Cured tongue?

[grisell]

I just bought a 1½ kg tongue. Anyone knows how to cure it? I'm thinking brine curing. Anyone has a recipe for the brine and time for curing?

[captain wassname]

Oddleys recipe seems popular though it is not brined

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopi ... ght=tongue


Jim

[grisell]

Thanks! Any other suggestions?

[Ryan C]

Andre,

I presume it is cow or ox tongue you have? In which case here are some recipes from Maynard Davies' "Manual of a traditional bacon curer". The brine recipe is for a huge amount so you'll need to do a little maths and convert it to your needs.
Maynard recommends covering the tongue in large grain salt for 3-4 hours to remove the slime then rinsing thoroughly under the tap before putting into the brine. He also recommends adding a small amount of sodium nitrite to promote a nice colour (7g into the brine recipes below)

Spice Brine
10 gallons water
20lb sea salt
8oz saltpetre
8oz demerara sugar
3oz juniper berries
2oz pimento
3oz coriander

Sweet Pickle Brine
20 gallons water
15lb bay salt
5lb demerara sugar
1lb juniper berries
2oz cloves
3oz ginger
8oz peppercorns
half oz bay leaves

Garlic Brine
10 gallons water
20lb sea salt
8oz saltpetre
2lb demerara sugar
4oz coriander
3oz ginger
half oz garlic (fresh garlic)

Method: Brine for 4-5 days (4 days for a light cure). When cured, remove from tank and rinse under tepid water then dry. Vacuum pack and leave in fridge to mature for one week - Maynard feels this maturation is very important for flavour.

Hope this helps

Ryan

[grisell]

Thanks, Ryan! Just what I was looking for. I don't know if it's ox or veal tongue, but it sure isn't pork since it's labelled Halal .

[grisell]

So, I finally decided to go for this brine, which is a slight variation of #2 above:

3.5 litres water
500 g salt (0.6% nitrite)
50 g Muscovado sugar (all that I had)
1 tbsp juniper berries
1 clove
1 tbsp black peppercorns
2 bay leaves

The tongue has been rubbed with salt and will get into the brine tomorrow. So, now is the question: For how long should it lie in the brine? The weight of the trimmed tongue is 1,620 grams. I have seen anywhere from five days to three weeks in different recipes. I also assume that it will need soaking before cooking because of the strength of the brine. Any suggestions how long? These things always puzzle me as I'm used to dry curing.

Any suggestions?

[BriCan]

So, I finally decided to go for this brine, which is a slight variation of #2 above:

3.5 litres water
500 g salt (0.6% nitrite)
50 g Muscovado sugar (all that I had)
1 tbsp juniper berries
1 clove
1 tbsp black peppercorns
2 bay leaves

The tongue has been rubbed with salt and will get into the brine tomorrow. So, now is the question: For how long should it lie in the brine? The weight of the trimmed tongue is 1,620 grams. I have seen anywhere from five days to three weeks in different recipes. I also assume that it will need soaking before cooking because of the strength of the brine. Any suggestions how long? These things always puzzle me as I'm used to dry curing.

Any suggestions?

Many, but I will start with the simple ones first.

1 - unless there is hard connective tissue (cartilage or bone) do not trim
2 -How did you make the brine??
3 - have you written all your steps down?? if so what are they??

2 & 3 will let me know how to answer this. I process between 16 and 32 at a time.



The box at the side is for QWF

[grisell]

1 - Too late. I just trimmed off some bloodstained scrap on the underside.
2 - Only brought it to a boil with the spices to dissolve salt and sugar. It's cooling right now.
3 - Yes, I have. First trimmed the underside a little, then rubbed the tongue with plenty of coarse salt. Set aside until tomorrow (well, it's already today here) while the brine is cooling. There we are now.

Your picture looks great BTW!

[BriCan]

1 - Too late. I just trimmed off some bloodstained scrap on the underside.
2 - Only brought it to a boil with the spices to dissolve salt and sugar. It's cooling right now.
3 - Yes, I have. First trimmed the underside a little, then rubbed the tongue with plenty of coarse salt. Set aside until tomorrow (well, it's already today here) while the brine is cooling. There we are now.

Your picture looks great BTW!

OK, way to make your brine
Put water in pot
add sugar
add crushed clove
Take juniper berries and black peppercorns and place in plastic bag - crush with blunt object
add to water
crush bay leaves and add to water

Bring water to a boil, - turn down to a simmer and simmer for one hour

Let cool and add salt and cure

You can strain the brine before putting the tongue in your choice

I pump my tongues, if you cannot do this just stab ( ) the thing so you can get the brine to penetrate

I leave mine in the brine for 15 days

HTH

[grisell]

Thanks BriCan! So be it. Do you think I should soak the tongue before cooking because of the strength of the brine?