I have 2 kg of pork and Cure #2

[danmerk]

What should I do for my first dry cure?

[jpj]

what cut of pork do you have?

[danmerk]

Oh sorry I should have mentioned that. By now its too late since I just made some chorizos and they were great. This weekend I was planning on buying a whole loin and also a shoulder. I have casings so I can make cured sausages, I can also add some beef chuck too.

Any suggestions for my first attempt at dry curing?

[johnfb]

Try this thread, it's MY first attempt at curing and has all the answers to the qestions I had at the time
John

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopi ... 29&start=0

[danmerk]

Great thanks. I read the thread. Only problem is that the cure is a pre made cure, and I assume it's a blend of #1.

I would love to make bacon, but I was leaning towards a sausage, or a loin of some sorts.

[saucisson]

Can you get cure #1 and or #2?

[danmerk]

I suppose I could get #1. I had a pre made mix a buddy of mine gave me. It was sea salt mixed with Insta Cure #1. I have about 1 cup left. I can order more next week from the local supply store here in Ohio, but I was really hoping to do something with this 2.2679618 Kg bucket I just received yesterday from UPS.

Any ideas? Should I start with simple salami? I think I can order Beef middles.


(edit for you metric folks) =)

[saucisson]

but I was really hoping to do something with this 2.2679618 Kg bucket I just received yesterday from UPS.

Can you clarify what you have in your 2.3kg bucket? thanks,

Dave

[danmerk]

Dave,

Sorry. The thread is titled "I have 2kg of pork and Cure #2" I bought a 5lb bucket of Insta Cure #2 last week because I wanted to dry cure some meats. I have been to Len's site and there are tons of recipes there but I was hoping here I could get someone to hold my hand a bit. The bucket contains this:

Detailed Description

A cure specifically formulated to be used for making dry cured products, such as pepperoni, hard salami, geonoa salami, proscuitti hams, dried farmers sausage, capicola and more. These are products that do not require cooking, smoking, or refrigeration. Insta Cure No.2 can be compared to the time release capsules used for colds--the sodium nitrate breaks down to sodium nitrite then nitric oxide to cure the meat over an extended period of time. Some meats require curing for up to 6 months.

Use 1 level teaspoon per 5 lbs. of meat. 1 lb. Insta Cure will process approximately 480 lbs. of meat.

[saucisson]

Doh!! that's me being completely unobservant

I'll adapt a salami recipe for you using that. It will be someone else's so I'll point you at the original.

Dave

[danmerk]

Cheers Dave!

I have pretty much read every thread here and after that I am a little confused on where to cure and how to cure. I also keep confusing smoking with cooking. I guess what I am looking for is to take a leap from making uncooked sausages to having something smoked and cured. I thought that since I can not go to the store to buy Prague Powder #2 I'd order it and then get motivated to cure something. I enjoy salamis and other charcuteries so it would be nice to explore further and make some of my own. This site is great!

[saucisson]

Here's a recipe based on Cure #2 from Spuddy:


1.5Kg Pork medium minced
400g Pork Back Fat coarse minced
40ml Red Wine
5g Coarse milled Black Pepper
7g Coarse milled Fennel seeds
30g Salt
5g Cure#2
0.5g Starter Culture
2 Crushed Garlic Cloves

It's from this thread here:

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopi ... alami+cure

[danmerk]

Ok great. Thanks and I remember reading this. So this person ground, mixed and stuffed the sausages. Then what? Are they left in a refrigerator or are they hung. Stil confused. Sorry. What is a normal practice. I am not really interested in adding a culture for mold as I am still afraid of that.

[saucisson]

I just remembered Vernon's recipe I recommended in another thread:

Here is a good start: http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopi ... ght=salami

If you can get hold of cure #2 add 2g per kilo of meat instead of the saltpetre Vernon used and cut back the salt accordingly, and never hold back from asking a question

Dave

[saucisson]

This is the site owner's "tutorial" on Salami

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

Dave