Curing on the bone

[PepperPig]

Please see the attached site

http://www.emmettsham.co.uk/store/custo ... .php?cat=2

I am curious as to what calculations they would use for curing these loins on the bone? They look fantastic to me and I wonder if it's feasible to do at home!

Also, what benefit does this produce! Lack of shrinkage?

[wheels]

They appear to cure their bacon on the bone - not a problem. Whilst I doubt that they calculate each piece as we might do, they have years of experience (and possibly analysis of the finished product) to make sure that it's within the current regulations.

If you want to cure on the bone just deduct the weight of the bone from the calculations - i.e. Do the calculation based on the weight of the meat only.

I wonder whether they do this to stop the very dark black cure that they use colouring the flesh of the meat too much?

Phil

[PepperPig]

On the contrary, I would have thought that if they are selling black bacon they would want it to be black!

I surmise that, like roasting on the bone, it stops the meat from shrinking and produces a looser texture for this reason. I think I shall have to try a loin in the next few weeks to see. It's a bit of guessing game with the bone weight but I have some records of my own that will allow me a fairly accurate assumption.

[wheels]

I could see that if it was cooked on the bone - but it's boned before cooking.

Added 15:14
Thay appear to be pickle (brine) cured so IMO will get larger in the cure (if anything), rather than smaller.

Phil

[PepperPig]

Yes, but it will still shrink during the maturing/smoking process, pre-boning!

[wheels]

As that's all done cold, I can't see it being any less on the bone (or not significantly so).

I feel that there must be another reason, maybe just tradition? After all they've been curing since 'Moses was a boy'.

In all honesty, I don't know why - it's nice to have a guess at the answer though.

Phil

[saucisson]

A Black Suffolk ham is only black on the outside, ie the skin is black and the fat is dark but the flesh isn't black, except right at the end where it's exposed.

I suspect this is the same, if the cure penetrated the inside it would be coloured unevenly and quite possibly hideously mottled...

Dave

[Nutczak]

From the looks of the bacon pictured on their site, and their mentioning the slabs are "hot-Smoked" with oak wood.
I am willing to bet that the woods they use are not fully cured, which will cause a very dark acrid smoke that coats the meat, and that's what is most likely causing the dark outer coloring on the meat. (purely a guess on my opart from experience with oak as a fuel and flavor wood)

We burn about 3-4 full cords (128 cubic feet of wood per full cord)of oak each summer, (12,000-16,000 pounds in weight)
Oak generally takes 24-36 months to lose it's water content down to an acceptable 12%15% total moisture content, so when it burns it emits a light blueish smoke instead of black and tar'ish smoke that coats the meat and blackens it.

That requires me to get oak wood delived at least 2 full years before I am able to cook with it. Maple on the other hand loses it's moisture quite rapidly, usually maple can be burned within 6 months after it felling and splitting.

BTW, the products I looked at ont elinked site are absolutly beautiful and I wish I had acces to their products to taste them.

[quietwatersfarm]

I used to buy lovely Black Cure bacon from a butcher in Diss. I thought it was black treacle that they used?

Does anyone have a recipe? I'd love to make up a little bit

[PepperPig]

As I understand it the black is from long immersion curing with molasses which I am trying to recreate which provides a sweet cured bacon which would go very well with pancakes for breakfast for you chaps over the pond!!

[wheels]

From the testimonials section of their website:

In Suffolk, Emmett's of Peasenhall has been making Suffolk sweet-cured ham for more than 150 years to a recipe that goes back to the early 19th century. It takes Mark Thomas 10 weeks to cure a ham, which is steeped in Suffolk stout, treacle and raw cane sugar for six weeks (being turned every day), then hotsmoked? over oak sawdust for two or three days.

Bold highlighting by me - I think that's a typo - I'm sure that they are cold smoked as they sell them raw as well as cooked.

Phil

[quietwatersfarm]

Definitely a mistake I think.

Can we extrapolate a recipe and technique out of this? I'm no wet curing expert.

[saucisson]

I was going to mention stout

I'm sure we can put something together

I agree with the consensus, no way are they hot smoked...

[wheels]

For a better indication of the method see:

http://www.information-britain.co.uk/fo ... olk%20Ham/

I'll have a look for a cure. But, yes, it would be possible to make something similar but it will be easier if you can send me a ham from Emmets to compare - please send the ham to arrive 1 week before Christmas!

Needless to say - it's already here:

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopi ... k+cure#682

There's another suffolk cure, but I don't think it's the one you want, here:

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopi ... k+cure#681

These could be easily adapted for a modern day approach. I wouldn't want to inject because of the colour issue, so an immersion cure is the way to go.

Phil

[quietwatersfarm]

Great stuff Phil,

No stout in that mix though (suggested quantities?) and whats a bar of salt?

It would be lovely to make a suitable modern immersion cure out of it though.

1/2 Kg of Black Cure bacon to the supplier of the first workable version?