Francos' Cure Question

Air dried cured meat and salami recipes

Francos' Cure Question

Postby Jonty » Mon Feb 01, 2010 10:13 pm

Hi folks, sorry if it's been asked before - I have looked around but couldn't find it if it has. I have some of Francos' Parma ham cure and was going to try it out on a thick piece of belly before I tried a whole leg. My questions are relating to the timings, should they be scaled down for a smaller piece of meat? The timing for a whole leg is 2 x 15 days in the cure and 30 days drying. I think I've enough experience on the drying time, but I don't know enough about the dry brining process to be able to tweak the length of time in the cure if that is at al possible. I'd appreciate any feedback or experience any of you chaps have.

Thanks

Jonty
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Postby saucisson » Mon Feb 01, 2010 10:26 pm

I would imagine the rule of thumb: one day for every half inch, plus two days probably applies here.
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Postby Jonty » Wed Feb 03, 2010 4:58 pm

Thanks for the info.

next daft question - do you think it's neccessary to cover the exposed 'meat' with lard and pepper. Obviously there will be skin on one side of the belly so that would result in covering the remaining 50% of the belly with lard. As I've not done an air dryed ham before I'm not sure how the meat would dry if it was completely sealed.

thanks in advance

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Postby wheels » Wed Feb 03, 2010 5:44 pm

Pancetta, which is also made with belly, isn't so I wouldn't with yours either. Will you be 'rolling' the belly or drying it flat?

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Postby Jonty » Wed Feb 03, 2010 6:33 pm

Hi Phil,

i was going to leave it flat
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Postby wheels » Wed Feb 03, 2010 6:48 pm

Jonty

In that case I wouldn't use lard etc. Certainly Pancetta are generally 'good natured' driers - I can't see this being any different! :lol:
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Postby Jonty » Wed Feb 03, 2010 7:05 pm

Many thanks,

I'll let you know how I get on

Cheers
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Postby wheels » Wed Feb 03, 2010 7:12 pm

I look forward to hearing how it goes.

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Postby Jonty » Sun Feb 07, 2010 8:46 am

OK, next one...... If I wanted to err on the side of caution with the length of time the meat is in the cure, is there any detremental effects the cure will have on the meat?

Thanks again
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Postby wheels » Sun Feb 07, 2010 4:05 pm

Regrettably, without knowing the actual contents of the cure it's difficult to comment.

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Postby saucisson » Sun Feb 07, 2010 5:53 pm

Given it is a dry rub I don't think leaving it on longer than necessary will create too many problems, but as Phil alluded to, the devil is in the details.

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