Basic Dry Curing Recipe

Basic Dry-Curing Recipe Updated 2/25/19 for more curing recipes and information: www.curecooking.com/cureclass

Prep Time: Equipment: 10-15 minutes of work Scale

3+ days of curing Smoker (optional)

2-24 hours of cooking Ingredients: TIPS Beef, Pork, Chicken etc (whole • This is a general recipe as a great muscles and not ground meat) starting point for making ham, bacon, cured/smoked chicken etc Salt (non-iodized) • Spices are completely for flavor, so experiment, explore and enjoy Sugar (white and/or brown) • Cured and smoked meats can last for 2 weeks in the fridge if kept dry, Curing salt #1 (aka pink salt, Prague but they also freeze perfectly fine powder, sodium nitrite) for up to a year

Spices/flavorings

Steps: 1. Mix up a basic cure of salt (non-iodized), sugar (brown and/or white), and curing salt #1 (sodium nitrite): 2 parts salt to 1 part sugar and 15% curing salt #1 compared to the weight of the salt. Example: 100 g salt, 50 g sugar and 15 g curing salt #1. It is best to mix up a large amount of this basic cure. It will keep pretty much forever in an airtight container. 2. Weigh the meat you wish to cure (grams is easiest). Place in a large bowl. 3. See below for exact percentages for different thickness/cuts/meats: 1 inch or thinner = 3% Bacon = 3.3% 2 – 4 inches thick = 3.5% 5 inches or thicker = 3.7% Example for meat weighing 1000 grams: 1000 x 3.3% = 33 g of cure. For any cut thicker than bacon that has bone or skin, add additional .1 % for each.

4. Add basic cure and any additional spices to bowl and fully coat the meat. If meat has a side or potions that are mostly fat, only put a dusting of the cure on those parts. The majority of the cure should go on exposed muscle. 5. Place meat and spices and juices from bowl into a food safe container or bag. 6. Store covered in fridge at least 1 day for each half inch of thickness. You may cure for up to a week longer if needed. It is recommended to turn the meat each day or 2 days to allow all sides to sit in the brine that will develop. For highly marbled cuts of pork and for beef, allow at least 2 days for each half inch of thickness and keep in a vacuum bag if possible. 7. After curing period is finished, remove the meat from the bag or container and allow to dry and equalize for at least 4 hours and up to a day or so. Resting uncovered on a rack in the fridge is good or anywhere that is less than 55 F. 8. Smoke the meat. The curing allows you to safely cold smoke long periods of time at temperatures <140˚ F if desired. Smoking times are mostly about preference, but roughly speaking bacons are good at 4-6 hours and hams at 6-12 hours. Recommended that you avoid woods with bitterness like mesquite and hickory or if you do choose those woods shorten the smoke times. 9. If you want to be able to eat your cured meat (like ham) cold or at room temperature, it must be fully cooked/smoked to 150 F. Use your smoker or oven with medium low heat (170˚- 225˚) and slowly heat the meat until an internal temperature of 150˚ F. 10. For meat that will be cooked before serving (like bacon or baked ham), keep the smoker low and don’t bother cooking the meat to 150 F. If you cook it in smoker and then again in the frying pan or oven, meat will be drier and tougher. 11. In general, cured smoked meats may be kept in the fridge for a week or so. Better to keep them wrapped in wax paper than plastic. For long storage, vacuum sealing and freezing is best. Properly sealed with no air in the bag, meats will last a year or more in freezer.

Nitrite-Free Dry-Curing It is possible to do true nitrite-free cured bacon at home, but I do not recommend it for hams. Follow the same steps above to make bacon, but with a few changes: • For Step 1: Only use salt and skip the sugar and sodium nitrite. Fine sea salt is best but any fine non-iodized salt will work. Other spices for flavor are ok. • For Step 3: Use 2.25% instead of 3.3% for bacon. • For Step 6: Let the belly cure for 3-4 days, but do not go longer. • For Step 7: Equalize in the fridge. Must be kept below 40 F˚. • For Step 8: Smoker must be 150 F. or higher.