Curing & Smoking meat

[ClemKadiddlehopper]

Preservation without freezing is a bit different than just smoking. Curing is basically dehydrating with the use of salt and sugar rubs, and once completely dry, smoke is applied. This results in a very salty piece of meat that can be hung without refrigeration. It needs to be soaked extensively to draw the excess salt out and make it edible. Curing salt (nitrates) will also be involved.

Smoking meats .com is an excellent site for recipes and info. I use pop's brine from this site as it does the job nicely with out over salting. Just remember, brining and smoking does not mean no refrigeration. That is curing. Prosciutto is a cured meat.

Raising a feeder pig was mentioned. Yes, you can do this, but you won't save any money. Buy the piglet, feed the piglet, butcher the pig and depending upon your access to cheap feed and whether or not you process it yourself, costs can get out of hand.

Quality of pig feed counts. Garbage in, garbage out. The most disappointing part of the process is discovering how little bacon you end up with. There is a reason bacon costs more than other cuts of pork. You have to butcher a lot of pigs to get a small quantity of bacon. If you like the rest of the pig as well, carry on and smoke the heck out of it. Smoked pig knuckles and sourkrout; yum. Don't forget to pickle the trotters.

 

[Grumpy521]

I don’t have much experience in it but it’s something I’d love to get going. Any tips? Tricks? DIY projects/set ups? Good books? Common mistakes? Favorite recipes/blends?

I’d find any comments interesting. Thanks in advance.

I smoke and cure a lot of meats. I post a lot of what I make in my Instagram page. I'd say with smoking it all depends on what you want to do. Are you looking to hot smoke to make things like barbeque brisket or are you wanting to cold smoke to preserve food like fish, ham or bacon?

 

[joel]

Well I am not the op, but I would like to cold cure bacon, once I can raise the bacon. I would like to pasture raise my bacon, but that is a ways down the road. Still that what I would like to try some day.

 

[Peanut]

I used to sell a lot of cherry wood for smoking fish, several hundred pounds a year. My preference for beef or pork is pecan wood. It's smoother than hickory which can be overly harsh sometimes.

If I'm just cooking dogs and burgers on a grill I give them a dose of pecan smoke right at the start. I even keep a mason jar with pecan split into small pieces in my kitchen just for regular grilling.

 

[joel]

Had not thought of that, but can see how peacan would be less harsh therefore smoother now that you posted it. I do not smoke fish,mostly bake,fry & stew according to the type & age. Just never smoke it, to easy to go fishing for more a guess.

 

[Grumpy521]

Had not thought of that, but can see how peacan would be less harsh therefore smoother now that you posted it. I do not smoke fish,mostly bake,fry & stew according to the type & age. Just never smoke it, to easy to go fishing for more a guess.

My favorite uncle would cold smoke bluegills with apple wood. People think that doing anything with bluegills is a bit off but he was DEEP Cajun and could cook fish and game like a French chef. He'd scale, head and gut them then soak a mess of them in a brine until all of this weird slime was washed out of them. He then covered them with a homemade rub that was a lot like Tony Chachere then cold smoke them for about 18 hours. They were incredible. Imagine Nova Lox from bluegill.

 

[Roo]

I smoke and cure a lot of meats. I post a lot of what I make in my Instagram page. I'd say with smoking it all depends on what you want to do. Are you looking to hot smoke to make things like barbeque brisket or are you wanting to cold smoke to preserve food like fish, ham or bacon?

My main interest is preservation.

 

[Caribou]

My main interest is preservation.

I love to smoke, mostly fish, but for long term preservation, without electricity reliance, pressure canning is my favourite.

 

[Grumpy521]

My main interest is preservation.

So what specifically are you interested in preserving? Are you wanting to make jerky, cure a ham or bacon, smoke fish?

 

[Roo]

I love to smoke, mostly fish, but for long term preservation, without electricity reliance, pressure canning is my favourite.

Now see, that’s the beauty of asking. I wasn’t aware canning meat was really an option. I’ve know about doing that for vegetables and the like, but not meat. Is the process any different?

 

[Grumpy521]

Now see, that’s the beauty of asking. I wasn’t aware canning meat was really an option. I’ve know about doing that for vegetables and the like, but not meat. Is the process any different?

Much different. You have to use a pressure canner to be safe.

 

[Roo]

So what specifically are you interested in preserving? Are you wanting to make jerky, cure a ham or bacon, smoke fish?

Mostly curing ham and bacon, along with any other meat that it can be done with. I can read books all day but I’d like some advice from people who actually do it on how to best get started with it.

I’d like to start with a green ham or something and get it down right before I get into raising pigs.

 

[Grumpy521]

Mostly curing ham and bacon, along with any other meat that it can be done with. I can read books all day but I’d like some advice from people who actually do it on how to best get started with it.

I’d like to start with a green ham or something and get it down right before I get into raising pigs.

Do you have room to build an indirect smokehouse? I would suggest looking at smokehouse plans if you do.

 

[Grumpy521]

Mostly curing ham and bacon, along with any other meat that it can be done with. I can read books all day but I’d like some advice from people who actually do it on how to best get started with it.

I’d like to start with a green ham or something and get it down right before I get into raising pigs.

Most people only need something on a 4' x 4' footprint. Imagine something about the size of a Port-o-jon. Your fire box should be Lowe than the bottom of your main smoker tower maybe 12' to 15 feet away.

 

[Grumpy521]

Mostly curing ham and bacon, along with any other meat that it can be done with. I can read books all day but I’d like some advice from people who actually do it on how to best get started with it.

I’d like to start with a green ham or something and get it down right before I get into raising pigs.

Something like this is about all most people need. This is not mine and if I was cold smoking l, I believe I'd have the fire box at least six more feet away.

 

[Caribou]

Pressure canning is simple enough but there are rules that need to be followed or the results can be severe even deadly. Some colleges teach this through community outreach. Another option is to get a friend to teach you. It is possible to learn out of a book but a time or two with an experienced canner is far safer. Do you know someone that has a bunch of home canned food sitting on their shelves? Helping an old couple a bit this summer for a lesson this fall could well be worth it. There is always YouTube if all else fails.

There are two wet canning methods water bath and pressure canning. For protein, meat and fish, you want to learn the pressure canning process. Once you learn the process then you follow the recipe. The process will always be the same, clean your jars, put your product in the jars, bring the canner to pressure, start timer, let it cool down. There is enough information in that last sentence to get you in real trouble so get some real instruction.

I sometimes can ham and beans. The beans take less time at pressure than the meat so you always go with the product that has the higher pressure and longer time. Can up a meatloaf I a widemouth pint jar. Want a quick meal, shake it out of the jar, slice it up, warm it in the oven, microwave, or frying pan and put some BBQ sauce on it.

 

[Roo]

Do you have room to build an indirect smokehouse? I would suggest looking at smokehouse plans if you do.

Im going to be relocating in the fall so I’m going to wait until I get on the new property to build one. That’s why I’m starting to look into it all now, to come up with plans.

 

[Roo]

Pressure canning is simple enough but there are rules that need to be followed or the results can be severe even deadly. Some colleges teach this through community outreach. Another option is to get a friend to teach you. It is possible to learn out of a book but a time or two with an experienced canner is far safer. Do you know someone that has a bunch of home canned food sitting on their shelves? Helping an old couple a bit this summer for a lesson this fall could well be worth it. There is always YouTube if all else fails.

There are two wet canning methods water bath and pressure canning. For protein, meat and fish, you want to learn the pressure canning process. Once you learn the process then you follow the recipe. The process will always be the same, clean your jars, put your product in the jars, bring the canner to pressure, start timer, let it cool down. There is enough information in that last sentence to get you in real trouble so get some real instruction.

I sometimes can ham and beans. The beans take less time at pressure than the meat so you always go with the product that has the higher pressure and longer time. Can up a meatloaf I a widemouth pint jar. Want a quick meal, shake it out of the jar, slice it up, warm it in the oven, microwave, or frying pan and put some BBQ sauce on it.

My wife knows canning very well, but I’m not sure she has done meat before. I’ll have to ask her.

And yeah, I’d rather not try it solely through books and end up poisoning myself somehow. I know enough of the possible dangers of it which is one reason why I started the thread.

I’ll have to look around for someone experienced to show me if my wife never did it. I’ll have to wait to get where I’m going though. Some people around where I live now probably don’t even know where ham comes from other than the supermarket. Lol.

 

[Bacpacker]

I would recommend getting the Ball Blue book. It covers about anything you can think of as far as canning goes. Wife swears by it.

 

[Caribou]

If your wife can pressure can the rest you can get off the net or out of a book. As Bacpacker said, The ball Blue Book is a great place to start.

 

[Peanut]

There are multiple threads on canning a wide range of items under the cooking, recipes and preserving foods board here in the forum... Even a thread on canning meatloaf. Reading through these might reveal a nugget or two of wisdom.

https://www.homesteadingforum.org/forums/cooking-recipes-preserving-foods.18/
Edit to add... There is a very old way to make sure you don't get botulism in your canned foods...

https://www.homesteadingforum.org/threads/i’m-a-dork-and-a-coward.3400/#post-71509
https://www.homesteadingforum.org/threads/collodial-silver.9024/#post-231147

 

[Grumpy521]

Pressure canning is simple enough but there are rules that need to be followed or the results can be severe even deadly. Some colleges teach this through community outreach. Another option is to get a friend to teach you. It is possible to learn out of a book but a time or two with an experienced canner is far safer. Do you know someone that has a bunch of home canned food sitting on their shelves? Helping an old couple a bit this summer for a lesson this fall could well be worth it. There is always YouTube if all else fails.

There are two wet canning methods water bath and pressure canning. For protein, meat and fish, you want to learn the pressure canning process. Once you learn the process then you follow the recipe. The process will always be the same, clean your jars, put your product in the jars, bring the canner to pressure, start timer, let it cool down. There is enough information in that last sentence to get you in real trouble so get some real instruction.

I sometimes can ham and beans. The beans take less time at pressure than the meat so you always go with the product that has the higher pressure and longer time. Can up a meatloaf I a widemouth pint jar. Want a quick meal, shake it out of the jar, slice it up, warm it in the oven, microwave, or frying pan and put some BBQ sauce on it.

About the college's, I think I've seen some from the food sciences department at the University of Alaska on YouTube.

 

[Grumpy521]

Pressure canning is simple enough but there are rules that need to be followed or the results can be severe even deadly. Some colleges teach this through community outreach. Another option is to get a friend to teach you. It is possible to learn out of a book but a time or two with an experienced canner is far safer. Do you know someone that has a bunch of home canned food sitting on their shelves? Helping an old couple a bit this summer for a lesson this fall could well be worth it. There is always YouTube if all else fails.

There are two wet canning methods water bath and pressure canning. For protein, meat and fish, you want to learn the pressure canning process. Once you learn the process then you follow the recipe. The process will always be the same, clean your jars, put your product in the jars, bring the canner to pressure, start timer, let it cool down. There is enough information in that last sentence to get you in real trouble so get some real instruction.

I sometimes can ham and beans. The beans take less time at pressure than the meat so you always go with the product that has the higher pressure and longer time. Can up a meatloaf I a widemouth pint jar. Want a quick meal, shake it out of the jar, slice it up, warm it in the oven, microwave, or frying pan and put some BBQ sauce on it.

We can a lot of soup and chili. We canned some tamales last year.

 

[Caribou]

We canned some tamales last year.

Then you have canned meat.

 

[Peanut]

As a kid we smoked tobacco in corn husks, don't expect me to eat one with meat...

 

[Grumpy521]

Then you have canned meat.

Absolutely. We've canned plenty of meat items. We've just never canned whole meats like ground beef or fish. We know how to do it. We just have 100 cubic feet of freezer space in our family.