walls ) he then dunked the cured joint in the barrel allowing the coat of whitewash to dry before applying another coat , ( if memory serves me right 2 or 3 coats were needed to ensure a good even coat ) then it was left hanging off the beams in the dairy untill required , the whitewash formed a protective shell around the bacon,gammon,ham ( the remaining whitewash was then used to whitewash the dairy )

 

tapping the whitewash off the amount you were going to cut off the cured joint with the back of the knife before slicing ,the wash would easlily break off allowing you to cut off what you needed , the lard acted as a barrier to the lime in the whitewash from comming into contact with the meat .

 

according to my father this method was very popular by all accounts up untill the1940s , though he did show me this method for old times sake and i must say the method worked very well indeed .

 

That makes perfect sense hafod - sounds like he was a bit of a craftsman your Father.

[henry d]

Agree with Mungler, thanks guys as this has rekindled my interest in preserving and I am now glad I didn`t sell the slicing machine.

[pob]

I have made a couple of 'parma' hams. It is much easier than you think. Do try it.

 

I had some difficulty sourcing pure salt without nitrates initially and I paid nearer £90 for a leg, although it was free range rare breed pork.

 

+1 on following HFW recipes. His stuff is far too salty; It's safe, but not pleasant.

 

Oh for a ham slice Henry D.

 

Venison haunch from the smaller species that I shoot is a bit tricky, but makes good bresaola. Wet cure works better than dry cure IMHO, but I am still a beginner.

[colin lad]

I have made a couple of 'parma' hams. It is much easier than you think. Do try it.

 

I had some difficulty sourcing pure salt without nitrates initially and I paid nearer £90 for a leg, although it was free range rare breed pork.

 

+1 on following HFW recipes. His stuff is far too salty; It's safe, but not pleasant.

 

Oh for a ham slice Henry D.

 

Venison haunch from the smaller species that I shoot is a bit tricky, but makes good bresaola. Wet cure works better than dry cure IMHO, but I am still a beginner.

wet cures are probably better for the beginner as it will get to the middle of larger joints better,

with dry curing large joints the conditions have to be correct or as has been said earlier they can go off,

were as with wet cure you submerge in cure and leave in fridge

but imho the taste is not nearly as good as a well dry cured ham

 

colin

[Jonty]

I was going to say something similar, Colin, but horses for courses and whatever suits and works for each individual is what makes the world go round.

[colin lad]

I was going to say something similar, Colin, but horses for courses and whatever suits and works for each individual is what makes the world go round.

lucas do a range of cures including a injection cure for larger joints

 

colin

[hafod]

pob

 

you need pure dried vacume salt , ( dont know if i spelt that right ) anyhow if you have a countrywide store,or any agricultrial store nearby they should have some in stock or at least can order it for you ,

 

it should cost anything from £ 6.00 to £ 8.00 a bag , it comes in 25 kg bags , this salt is pure so no additives in it to help it flow , ideal for dry curing flitches of bacon etc etc .

 

block salt was traditionally used for curing but is no longer manufactured i belive so pure dried salt is the alternative

 

good luck .

[hafod]

That makes perfect sense hafod - sounds like he was a bit of a craftsman your Father.

 

 

jonty

 

from what dad told me when my grandfather killed the spare bacon pig he always kept hidden durring the war , and hung the cured whitewashed sides of the pig aginst a newly whitewashed dairy wall , the food inspectors during a raid could not see it hanging up because it blended in so well with the newly washed wall ,

 

by all accounts thats why my grandfather kept the dairy empty , so that when the food inspector looked through the door and seen it was empty he would not bother serching the dariy because as far as he was concerned the place was clear , i wonder if they,ll show that one on the wartime farm ...

[Jonty]

How would a venison haunch cure, ?? would love to give that a try and would you be prepared to talk me through the making of the venison chorizio

 

 

yum yum

 

Doc,

 

I had a quick test of one of the venison chorizo today, it's lost the target amount of weight of approx 25% sooner than I expected so I thought I'd do a quick check for quality control purposes.

 

Its a nice mild chorizo and the venison flavour is marvelous - well worth a try.

 

[Thunderbird]

I think one of the guys at the Cotswold do (I think it was NJC118118 or whatever his name is) tried to dry cure some venison once however I think it went bad.

The deli near where I used to live in Bristol used to do some truly amazing Iberian cured hams. Fascinating subject and something I'd love to know more about.

[crosshair]

Almost every farmhouse used to have lines of salted hams and sides hanging from the ceiling, some of them covered

in dust from the open fire, but they never went off, there was an art in the curing with block salt and salt petre.

Nice to know that the modern generation are reviving the old customs, my father used to salt beef as well.

During the war pigs had to be sold in the farm market and was not legal to kill one and sell on the black market.

One local farmer had a visit from the local Inspector after he was reported for selling on the black market, when the

Inspector entered the shed the dead pig was in plain view, the farmer admitted the deed. On looking around the shed the

Inspector saw a bowl with two pig's livers in it, the farmer swore that the one pig he had killed had two livers.

Hard times, but happier perhaps.

[docholiday]

Doc,

 

I had a quick test of one of the venison chorizo today, it's lost the target amount of weight of approx 25% sooner than I expected so I thought I'd do a quick check for quality control purposes.

 

Its a nice mild chorizo and the venison flavour is marvelous - well worth a try.

 

 

 

Now that does look good and bet it tastes suerb

[otherwayup]

Well the black pudding idea is on hold till next year as timing of the dastardly deed kept moving around and I couldn't be sure I would be there at the time, but thanks to Jonty who very kindly sent me some cure mix and step by step instructions, I have my first attempt at curing sitting in the fridge.

 

Here are some snaps from Step 1

 

The cure mix from Jonty

 

 

The boned out leg

 

 

After the cure was well applied, inside and out (colour change already! is that right?)

 

 

Wrapped in cling film, ready for a two week stint in the fridge

 

 

Thanks Jonty for helping me out with this; I appreciate it.

[bakerboy]

I have made a couple of 'parma' hams. It is much easier than you think. Do try it.

 

I had some difficulty sourcing pure salt without nitrates initially and I paid nearer £90 for a leg, although it was free range rare breed pork.

 

+1 on following HFW recipes. His stuff is far too salty; It's safe, but not pleasant.

 

Oh for a ham slice Henry D.

 

Venison haunch from the smaller species that I shoot is a bit tricky, but makes good bresaola. Wet cure works better than dry cure IMHO, but I am still a beginner.

 

Try Bako London at Merton Industrial Park SW19 3XX 02085431212 probably £6.00 per bag 25kg

[Jonty]

Good stuff otherwayup!! The colour change is only the sugar in the cure. And by the way, the leg doesn't look as half bad as I expected after you desribed it. Hopefully, in a few months you'll be tucking into 'Jambon du Billericay