Cider Vinegar

[quietwatersfarm]

Have swapped some pork for 25 litres of the best Cider Vinegar I know of from Peter at Ostler's.

I'm dying to find a suitable use within wet curing, any views?

[NCPaul]

I can't think of any; I would think that the vinegar would denature the protein over a period of time. Should make fantastic pickles however.

[wheels]

There are traditional cures that use vinegar. PM BriCan he may have one in his Frank Gerrard Book. I'll have a look through my stuff. Here's one to be going on with:

N.B. Posted for info only - check cure levels before use.
From: THE WHOLE ART OF CURING, PICKLING, AND SMOKING MEAT AND FISH, BOTH IN THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN MODES; WITH MANY USEFUL MISCELLANEOUS RECEIPTS, AND FULL DIRECTIONS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF AN ECONOMICAL DRYING-CHIMNEY AND APPARATUS, ON AN ENTIRELY ORIGINAL PLAN. BY JAMES ROBINSON, EIGHTEEN YEARS A PRACTICAL CURER. Published 1847.


BRITISH AMERICAN HAMS.
(a recipe from QUEBEC.)
Take a leg of pork of sixteen to eighteen pounds weight, rub one ounce of sal prunelle well into it in all parts, and let it lie twentyfour hours. Then prepare the following pickle:
—
Bay salt - - - - 12 oz.
Common salt - - - 10 oz.
Treacle - - - - 2 lbs.
Saltpetre - - - - 1½ oz.
Sage, chopped small - - 1 handful.
Garlic, ditto - - - 3 heads.
Vinegar - - - 2 quarts.
When it has boiled and been well skimmed, pour it while hot over the meat, and rub in well every day for ten days; then let it lie, turning it frequently, ten days longer. Take it out of the pickle, dry it well, and hang it to smoke three weeks.

HTH

Phil

[wheels]

The Hereford and the Suffolk sweet cure from this site use vinegar (The Suffolk is hidden in the Roxburghshire cure!):

http://dangermencooking.blogspot.com/20 ... glish.html

Now Hereford/cider vinegar sounds like a match?

Phil

[quietwatersfarm]

Thanks as usual youve come up trumps!

It would be great to devise a flavoursome cure from these recipes, seems to me vinegar was a common element a while back.

Andre would love those saltpetre and prunelle levels

[quietwatersfarm]

I would think that the vinegar would denature the protein over a period of time. Should make fantastic pickles however.

It does indeed make great chutney!

Im interested in whether cider vinegars enzymes can help tenderise and flavour the meat, but I appreciate what you are saying over timings.

I am working with a pineapple cure at the moment and this has the same issues, getting the timing/dilution right so that the bromelain doesnt work too well!

This sounds good to me, with a little tinkering I might give it a go, Phil, what Beer do you think would suit?

Suffolk sweet cure for bacon & hams

2 pts beer
1 lb gran. sugar
1 lb bay salt
1/2 oz peppercorns
2 pts vinegar
1/2 oz saltpeter
1 lb cooking salt
1/2 oz cloves

Boil together. Take 2 oz hops & boil in 2 pts water for 30 mins. Strain
into the liquor above. Cool & pour over meat. Bale liquid over meat each
day . Thin parts take 3 weeks, Hams & thicker bacon 5 weeks.

Interesting how many of these old recipes apparently relied on a daily basting rather than full immersion.

[Oddley]

wheels, why go anywhere else for those cures. they were first posted here in 2004 by aris, from a book called Farmhouse Fare. That bloke from the other stite probably nicked them from here.

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopic.php?p=659#659

[quietwatersfarm]

thanks Oddley, might have known!

must learn how to use the AND bit on the search otherwise i just get so many its impossible to sort through!

[onewheeler]

, what Beer do you think would suit?

Something strong-flavoured. "Green King Strong Suffolk" http://www.beer-pages.com/protz/features/strong-suffolk.htm would be appropriate, a blend of an aged strong ale and a younger ale. It's got a nice hint of Owbridge's cough mix in the mouth. Bottles available in a few outlets.

[wheels]

wheels, why go anywhere else for those cures. they were first posted here in 2004 by aris, from a book called Farmhouse Fare. That bloke from the other stite probably nicked them from here.

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopic.php?p=659#659

Doh!

This sounds good to me, with a little tinkering I might give it a go, Phil, what Beer do you think would suit?

Emmet's use Nethergate 'Old Growler' (a Porter with 5.0 % abv) in their famous Suffolk Hams, maybe a local equivalent? Something like Teignworthy's Martha's Mild (5.3%)? Or, maybe go further down the cider route and swap the beer for scrumpy?

Phil

[quietwatersfarm]

So in grams how would this look?

341 Quiet Waters rough scrumpy
341 Cider Vinegar
101 Demerara sugar
202 Cornish sea salt
3 Peppercorns
3 Cloves
9 Cure #1

This mix per 2Kg of Ham

Any thoughts?

[Oddley]

Is nearly 7% salt your normal ingoing amount? If it is, that is interesting as my normal ingoing amount is 3.5% salt and people hold up their hands in horror at that amount...

[quietwatersfarm]

Is nearly 7% salt your normal ingoing amount?

Not at all, about 5% is , but it was my effort to interpret the old Suffolk Cure into a useable format.

Its a bit on the salty side!, but I guess they were, question is do I want a historically accurate or a modern sensibilty version?

Maybe one of each would be best to start with.

I have some pigs that have been fattened on Apple Pomace this winter which would suit the theme

[wheels]

Mmm, I think I'd do one with half the salt and sugar, and maybe alter the ratio of cider to vinegar to 3:1. At 10 days/kg that should give 3% salt, 1.5% sugar. Are you going to use just cure #1, saltpetre, or a mix?

Phil

[quietwatersfarm]

Mmm, I think I'd do one with half the salt and sugar, and maybe alter the ratio of cider to vinegar to 3:1. At 10 days/kg that should give 3% salt, 1.5% sugar. Are you going to use just cure #1, saltpetre, or a mix?

I kill these pigs on 15th, so I'll put one decent ham in the real mcoy and one in your suggested revised version and see what we get!

I think just cure #1 will do wont it?