by baconmaker » Sat Jun 28, 2014 1:30 pm
My apologies for not responding. I logged out and a few days later found that I had forgotten my username so couldn't log in again! I have just discovered that I had wisely kept a copy of the Welcome email with the registered username.
Progress so far:
I made a batch of dry cure bacon using the River Cottage recipe. The recipe calls for salt, dark brown sugar, black pepper, bay leaves. I used a 4kg piece of middle as I like both the back and streaky cuts! I followed the recommendation to keep the pork in the mix (belly for 5 days, then separated the loin and left it in the mix for an additional 5 days). Each piece,after curing, was air-dried for the 5 & 10 days they had been in the cure.
Whilst the bacon was curing I ordered a Graef Tendessa 10 slicer. What a difference it makes!
Sausage making:
I have made several batches using recipes from The Sausage Making book. The flavours are good, my only criticism would be that the large amount of breadcrumb( typically 150~200 gm to 1 kilo of pork shoulder gives a rather soft banger. I will look at some of the meatier recipes on the forum.
I started by using collagen and recently hog casings, I find both a bit chewy if fried. I found the natural casing much easier to use. Now that I understand the procedure in preparation and use, I will use sheep casing.
Comments would be useful
Regards,