salt pork

[greycoop]

never made it before

its the first time that i have raised pigs. i'm picking them up tomorrow from the butcher and need to do something with the salt pork.

can somebody give me guidance on this?

i'm new to this site, thanks

 

[PeeperKeeper]

Well I'm new to this site too, but what do you mean "do with it...?
Is it already salted?? Or you want to salt it?

 

[greycoop]

i want to preserve it with salt- i would like to know how
thanks

 

[roosmom]

The only thing I know that is even remotely like this is jerky. Sorry.

 

[miss_thenorth]

My grandmother used to make this, she also used to make salt beans that she kept in a crock all winter. Unfortunately she has passed on, but I will be talking to my mom on the weekend.

YOu might be able to look up a recipe online though in the meantime....

 

[PeeperKeeper]

My husband and I helped the neighbors to slaughter and put up hogs.
The shoulders went into the sausage. Spiced to your liking and forced into long muslin sack casings (sewed up by me!). Sides abdomen and jowls we took to a processor to have smoked for bacon. Backs and ribs into chops, roasts and finally the sugar cured hams. I can't remember actual amounts of salt and sugar. I just remember being amazed at how little was actually used. The hams were first hand rubbed with this salt and sugar mix, wrapped in newspapers,tightly, and then wrapped in large pieces of muslin cloth. We hung them in the barn and waited 18 mos. YUM!
It seems if you want to salt down your pork for storage: Use coarse salt, rub into the meat and pack in wooden barrels, so it can breath. When you go to use it, soak out the excess salt (this may take several water exchanges and more than 24 hrs.) before cooking, baking or frying.
Anyone else here with better memory than mine please add or correct. Oh Yeah! forgot: the dehaired hide and fatty skin is "boiled" rendered down for lard and cracklin's.
Don't do this if you are pregnant the smell will cause you to not want to eat ham or pork for YEARS!

 

[miss_thenorth]

I got this recipe off the internet:


Salt Pork

1 slab fresh side
4 oz prague powder #1
2 1/2 lbs salt
Paprika (for polish style)

Remove skin from side and cut in half. cut the side in half. Mix
the above ingredients, omit the paprika if you want plain salt
pork. Rub the mixture well into the meat, lay one piece in a plastic
or SS container on a thin bed of cure. Top with another layer of
cure. Place the other half of the side on top of the first one,
and add the remaining cure so they are covered. Make more cure if
needed. Place in cooler for a week. Take meat out and we work,
rubbing will with mix. Place in cooler for one more week. remove
side and wash with luke warm water, then cut into pieces and re-pack
in salt. Treat this as it is, uncooked pork. Kept in cure & salt,
this product will keep form months and months in the cooler.

If you want the polish style, but the halves in quarters and allow
to dry for 2-3 hour. Rub pieces with a good grade of paprika allowing
as much as possible to adhere to the meat. Place the meat in the
smoker at 75 degrees for 24 hours until it turns a bright brick
red. Remove and store in cooler. Vac packing is the method I use
for storage.

 

[greycoop]

thanks everybody

it looks like salt is the main ingrediant. one recipe that i found listed sodium nitrate, salt and sugar; i'm not sure what sodium nitrate is or where to get it. miss_thenorth, your recipe calls for prague powder. excuse my ignorance but i dont know what that is either.

thanks for your help

 

[miss_thenorth]

got this off the net too.

Also known as Curing Salt, this is a standard 16.25% cure for any meat that requires cooking, smoking or canning. The reason for using a cure for these forms of cooking meat is to prevent botulism and enhance preservation. Prague Powder is the basic cure you want for sausage, corned beef, ham, bacon, fish, poultry, etc. Ingredients: salt, sodium nitrite, glycerin with FD #3 used to color cure in accordance with MDI Bulletin 656 of 4/1/1974.

Other sources say the Prague Powder #1 is a 6% mixture of Sodium Nitrite.

May also be sold as Insta Cure #1, or Modern Cure. Look for Morton's Tender Quick.

Only 4 ounces of Prague powder #1 is required to cure 100 lbs of meat, or 1 tsp per 5 lbs of meat.