Myself and my youngest are the only ones who liked this flavor. Hubby and the older kiddo were not fans of the strong lamb flavor 😂 oh well, more for me! Remember that whatever you cure, you concentrate the flavor! I can't wait to do a leg of venison this fall 😋
I raise Dorper sheep and butcher them for meat .Dorpers are hair sheep so they don't have the lanolin in their skin that gives that gamey flavor. So you want a hair sheep which is a sheep that sheds it's hair.
I found young or (spring lamb,) to be much better, I avoid the older lambs, ( mutton) as much as possible, when purchasing I avoid Australian, imported lamb, it tends most often to be ( mutton) ...I buy American, local grown, ...it is because of diet of the animal...
Young one, there you are again with the real deal meals. Adding venison to the optional meats is a blessing, adding hunted, wild meats to the list. Your calm speech and working explanations are the extra specials within your content. Thank you so much.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! It has been niggling at my mind recently, the question of why people insist you MUST put other and quite scarey preservatives in meat..when , not that long ago ALL they used was salt. Thank you for your calm, careful approach to simplifying a seemingly complex matter. You leave us feeling encouraged, calm, competent and confident in giving this a go. May God bless you and yours, thanks again!
I had no idea you could do this with lamb! I grew up in the uk and now live in New Zealand so both countries eat heaps of lamb, and I love it. I’m off to the butcher! Thanks for your calm, peaceful and informative videos!
Thanks so much! I'm glad you enjoyed 😀 Best wishes on your lamb cure! Ps. I love NZ, my husband and I did WOOFing there when we were first married, and it's a truly beautiful place with some of the friendliest people ❤️
@@apinchofpatience yeah the woofing is popular up here in the coromandel peninsula. It’s truely beautiful up here. You guys will have to come back some time!
The best knife for what you are doing is: Victorinox 6" Boning Knife, Curved Blade, Semi-stiff, Maple Wood Handle 5.6606.15 Victorinox, I just love mine!
Appreciate the simplicity of approach. I have seen my immigrant Italian grandmother make dried meats and salamis this way. As I began to research the process it was so high tech and intimidating. You have given me hope again. I will certainly be giving this a go. Bless you.
Hugh Fernley Whittingstall sent me one of his books and signed it when I lived in a tent because he was impressed with my creations I made in the Scottish Highlands. He also shared and liked some of my instagram posts ☺
First time I've watched a salt-curing video. The husband recommended your channel and here I be! You've got a great way of teaching! I'm not fond of the flavors of lamb or goat so the thought of more intense flavors scare me...still going to try it lol. An old fridge on lowest setting will be a perfect "cold storage". I've been using Chicago Cutlery and Old Hickory knives for years. They're gold. Older knives, but keep an edge very well and I've got all sizes. I've found a lot from estate sales at older peoples homes. Definitely old school knives. I use them for butchering, processing, and just daily wear. Looking forward to the next vid!
Welcome to the channel! I'm glad to hear you enjoy the videos 😄 thanks so much for the recommendations on knives and taking the time to say hello! All the meat curing videos to date can be found on this playlist, and I'm currently working on a corned beef experiment with an 1800s recipe, so keep an eye out for that sometime in March! ruclips.net/p/PLQfezYqINioe8zXLywBPtwN-KDFsrXgAl
Absolutely! I've picked up a couple of carbon steel knives from thrift stores lately, and I'm working on learning to use sharpening stones and get better about maintaining a good sharp knife! I needed up upgrade from the $20 flimsy stainless set that I got right out of high school but also needed to learn how to really take care of my tools better to. When I feel a bit more confident in the knife sharpening, I'll probably do an update on keeping knives in top shape! ☺️
My favorite knives are Victorinox flexible boning knives - they come in filet 6” or boners are the ones got they follow the curve of my hand when slicing and boning
Holy cow! What a wonderful recipe to learn just before the Eid al-Adha when we'll have a whole lamb to store. Thank you. Much love and respect from Istanbul, Turkiye!
Thank you! I'll check them out. I have really cheap stainless ones from Amazon from forever ago and I'm really noticing how bad they are at keeping an edge now that I'm doing all this!
You've really demystified the meat curing process, and made it accessible to many people. So thank you and kudos to you. this will help many people who are trying to get off grid and save money in these extremely hard economic times.
I worked at a meat plant through college. I still have my Forschner 25 years later. The big secret to kitchen knives is that you don't want a really hard expensive steel. Milder steels have more flex to them which helps get around the bones. My 2nd favorite knife is a generic $7 knife from Wal-Mart. They don't hold an edge very long so keep your sharpener in your counter and get in the habit of dressing up your edge frequently. A smooth steel combined with a ceramic steel (like a previous comment explained) does a marvelous job, but you can get a good functional edge with the simple V sharpeners. Get one with two of even three grits, and use it frequently (only use the coarse grit if you'v really trashed your edge). I love what you're doing. Thank you your helping revive a lost art!
Hi! I love your channel! I am a grocery hunter not a trophy hunter. I butcher all of my own game and butcher for friends. Victorinox knives are great as well as F. Dick knives. I have small hands and the F. Dick 5”semi flex boning knives are awesome. They are reasonably priced as well.
Thanks so much, I'm glad you are enjoying! Thanks for the knife recommendations as well, i will look up the F. Dick boning knife for sure, a good knife makes such a difference on butcher day! 😀
I'm not even necessarily trying to go off grid, or be a survivalist or anything. I just wanted to learn an easy way to dry cure meat. This, and a few more of your videos, has simplified the process for me. You're the coolest. Keep going.
I've watched two of your salt curing videos so far, and I'm hooked. As far as knives, I've been using flexible Victorinox (Forschner when I started) 6" curved boning knife with Vibrox handle for almost 30 years. With the Vibrox, your hand can be wet and greasy and it still offers excellent grip. For slicing larger cuts and for rugged applications, my go to is an F. Dick breaking knife with the blue plastic handle. I learned with a 12" blade, but can only find 10 inchers any more. It's a beast. Both of these knives hold an edge very well and with a few swishes on the ceramic sharpener, they're ready for more abuse. Love your videos and will watch a bunch more.
Thanks for this! We haven't cured meat yet. Our home is too warm in summer and our fridge is tiny but we have a mudroom that starting November is cold. We're planning to put up salt pork, a little potted meat, and the cured pork belly you've shown. Just didn't get to it last winter. I'm also putting up cooked meat in jars covered in fat as the eastern Eurpoeans do and those are shelf stable. The small batches we've done so far have been fantastic. Great for off-grid or folks who don't want to have to rely on power for food or a pressure canner.
How exciting! I can not express in words how delightful it is to have all the cured and potted meats in your larder going into winter, it's just so cozy and satisfying 🥰 I'm so excited for you to experience that joy and all the delicious meals that will come from your efforts!
Wow! That looks so good, can I have a bite just put a piece in an envelope and mail it I love that look on that. I would like to know if you ground up the bay leaves and can you grind up the juniper berries? It kind of seems to me that that's what you would want to give it a more robust flavor of the two herbs. Anyway yes ma'am I'm definitely going to give it a shot don't know when but going to do it. Thank you so much this looks so good. May God bless you and yours.
Hi Terry! I didn't fully blend the berries and leaves tho I think that would work well, I just smashed the berries with a mortar and pestle and chopped the leaves with a knife. I let them sit with the salt and sugar mix for a bit before I started and they infused into the mix beautifully! This made my whole pantry smell so good 😄 I hope you do give it a go because it really is so worth the wait!
Thinking of trying this on venison this winter . Do you think it would take way longer to cure as it will be 25 lb and I live in south Mississippi which has high humidity & our cold snaps last for days not weeks ? I like to find old Butcher knives made of high carbon steel at flea markets.
This looks WONDERFUL! I bought the book you suggested and am reading it before I jump in. Also need to find a cool storage place where they won't attract vermin.
Thank you! And congratulations on starting your meat curing journey! Let me know how you like the book, I really enjoy Steven Lamb and all his work with the River Cottage 😀
Thank you so much. I like to smoke the legs, but my smoker will not hold that large of a leg. I have a leg in the freezer I didn't know what to do with. If you want a professional quality knife that won't break the bank, check out Misen knives. They make 5.5" 6.8" and 8" Chef's knives as well as other styles. The 6.8 in is versatile size that is easy to maneuver. I bought all my sisters Misen knives for Christmas and they love them.
Lamb is my favorite! Also, Brandon Shearer is such a great teacher! I cured a ham while taking one of his classes. It was so easy and delicious! I'm really enjoying your videos :) Also, thanks for the book recommendation, it's always good to have references at hand.
Thank you very much for this. Recently we had a major power cut for some days. Normally that’s not a major issue, but unfortunately it defrosted a large amount of meat and I decided at that point I would not risk meat to the vagaries of the electricity supply. So thank you for this it is very useful.
WE USE HAVALON KNIVES WHEN FIELD DRESSING OUR BIG GAME HARVESTS; ELK DEER ANTELOPE. I CAN'T SHARPEN A KNIFE WORTH SQUAT SO THE REPLACEABLE AND VARIOUS SIZE BLADES ARE GREAT.
When the actual curing process is done and you're hanging it for access (because no one will eat all that in 1 sitting) does it still need to be at 50' or lower?
Once it's cured for a while and is past the point where spoilage could still be an issue, it can come up to more ambient room temps. I still like to try to keep my cures in cooler temps 60-70 max because if they get too warm, you could have dripping fat on your hands!
Nothing fancy, I was just using a spare room in my house in the cool months to hang meats and store ferments as well as dry goods. Just keeping the door shut and not heating that room it stayed between 40 and 55 f all fall/winter. I recently moved so I am going to be looking around the new house for the right cool spot to hang cures... I am dreaming of a root cellar and have some ideas about starting to build one come spring but we will just see how funds and time go! I do think that would be a more ideal long term storage solution but really anywhere cool in your house can work! Ive seen folks use a basement or garage for hanging meats with a lot of success as well as cool closets or mouse free out buildings!
White River Knives make great knives using S35VN which is a high end specialty powdered stainless steel. They have 2 Kitchen knives, a clever, a couple of smaller knives called the exodus at 3” and 4”, and they have filet knives. They are not cheap but they are more affordable than high dollar high carbon japonese blades. In my opinion the steel they use is great in the kitchen. S35VN is not difficult to sharpen, it can get sharper than you want in the kitchen and it’s reasonably tough. Great vids, keep up the good work and good luck with your search for good knives.
That looks awesome! I can imagine a nice piece with some fat on it on toasted baguette. The fat would melt so well 🤤 i hope to do this some day with rosemary instead of bay leaves
Your video was the first one up when I searched "smoking meat the old fashioned way" and boy am I glad it was. My husband and I have recently been talking about curing and smoking our own meat and had no idea where to even start....and now after watching just two of your videos I am confident that we can do this with no problem. I have ordered the book you recommended and I can't wait to get out and get the few items I need to get this process started. Thank you soooo much!!!
Eeek, I'm so excited. I just put my salted lamb leg in the fridge. I added some rosemary to the recipe, but the rest is exactly as you said. I can't wait! Thank you for the great video and simple instructions!!
I just watched your bacon video , I have gone out and bought a pork belly and salt, do you put a lid on the container or do you leave the lid off while it’s in the fridge ? Thanks so much about to watch this leg video, looking forward to it, I will try with the pork belly first . Kind regards Andy. Australia.
Hi Andy, I'm so glad you are enjoying the videos! No, I don't use a lid. Letting it have air helps things start drying. If you use a lid, it will keep all the moisture in and create a more brine like situation for the cure. Hope that helps and enjoy your first curing project!
@@apinchofpatience thankyou . Yes i will salt it tomorrow. I have also bought the book today so i will have some reading to do. I look forward to learning more from you as you post more. That leg of lamb looked Amazing. Made my mouth water lol. Take care. Regards Andy
just found you and am impressed, ty so much mate, brilliant channel and excellent content. love the style and info, have recommended to friends and wish you success :) Ty so much.
I have a leg of lamb in my freezer, forgot it was there. Will try this. I had also a whole salmin in my freezer for 2 years, i wonder if I could do that to it.
I'm so glad you enjoyed! You can just keep it hanging, nothing special is needed, just note that the exposed portion may dry out more easily if your storage location is very dry. You can optionally use a paste made from equal parts rendered fat and rice flour to recover the cut portion to help keep it from but that is usually unnecessary.
So you weight after the initial 15 days of cure and then the meat needs to decrease in weight 30% when you eat it? Also you had to keep it in the 40-50 degree range for 2 months?
Yes on the weight, that's the formula for safe raw eating that I use but if you are going to cook it that is not needed. I kept it in the cool temps for the first month then my pantry warmed up to about 60 and now it's in 70ish degrees storage temp, cool temps really help it to keep from spoiling in the beginning but after it is sufficiently cured it will handle more ambient room temps. Hope that helps!
What wonderful videos! I watched the thin & thick pork slab video and now this leg of lamb video. . . Awesome presentation, Super Awesome videos! Thank You for sharing. Mike Elizabethtown KY
We are harvesting our first hog and a goat buckling this fall and I will be trying out our first salt curing on a few purchased trial pieces first, but I am so excited. I am not sure what to do with so much pork, but I'm blessed beyond belief with the abundance
Congratulations on your bountiful harvest to come! Blessed indeed ❤️ If I could tell you my 3 favorite things to do when harvesting pork, it would be to render the lard, make rillettes, and, of course, do some salt cures! Next time I harvest a hog, I'll be making many more rillettes. They were so delicious and gone far too soon last year! If you are unfamiliar, rillettes are a potted meat, very much worth a look in my opinion. I have a very low quality video recipe for them on this Playlist if you want to give the process a look - ruclips.net/p/PLQfezYqINioe8zXLywBPtwN-KDFsrXgAl
We did this recently using an alternative method which included plastic bags, which we'd prefer not to use. It was however amazing! Your method looks so much simpler but just as tasty so we'll do it next time. How do you store it long term? Where and what temp is ok?
I'm glad to hear your cure turned out delicious! I just keep my cures in my pantry. I start all cures in the fall/winter. When it's that cold outside, my pantry easily maintains 40-60 degree temps. After cures have been hanging for a while and are stable, they can handle warmer temperatures, so as long as it stays in the low 70s during the summer, I've had no issues. Warmer than that, and I've had fat melt, and while the cures were still edible, it was not fun to clean up melted fat! If you have access to a basement or garage that is pest free those are often great options as they tend to be cool and dark spots 😀 hope that helps! Enjoy your curing projects!
Hi, greetings from the great Grand Canyon area of Arizona, I appreciate this read of your reply comment as you answered years long questions I've had that have somewhat hindered my attempts!?❤🎉 Ready to try the salt cure now, have a huge block of pink Himalayan salt I will fine grind and my Juniper berries off of my land and some Pinion needles with Garlic and Turmeric with Cayenne . Will have to follow up on my comment to reply results, thank you and looking forward to viewing more of your vids, sub'd ,;).
Hi, Great vids and very informative the above reply about storage is very helpful. After you start cutting off slices of meat, do you need to protect this area in some way as it continues to hang in the pantry? @@apinchofpatience
I usually don't do anything, once i cut into a cure i usually use it pretty frequently till its gone. However, if you are planning to go a long time between uses, you could cover the cut part. You can make a paste of equal parts lard and rice flour to cover the cut portion and help prevent moisture loss from the cut end. Then just remove it when you want to slice into it again. Hope that helps!
In my opinion the base is. salt and pepper, Actually I have no Ide of name of some most of the things I use, I sometime when I am walking in the wild and I see something interesting I pick it up, put in IKEA zip lock bag, dry the stuff at home and smell it, if smell good (most of the time it does) I use it My famely like my hobby
@arnbirni, oh, I actually know this plant! It is called Yarrow here, and it is a wonderful medicinal herb. I forage for it every year! I have not tried it on the cured lamb, but now I will definitely try it! Thank you for sharing 😀 it was so fun to learn a new word for a favorite plant!
Now what I would like to know is, can you Make dishes out of this meat? Or is the only option to eat it raw? I was wondering if you could make a stew or something with it?
So, If you cook the meat it will kill any molds on it. but what about the molds if you eat it raw like in this video. Do you cut thos part out? or just eat it as is?
The molds that grow on cures meats are usually similar to one's in blue cheese and are totally edible :) mold that would be alarming and you shouldn't eat would be black or long cat hair looking mold usually.
Wow, I just landed with your Chanel. Awesome I’ve only watched like 5 and they are all very good.. I am impressed with the calm from your explanations and this one is really cool. I just have one question, with your pantry. Is it like a cool room. Like with an air conditioner running or is it just a room without any kind of fan or air regulator. I already subscribed to your Chanel because I would like to see more specially the curing process. Thanks for sharing and Best regards and wishes from Germany.
Hello! I'm glad to hear you are enjoying the channel. The pantry I was using was just a small spare room that we kept unheated, and in the winter, it kept very cool on its own. We moved over the summer and I have not yet figured out where will be the best place to hang cures in this new house but I'm sure as the weather continues to cool I'll find a corner of the house that is cold enough! I am getting some beef very soon and also plan to do some hunting this season so I will have more meat curing videos coming along over the winter months.
Hi I salt cure store bought bacon. Cut in half dip in salt let dry 2days on rack. Question when should I wash salt off? Now I don't and is soo salty. Should I soak it before I cook ? What?
Yes, I've been wondering about that! I'm not really sure, but everyone I have talked with who does this uses wood or plastic. Will the metal be corroded? I'm not sure and haven't looked too deeply into it yet because the tubs work really well even tho I do try to avoid plastics. I'm sticking with this for the time being 🤷🏻♀️ I do think it would be cool to try out the old school wooden box set up but I'm not there yet!
@@apinchofpatience actually you just brought to mind "one other point" ...while stainless steel is resistant, slat is still corrosive, but MOST corrosive at the EDGE of the "wet" and dry/air/oxygen contact ... Also, food is NOT to be stored in LIQUID form in stainless steel.... ...apparently long term (more than a few hours? 8 hours? Give or take? ) WEAKENS/leeches the toxic metal components that make up stainless steel: Stainless steel needs time to DRY and somehow this helps keep it's integrity ? "Stainless steels are steels containing at least 10.5% chromium, less than 1.2% carbon and other alloying elements. Stainless steel's corrosion resistance and mechanical properties can be further enhanced by adding other elements, such as nickel, molybdenum, titanium, niobium, manganese, etc." Stuff like chrome, nickel, etc are extremely toxic... One of the things many forget is: the reason you use WOODEN UTENSILS on stainless steel isn't just because of scratching your "nice cookware" but because you don't want to POISON your family causing permanent damage to their brain and bodies.... ...
Yes, stainless is great but not completely non toxic like we often think! It still has potential to be dangerous, tho incredibly better than many other cookware options!
@@apinchofpatience yes like the fact that stainless steel has lead in it. what kind of wood would you use... say maybe alder, maple, apple or something really mild?
Great little book! I'd love to do a venison video, I had meant to get out and go hunting last fall, but it just didn't end up happening with moving back into our house. 🤞 this year, I'm doing my best to get out there and get some venison for my freezer (And curing projects)!
I am aware that some who preserve meat "score" the meat (like a Christmas ham) so that the salt /salt + seasonings is rubbed into the meat rather than just the surface of the meat. Your take on this?
I've seen it done where the fat is scored before curing, but I'veso far never done it. Scoring fat seems unnecessary to me, but it's not a big deal if that's what floats your boat. I wouldn't score the meat, tho. That just opens you up to bacterial contamination, little nooks for mold to grow, and is unnecessary. My two cents on it 😄
I enjoy the way you show us the curing process and what to do if you see white and green mold but you said something about mold with long hair I'm curious to know what you do for that. And you say it can be stored forever, what do you do with the meat after it's ready to eat. Let's say you slice some off and fry but you still got 3/4 the slab left what do you do with that so you can keep slicing it everyday without it continuing to age and lose 30% of its weight. Does rinsing it off after its ready to use stop the curing process? Then can you use it throughout the next week or so until it's gone? It's sounds like once it's rinsed off it'll last years if you hang it back up? Is that correct? Thank you so much 😀
I'm so glad you are enjoying the curing videos! So, for mold, the white and green kind of powdery molds are not concerning, they are a somewhat normal and expected part of the process. If you are getting slimy black mold or long cat hair looking stuff that is a sign that something is not right either with the cure itself or with your storage location. In the case of concerning mold growth, you could wipe the whole thing down with vinegar or wine and try changing the location to somewhere with better ventilation and airflow and see how it goes, just monitor the cure to make sure there are no other issues. Once you slice into it you can just keep hanging it up but it will continue to dry, that is just the nature of this process. One thing that helps a lot is choosing a storage location that has optimal conditions which inculdes fairly high humidity of 60-90%, that makes a big difference in how fast things dry out! Also the fat content of your meat will play a huge role in how fast it dries. Another thing you could do if you want to kind of reseal the area you sliced from and help prevent moisture loss from that area is something called sunga (I am almost certain I spelled that wrong...Ill try to go find it in my reference book and get the right spelling and update it here when I find it). That is a paste made with equal parts rendered lard and rice flour, this is applied over a whole cure or parts of a cure that need it and helps to slow the drying process. That would only be practical if you were going to set it back in storage for quite a while i think. Rinsing is not technically an essential step but it does help you not end up with unpalatable salty cures by taking the excess off and also removing big chunks of seasonings. Once you hang the cure you should not rinse it again, it needs to be kept dry after you hang for storage. Rinsing it again after it has already dried will not "stop" the curing process but would reintroduce water and bacteria meaning you would need to consume it fairly quickly afterward. You should not have any issue slicing off of a cure over the course of a week, I often slice off of cures over the course of a month and do not usually have an issue with them drying out unless my humidity is low! Cures stored properly can definitely last for years! I hope that answered your question, but I didn't feel 100% like I understood all of your question so If i didn't make sense and answer what you needed let me know and I'll try again!
@@apinchofpatience thank you so much for getting back to me. Yes, your response back made great sense. I can't wait to do this. I've shared your video work a number of friends and my hunting buddies and myself are blown away by your 1 ingredient way to preserve meat. Thank you for this insanely easy process. 👍😀
A boning knife would help and they are not expensive. Victorinox makes one that's very popular. Not pushing it, just saying. Thanks for this. I am more secure with this knowledge as a charcuterie hobbyist.
I love your videos and am starting to cure my own meats now! Question about the wait loss. Does the meat have to lose 30% of its weight from the original raw weight? Or 30% of the weight after being salted/cured? For example if a raw uncured leg weighs 10 pounds, does the final weight need to be 7 lbs? Or does it have to lose an additional 30% after curing for the 1-2 weeks?
Wonderful. I wanted to replicate it. But temperatures are high in the south and we don't have a cool pantry. Besides I did not want to use the refrigerator because that would defeat the purpose. Can we do it without cool place or refrigerator?
Hello, I'm so glad you reached out! For this type of cure, you do need cool temps to get started. This helps prevent spoilage in the beginning. Once the cures are established (there is no risk of the meat going off), they can handle warmer temps just fine! Traditionally (and the method I use), these cures are started in the late fall and into winter when cool temps are available and meat is being harvested any way, win win! If you never have temps that cool, this may not be the method for your climate, I'm afraid. I know there are other variations involving more salt I believe that are more warm climate suited. Hope that helps. Do let me know if you have further questions, and I'll do my best to answer them! Ps. I'm not very well versed in the particulars of cueing in warmer climates, but I think a full brine method may be a better option to get the cure all the way to the bone more quickly. I'm going to look into that more and may include a note about it when I do a video on brines this fall 😀 -Cora
I grew up in the Southeast. A lot of the older houses had storm cellars under the house. By "older houses" I mean the ones that were built in the early 20th Century, but before the depression. When we lived in FL, my mother commented that the water table was too high for a root/storm cellar.
After slicing the leg, do you seal it in anyway before storing or can you leave it just hanging there? 2nd video of yours i watched and loved both, subscribed. ❤
Until it's stabilized and past the point where it could still go off and spoil, yes. You want to maintain cool temps but above freezing until the meat is nice and stabilized. Warmer temps during the initial hanging period increase the chance of the meat spoiling before it's last enough moisture to become "stable". The temps aren't nesesciary essential, I've successfully cured in more like 65 f temps but the risk of things going off is much higher. The ideal temperature range is 40 up to about 55f. After the cures are stable, they will easily tolerate warmer more normal room temps.
I'm glad to hear you are enjoying the channel! This can keep for years if stored well! Ideal storage would be humidity around 60-80%, dark, with good airflow and cooler temps to preserve the best quality. Often, a basement, garage, or wine/root cellar are great storage locations!
I don't see why not, I like to use it to hang the meat and it makes a good handle when slicing but you can completely debone the leg and cure it like a ham as well, there are so many options! I used to use a rack, but the metal can easily corrode, so I switched to this two tub system and have been really enjoying that for the last two ish years. You can use a rack. Just be careful of the material you use. I've seen folks use wooden dowles or 1x1 as well, so again, options, you can experiment and find what you like 😀
If I cured something like this and wanted to take a little to snack on during the day, do I need to keep it cool or can it just go with me in a bag? ie: will it go bad if it gets warm for a few hours?
This travels very well! It does great for road trips, hiking, camping etc... if it gets hot, like left in a bag in the sun, it gets kinda gross because the fat melts, but if kept out of direct scorching heat, it makes an excellent travel snack. 😀 getting warm even in storage isn't nesesciarly an issue after it is fully cured and stabilized other than you could have a mess of the fat melting all over. I've stored them at 70-80f (only once fully cured and past the point of going off) for short periods when circumstances were not ideal and they were just fine.
Noticed after the third day curing there wasnt any brine being drawn out. Will check again tomorrow but was just curious if that meant i need to add more salt? Thank you in advanced
Hi! So, with the leg of lamb, you are going to keep adding salt or salt/sugar mix for a while because it needs to get all the way to the bone! Don't worry too much about how much moisture is being lost. This will vary with each cure. It may not be much, but keep adding your cure periodically until the meat feels firm enough, then hang it. If you want to apply your second round of salt on day 3 or 4, that's going to be fine! I hope that helps. Feel free to reach out any time!
I have tried that and found the salt too corrosive but maybe a higher quality steel would hold up better 🤔 I have been thinking of adding wooden dowles in the bottom of the tubs to keep it off the plastic and still have the convenience of the double tub system.
Myself and my youngest are the only ones who liked this flavor. Hubby and the older kiddo were not fans of the strong lamb flavor 😂 oh well, more for me! Remember that whatever you cure, you concentrate the flavor! I can't wait to do a leg of venison this fall 😋
I raise Dorper sheep and butcher them for meat .Dorpers are hair sheep so they don't have the lanolin in their skin that gives that gamey flavor. So you want a hair sheep which is a sheep that sheds it's hair.
This was a Khatadin leg, so also a hair sheep! As a lamb lover, I appreciate the hair sheep flavor but still not everyone's cup of tea 🤷♀️
I found young or (spring lamb,) to be much better, I avoid the older lambs, ( mutton) as much as possible, when purchasing I avoid Australian, imported lamb, it tends most often to be ( mutton) ...I buy American, local grown, ...it is because of diet of the animal...
@@apinchofpatience How do I learn more about, lamb and meat selection? Do you sell book(s)?
KruDragon6374@gmail.com
Thank you!
What do you think of curing verses dehydrating? I love to make jersey and with your knowledge of curing I am starting to dabble in this technique🤗😁👍
It's so refreshing to see a young, beautiful lady doing meat stuff instead of vegan
Finally, RUclips recommends a good channel
Thanks! 😄
Young one, there you are again with the real deal meals. Adding venison to the optional meats is a blessing, adding hunted, wild meats to the list. Your calm speech and working explanations are the extra specials within your content. Thank you so much.
Thank you for your kind comments!
So true. She's a treat
What kind words old one
Thank you, thank you, thank you! It has been niggling at my mind recently, the question of why people insist you MUST put other and quite scarey preservatives in meat..when , not that long ago ALL they used was salt. Thank you for your calm, careful approach to simplifying a seemingly complex matter. You leave us feeling encouraged, calm, competent and confident in giving this a go. May God bless you and yours, thanks again!
Thank you for your kind and encouraging comment! I'm so glad you enjoyed and found the video useful! God bless 💕
I had no idea you could do this with lamb! I grew up in the uk and now live in New Zealand so both countries eat heaps of lamb, and I love it. I’m off to the butcher! Thanks for your calm, peaceful and informative videos!
Thanks so much! I'm glad you enjoyed 😀 Best wishes on your lamb cure!
Ps. I love NZ, my husband and I did WOOFing there when we were first married, and it's a truly beautiful place with some of the friendliest people ❤️
@@apinchofpatience yeah the woofing is popular up here in the coromandel peninsula. It’s truely beautiful up here. You guys will have to come back some time!
The best knife for what you are doing is: Victorinox 6" Boning Knife, Curved Blade, Semi-stiff, Maple Wood Handle 5.6606.15
Victorinox, I just love mine!
Appreciate the simplicity of approach. I have seen my immigrant Italian grandmother make dried meats and salamis this way. As I began to research the process it was so high tech and intimidating. You have given me hope again. I will certainly be giving this a go. Bless you.
Hugh Fernley Whittingstall sent me one of his books and signed it when I lived in a tent because he was impressed with my creations I made in the Scottish Highlands. He also shared and liked some of my instagram posts ☺
Very cool! Post a link, I'd love to check it out!
Victornox 6" boning knives work great. We process all of our game meats with them.
Dexter boning knives are great, too. Using one with a narrow, flexible blade is better than a wide, rigid one this case.
First time I've watched a salt-curing video. The husband recommended your channel and here I be! You've got a great way of teaching!
I'm not fond of the flavors of lamb or goat so the thought of more intense flavors scare me...still going to try it lol. An old fridge on lowest setting will be a perfect "cold storage".
I've been using Chicago Cutlery and Old Hickory knives for years. They're gold. Older knives, but keep an edge very well and I've got all sizes. I've found a lot from estate sales at older peoples homes. Definitely old school knives. I use them for butchering, processing, and just daily wear.
Looking forward to the next vid!
Welcome to the channel! I'm glad to hear you enjoy the videos 😄 thanks so much for the recommendations on knives and taking the time to say hello! All the meat curing videos to date can be found on this playlist, and I'm currently working on a corned beef experiment with an 1800s recipe, so keep an eye out for that sometime in March! ruclips.net/p/PLQfezYqINioe8zXLywBPtwN-KDFsrXgAl
I'm not sure what other people like in knives but I have learned, the hard way that a sharp knife is the best knife.
Absolutely! I've picked up a couple of carbon steel knives from thrift stores lately, and I'm working on learning to use sharpening stones and get better about maintaining a good sharp knife! I needed up upgrade from the $20 flimsy stainless set that I got right out of high school but also needed to learn how to really take care of my tools better to. When I feel a bit more confident in the knife sharpening, I'll probably do an update on keeping knives in top shape! ☺️
And the right one, a boning knife is a must.
I love your videos. You are so good at explaining it and keeping it simple. I made the bacon and my ham is almost done. Thank you for your guidance.
Thank you Michele!
My favorite knives are Victorinox flexible boning knives - they come in filet 6” or boners are the ones got they follow the curve of my hand when slicing and boning
Thanks for sharing! Ill add those to the list to look at, I appreciate you taking time to share!
Holy cow! What a wonderful recipe to learn just before the Eid al-Adha when we'll have a whole lamb to store. Thank you. Much love and respect from Istanbul, Turkiye!
More, more, more! I could watch your show all day! If you could touch on all kinds of meat that would be beautiful. Please don't stop! ❤
Thank you, I'm so glad to hear you are enjoying the channel! I will be working on more meat curing videos this fall/winter for sure!
Japanese made shun are my best knives
German whustof are my daily use knives
I use Victorinox knives. Love 'em
Thank you! I'll check them out. I have really cheap stainless ones from Amazon from forever ago and I'm really noticing how bad they are at keeping an edge now that I'm doing all this!
I love my Pampered Chef knives.
You've really demystified the meat curing process, and made it accessible to many people. So thank you and kudos to you. this will help many people who are trying to get off grid and save money in these extremely hard economic times.
Thank you, I'm glad it's been helpful!
I worked at a meat plant through college. I still have my Forschner 25 years later. The big secret to kitchen knives is that you don't want a really hard expensive steel. Milder steels have more flex to them which helps get around the bones. My 2nd favorite knife is a generic $7 knife from Wal-Mart. They don't hold an edge very long so keep your sharpener in your counter and get in the habit of dressing up your edge frequently. A smooth steel combined with a ceramic steel (like a previous comment explained) does a marvelous job, but you can get a good functional edge with the simple V sharpeners. Get one with two of even three grits, and use it frequently (only use the coarse grit if you'v really trashed your edge).
I love what you're doing. Thank you your helping revive a lost art!
Hi! I love your channel! I am a grocery hunter not a trophy hunter. I butcher all of my own game and butcher for friends. Victorinox knives are great as well as F. Dick knives. I have small hands and the F. Dick 5”semi flex boning knives are awesome. They are reasonably priced as well.
Thanks so much, I'm glad you are enjoying! Thanks for the knife recommendations as well, i will look up the F. Dick boning knife for sure, a good knife makes such a difference on butcher day! 😀
Thanks! Love your videos. Learning a lot.
I'm so glad to hear it!
Same!
I'm not even necessarily trying to go off grid, or be a survivalist or anything. I just wanted to learn an easy way to dry cure meat. This, and a few more of your videos, has simplified the process for me. You're the coolest. Keep going.
Thank you! I'm so glad you are enjoying the videos 😀
Thank you I have been wanting to learn how to cure a lamb leg for awhile.
I had cured lamb when I visited family in Norway. Loved it
I have a lamb I'm going to harvest soon. I can't wait to try this.
I've watched two of your salt curing videos so far, and I'm hooked. As far as knives, I've been using flexible Victorinox (Forschner when I started) 6" curved boning knife with Vibrox handle for almost 30 years. With the Vibrox, your hand can be wet and greasy and it still offers excellent grip. For slicing larger cuts and for rugged applications, my go to is an F. Dick breaking knife with the blue plastic handle. I learned with a 12" blade, but can only find 10 inchers any more. It's a beast. Both of these knives hold an edge very well and with a few swishes on the ceramic sharpener, they're ready for more abuse. Love your videos and will watch a bunch more.
Thank you, I'm so glad to hear you are enjoying the videos! And thanks for sharing your favorite knives 😀
Thanks for this! We haven't cured meat yet. Our home is too warm in summer and our fridge is tiny but we have a mudroom that starting November is cold. We're planning to put up salt pork, a little potted meat, and the cured pork belly you've shown. Just didn't get to it last winter. I'm also putting up cooked meat in jars covered in fat as the eastern Eurpoeans do and those are shelf stable. The small batches we've done so far have been fantastic. Great for off-grid or folks who don't want to have to rely on power for food or a pressure canner.
How exciting! I can not express in words how delightful it is to have all the cured and potted meats in your larder going into winter, it's just so cozy and satisfying 🥰 I'm so excited for you to experience that joy and all the delicious meals that will come from your efforts!
Thank you for reminding me of my options
Another great video, you are the leader in this venue.
Wow! That looks so good, can I have a bite just put a piece in an envelope and mail it I love that look on that. I would like to know if you ground up the bay leaves and can you grind up the juniper berries? It kind of seems to me that that's what you would want to give it a more robust flavor of the two herbs. Anyway yes ma'am I'm definitely going to give it a shot don't know when but going to do it. Thank you so much this looks so good. May God bless you and yours.
Hi Terry! I didn't fully blend the berries and leaves tho I think that would work well, I just smashed the berries with a mortar and pestle and chopped the leaves with a knife. I let them sit with the salt and sugar mix for a bit before I started and they infused into the mix beautifully! This made my whole pantry smell so good 😄 I hope you do give it a go because it really is so worth the wait!
Thinking of trying this on venison this winter . Do you think it would take way longer to cure as it will be 25 lb and I live in south Mississippi which has high humidity & our cold snaps last for days not weeks ? I like to find old Butcher knives made of high carbon steel at flea markets.
It could take longer for sure but venison is also really lean which tends to go a bit faster so it's hard to say!
Ill be defo doing this...this channel is answered prayer...ive been pondering how im going to preserve meats...Thanks😊👍
Thank you, I'm so glad to hear it's been helpful!
Good job.
Thank you!
This looks WONDERFUL! I bought the book you suggested and am reading it before I jump in.
Also need to find a cool storage place where they won't attract vermin.
Thank you! And congratulations on starting your meat curing journey! Let me know how you like the book, I really enjoy Steven Lamb and all his work with the River Cottage 😀
Absolutely amazing! Great job!
Thank you!
Thank you so much. I like to smoke the legs, but my smoker will not hold that large of a leg. I have a leg in the freezer I didn't know what to do with.
If you want a professional quality knife that won't break the bank, check out Misen knives. They make 5.5" 6.8" and 8" Chef's knives as well as other styles. The 6.8 in is versatile size that is easy to maneuver. I bought all my sisters Misen knives for Christmas and they love them.
Love this
Oh hell yeah!! 🎉 Your awesome
Lamb is my favorite! Also, Brandon Shearer is such a great teacher! I cured a ham while taking one of his classes. It was so easy and delicious! I'm really enjoying your videos :) Also, thanks for the book recommendation, it's always good to have references at hand.
I saw a video where someone used vodka and a cloth napkin to get the salt off, I'm curious of your thoughts on this method?
I don't think it would hurt anything, but I think it's unnecessary. There's my two cents 😄
Awesome, thank you!
Thank you very much for this. Recently we had a major power cut for some days. Normally that’s not a major issue, but unfortunately it defrosted a large amount of meat and I decided at that point I would not risk meat to the vagaries of the electricity supply.
So thank you for this it is very useful.
Forschner Victorinox 5” Flexible
You absolutely love what you’re doing and I want to thank you for showing us the ins and outs. You just earned a new subscriber!!
Thank you 💕 I'm happy to be able to share, I really do love it!
Excellent video.
WE USE HAVALON KNIVES WHEN FIELD DRESSING OUR BIG GAME HARVESTS; ELK DEER ANTELOPE. I CAN'T SHARPEN A KNIFE WORTH SQUAT SO THE REPLACEABLE AND VARIOUS SIZE BLADES ARE GREAT.
Really amazing content, long term storage of meats using an ancient but easy method, PURE salt! I am going to try it out thank you.
Thank you, I'm so glad you are finding the videos useful! Let me know how it goes!
Smile....I think this video answered both of my previous questions....
Yay!
I love that recepie. Thank you about all the details.
I'm so glad you enjoyed this one! Thanks for taking the time to say hi 👋 😊
Can or do u put a lid on Ur tubs ? Great video I think I'll cure meet in my apartment
I don't use any kind of lid.
Wow, just wow. Thanks a lot for sharing.
I'm glad you enjoyed 😊
When the actual curing process is done and you're hanging it for access (because no one will eat all that in 1 sitting) does it still need to be at 50' or lower?
Once it's cured for a while and is past the point where spoilage could still be an issue, it can come up to more ambient room temps. I still like to try to keep my cures in cooler temps 60-70 max because if they get too warm, you could have dripping fat on your hands!
I'd love to hear about your cold pantry!
Nothing fancy, I was just using a spare room in my house in the cool months to hang meats and store ferments as well as dry goods. Just keeping the door shut and not heating that room it stayed between 40 and 55 f all fall/winter. I recently moved so I am going to be looking around the new house for the right cool spot to hang cures... I am dreaming of a root cellar and have some ideas about starting to build one come spring but we will just see how funds and time go! I do think that would be a more ideal long term storage solution but really anywhere cool in your house can work! Ive seen folks use a basement or garage for hanging meats with a lot of success as well as cool closets or mouse free out buildings!
You Rock Cora Bowe 👈😎👉
You rock 😉
White River Knives make great knives using S35VN which is a high end specialty powdered stainless steel. They have 2 Kitchen knives, a clever, a couple of smaller knives called the exodus at 3” and 4”, and they have filet knives. They are not cheap but they are more affordable than high dollar high carbon japonese blades. In my opinion the steel they use is great in the kitchen. S35VN is not difficult to sharpen, it can get sharper than you want in the kitchen and it’s reasonably tough. Great vids, keep up the good work and good luck with your search for good knives.
Thanks for the info! I'm glad to hear you are enjoying the channel, too!
That looks awesome! I can imagine a nice piece with some fat on it on toasted baguette. The fat would melt so well 🤤 i hope to do this some day with rosemary instead of bay leaves
Delicious! The herbs are very flexible, rosemary would be amazing!
Your video was the first one up when I searched "smoking meat the old fashioned way" and boy am I glad it was. My husband and I have recently been talking about curing and smoking our own meat and had no idea where to even start....and now after watching just two of your videos I am confident that we can do this with no problem. I have ordered the book you recommended and I can't wait to get out and get the few items I need to get this process started. Thank you soooo much!!!
Hi Judy, Thanks so much for sharing! I'm excited for you and so glad we got the chance to connect here! Good luck and enjoy the process!
-Cora
Eeek, I'm so excited. I just put my salted lamb leg in the fridge. I added some rosemary to the recipe, but the rest is exactly as you said. I can't wait!
Thank you for the great video and simple instructions!!
How exciting!!!
I just watched your bacon video , I have gone out and bought a pork belly and salt, do you put a lid on the container or do you leave the lid off while it’s in the fridge ? Thanks so much about to watch this leg video, looking forward to it, I will try with the pork belly first . Kind regards Andy. Australia.
Hi Andy, I'm so glad you are enjoying the videos! No, I don't use a lid. Letting it have air helps things start drying. If you use a lid, it will keep all the moisture in and create a more brine like situation for the cure. Hope that helps and enjoy your first curing project!
@@apinchofpatience thankyou . Yes i will salt it tomorrow. I have also bought the book today so i will have some reading to do. I look forward to learning more from you as you post more. That leg of lamb looked Amazing. Made my mouth water lol. Take care. Regards Andy
just found you and am impressed, ty so much mate, brilliant channel and excellent content. love the style and info, have recommended to friends and wish you success :) Ty so much.
Thank you, that means a lot! I'm so glad you enjoy the content. Thanks for taking the time to say so 💗
I have a leg of lamb in my freezer, forgot it was there. Will try this. I had also a whole salmin in my freezer for 2 years, i wonder if I could do that to it.
Hi, first thank you for this great video! 😊Question: Once it all cured ans you start eating some pieces, how do you keep/store the rest?
I'm so glad you enjoyed! You can just keep it hanging, nothing special is needed, just note that the exposed portion may dry out more easily if your storage location is very dry. You can optionally use a paste made from equal parts rendered fat and rice flour to recover the cut portion to help keep it from but that is usually unnecessary.
@@apinchofpatience Great. Thank you.
Hell ya awesome videos
Thank you 😄
I love my Victorinox Boning Curved Semi-Stiff Blade Fibrox Pro Handle. 6 inch knife.
great stuff girl love it
So you weight after the initial 15 days of cure and then the meat needs to decrease in weight 30% when you eat it? Also you had to keep it in the 40-50 degree range for 2 months?
Yes on the weight, that's the formula for safe raw eating that I use but if you are going to cook it that is not needed.
I kept it in the cool temps for the first month then my pantry warmed up to about 60 and now it's in 70ish degrees storage temp, cool temps really help it to keep from spoiling in the beginning but after it is sufficiently cured it will handle more ambient room temps. Hope that helps!
@@apinchofpatience thank yoy
What wonderful videos! I watched the thin & thick pork slab video and now this leg of lamb video. . . Awesome presentation, Super Awesome videos! Thank You for sharing.
Mike
Elizabethtown KY
We are harvesting our first hog and a goat buckling this fall and I will be trying out our first salt curing on a few purchased trial pieces first, but I am so excited. I am not sure what to do with so much pork, but I'm blessed beyond belief with the abundance
Congratulations on your bountiful harvest to come! Blessed indeed ❤️
If I could tell you my 3 favorite things to do when harvesting pork, it would be to render the lard, make rillettes, and, of course, do some salt cures! Next time I harvest a hog, I'll be making many more rillettes. They were so delicious and gone far too soon last year! If you are unfamiliar, rillettes are a potted meat, very much worth a look in my opinion. I have a very low quality video recipe for them on this Playlist if you want to give the process a look - ruclips.net/p/PLQfezYqINioe8zXLywBPtwN-KDFsrXgAl
@@apinchofpatience that sounds lovely! I'll look at your video now! Thank you for such a thoughtful response
We did this recently using an alternative method which included plastic bags, which we'd prefer not to use. It was however amazing! Your method looks so much simpler but just as tasty so we'll do it next time. How do you store it long term? Where and what temp is ok?
I'm glad to hear your cure turned out delicious! I just keep my cures in my pantry. I start all cures in the fall/winter. When it's that cold outside, my pantry easily maintains 40-60 degree temps. After cures have been hanging for a while and are stable, they can handle warmer temperatures, so as long as it stays in the low 70s during the summer, I've had no issues. Warmer than that, and I've had fat melt, and while the cures were still edible, it was not fun to clean up melted fat! If you have access to a basement or garage that is pest free those are often great options as they tend to be cool and dark spots 😀 hope that helps! Enjoy your curing projects!
Hi, greetings from the great Grand Canyon area of Arizona, I appreciate this read of your reply comment as you answered years long questions I've had that have somewhat hindered my attempts!?❤🎉 Ready to try the salt cure now, have a huge block of pink Himalayan salt I will fine grind and my Juniper berries off of my land and some Pinion needles with Garlic and Turmeric with Cayenne . Will have to follow up on my comment to reply results, thank you and looking forward to viewing more of your vids, sub'd ,;).
That sounds absolutely delicious! I'm so glad you found this helpful, and I'm looking forward to hearing your results!
Hi, Great vids and very informative the above reply about storage is very helpful. After you start cutting off slices of meat, do you need to protect this area in some way as it continues to hang in the pantry? @@apinchofpatience
I usually don't do anything, once i cut into a cure i usually use it pretty frequently till its gone. However, if you are planning to go a long time between uses, you could cover the cut part. You can make a paste of equal parts lard and rice flour to cover the cut portion and help prevent moisture loss from the cut end. Then just remove it when you want to slice into it again. Hope that helps!
Thanks for that. When you say it needs to reduce its weight by 30% is that from the very start or from after the salting process?
From after the salting 😀 that's the general rule for eating any cure raw based on my research and has worked well for me!
We call this Fenalår in Norway. Look it up :)
Yes, I'm familiar! Wonderful dish!
Well done, I have been something similar over the years, but use some Icelandic herbs
Greetings from Iceland
Thank you and greetings from Washington state 👋 I'm curious what herbs you are using, I love hearing new to me flavors!
In my opinion the base is. salt and pepper,
Actually I have no Ide of name of some most of the things I use, I sometime when I am walking in the wild and I see something interesting I pick it up, put in IKEA zip lock bag, dry the stuff at home and smell it, if smell good (most of the time it does) I use it
My famely like my hobby
Vallhumall
copy google, its northen flower but give good flavor
@arnbirni, oh, I actually know this plant! It is called Yarrow here, and it is a wonderful medicinal herb. I forage for it every year! I have not tried it on the cured lamb, but now I will definitely try it! Thank you for sharing 😀 it was so fun to learn a new word for a favorite plant!
Just go wild in terms of local "herbs" 😃@@apinchofpatience
I raise sheep I can’t wait to try this
Can I have the measurements for the lamb cure please
1 part salt, 1 part sugar, some bay leaves and juniper berries.
Now what I would like to know is, can you Make dishes out of this meat? Or is the only option to eat it raw? I was wondering if you could make a stew or something with it?
You could absolutely dice a portion and boil it in a stew! 😀
So, If you cook the meat it will kill any molds on it. but what about the molds if you eat it raw like in this video. Do you cut thos part out? or just eat it as is?
The molds that grow on cures meats are usually similar to one's in blue cheese and are totally edible :) mold that would be alarming and you shouldn't eat would be black or long cat hair looking mold usually.
Rada knives are really hard to beat for the price
Thanks, I'll look those up!
Wow, I just landed with your Chanel. Awesome I’ve only watched like 5 and they are all very good.. I am impressed with the calm from your explanations and this one is really cool.
I just have one question, with your pantry. Is it like a cool room. Like with an air conditioner running or is it just a room without any kind of fan or air regulator.
I already subscribed to your Chanel because I would like to see more specially the curing process.
Thanks for sharing and Best regards and wishes from Germany.
Hello! I'm glad to hear you are enjoying the channel. The pantry I was using was just a small spare room that we kept unheated, and in the winter, it kept very cool on its own. We moved over the summer and I have not yet figured out where will be the best place to hang cures in this new house but I'm sure as the weather continues to cool I'll find a corner of the house that is cold enough! I am getting some beef very soon and also plan to do some hunting this season so I will have more meat curing videos coming along over the winter months.
Hi
I salt cure store bought bacon. Cut in half dip in salt let dry 2days on rack. Question when should I wash salt off? Now I don't and is soo salty. Should I soak it before I cook ? What?
Are you trying to cure already made bacon? I'm just trying to clarify that you are using already made bacon, not a raw pork belly?
If you do go "all in" and find you are doing a LOT of curing-preservation, perhaps stainless steel? Instead of plastic?
Yes, I've been wondering about that! I'm not really sure, but everyone I have talked with who does this uses wood or plastic. Will the metal be corroded? I'm not sure and haven't looked too deeply into it yet because the tubs work really well even tho I do try to avoid plastics. I'm sticking with this for the time being 🤷🏻♀️ I do think it would be cool to try out the old school wooden box set up but I'm not there yet!
@@apinchofpatience actually you just brought to mind "one other point" ...while stainless steel is resistant, slat is still corrosive, but MOST corrosive at the EDGE of the "wet" and dry/air/oxygen contact ...
Also, food is NOT to be stored in LIQUID form in stainless steel.... ...apparently long term (more than a few hours? 8 hours? Give or take? ) WEAKENS/leeches the toxic metal components that make up stainless steel:
Stainless steel needs time to DRY and somehow this helps keep it's integrity ?
"Stainless steels are steels containing at least 10.5% chromium, less than 1.2% carbon and other alloying elements. Stainless steel's corrosion resistance and mechanical properties can be further enhanced by adding other elements, such as nickel, molybdenum, titanium, niobium, manganese, etc."
Stuff like chrome, nickel, etc are extremely toxic...
One of the things many forget is: the reason you use WOODEN UTENSILS on stainless steel isn't just because of scratching your "nice cookware" but because you don't want to POISON your family causing permanent damage to their brain and bodies....
...
Yes, stainless is great but not completely non toxic like we often think! It still has potential to be dangerous, tho incredibly better than many other cookware options!
@@apinchofpatience yes like the fact that stainless steel has lead in it. what kind of wood would you use...
say maybe alder, maple, apple or something really mild?
one could use wood slats, dowels or freshly peeled branches off the tree to keep the meat off the plastic.
Thanks to you, I found that book and bought it!! Great info. Anyway you could do some venison?
Great little book! I'd love to do a venison video, I had meant to get out and go hunting last fall, but it just didn't end up happening with moving back into our house. 🤞 this year, I'm doing my best to get out there and get some venison for my freezer (And curing projects)!
@@apinchofpatience looking forward to it!!
I am aware that some who preserve meat "score" the meat (like a Christmas ham) so that the salt /salt + seasonings is rubbed into the meat rather than just the surface of the meat. Your take on this?
I've seen it done where the fat is scored before curing, but I'veso far never done it. Scoring fat seems unnecessary to me, but it's not a big deal if that's what floats your boat. I wouldn't score the meat, tho. That just opens you up to bacterial contamination, little nooks for mold to grow, and is unnecessary. My two cents on it 😄
I enjoy the way you show us the curing process and what to do if you see white and green mold but you said something about mold with long hair I'm curious to know what you do for that. And you say it can be stored forever, what do you do with the meat after it's ready to eat. Let's say you slice some off and fry but you still got 3/4 the slab left what do you do with that so you can keep slicing it everyday without it continuing to age and lose 30% of its weight. Does rinsing it off after its ready to use stop the curing process? Then can you use it throughout the next week or so until it's gone? It's sounds like once it's rinsed off it'll last years if you hang it back up? Is that correct? Thank you so much 😀
I'm so glad you are enjoying the curing videos! So, for mold, the white and green kind of powdery molds are not concerning, they are a somewhat normal and expected part of the process. If you are getting slimy black mold or long cat hair looking stuff that is a sign that something is not right either with the cure itself or with your storage location. In the case of concerning mold growth, you could wipe the whole thing down with vinegar or wine and try changing the location to somewhere with better ventilation and airflow and see how it goes, just monitor the cure to make sure there are no other issues.
Once you slice into it you can just keep hanging it up but it will continue to dry, that is just the nature of this process. One thing that helps a lot is choosing a storage location that has optimal conditions which inculdes fairly high humidity of 60-90%, that makes a big difference in how fast things dry out! Also the fat content of your meat will play a huge role in how fast it dries. Another thing you could do if you want to kind of reseal the area you sliced from and help prevent moisture loss from that area is something called sunga (I am almost certain I spelled that wrong...Ill try to go find it in my reference book and get the right spelling and update it here when I find it). That is a paste made with equal parts rendered lard and rice flour, this is applied over a whole cure or parts of a cure that need it and helps to slow the drying process. That would only be practical if you were going to set it back in storage for quite a while i think.
Rinsing is not technically an essential step but it does help you not end up with unpalatable salty cures by taking the excess off and also removing big chunks of seasonings. Once you hang the cure you should not rinse it again, it needs to be kept dry after you hang for storage. Rinsing it again after it has already dried will not "stop" the curing process but would reintroduce water and bacteria meaning you would need to consume it fairly quickly afterward. You should not have any issue slicing off of a cure over the course of a week, I often slice off of cures over the course of a month and do not usually have an issue with them drying out unless my humidity is low!
Cures stored properly can definitely last for years!
I hope that answered your question, but I didn't feel 100% like I understood all of your question so If i didn't make sense and answer what you needed let me know and I'll try again!
@@apinchofpatience thank you so much for getting back to me. Yes, your response back made great sense. I can't wait to do this. I've shared your video work a number of friends and my hunting buddies and myself are blown away by your 1 ingredient way to preserve meat. Thank you for this insanely easy process. 👍😀
A boning knife would help and they are not expensive. Victorinox makes one that's very popular. Not pushing it, just saying. Thanks for this. I am more secure with this knowledge as a charcuterie hobbyist.
Thanks! I ended up picking up a second-hand boning knife, and it's working great!
I wonder if you used smoked salt on your pork belly if it would work the same and give a smoked flavor?
I would think so 😀
I love your videos and am starting to cure my own meats now! Question about the wait loss. Does the meat have to lose 30% of its weight from the original raw weight? Or 30% of the weight after being salted/cured? For example if a raw uncured leg weighs 10 pounds, does the final weight need to be 7 lbs? Or does it have to lose an additional 30% after curing for the 1-2 weeks?
Thank you, I'm so glad you are enjoying them! The 30% is from the original raw weight.
Wonderful. I wanted to replicate it. But temperatures are high in the south and we don't have a cool pantry. Besides I did not want to use the refrigerator because that would defeat the purpose. Can we do it without cool place or refrigerator?
Hello, I'm so glad you reached out! For this type of cure, you do need cool temps to get started. This helps prevent spoilage in the beginning. Once the cures are established (there is no risk of the meat going off), they can handle warmer temps just fine! Traditionally (and the method I use), these cures are started in the late fall and into winter when cool temps are available and meat is being harvested any way, win win! If you never have temps that cool, this may not be the method for your climate, I'm afraid. I know there are other variations involving more salt I believe that are more warm climate suited. Hope that helps. Do let me know if you have further questions, and I'll do my best to answer them!
Ps. I'm not very well versed in the particulars of cueing in warmer climates, but I think a full brine method may be a better option to get the cure all the way to the bone more quickly. I'm going to look into that more and may include a note about it when I do a video on brines this fall 😀
-Cora
I grew up in the Southeast. A lot of the older houses had storm cellars under the house. By "older houses" I mean the ones that were built in the early 20th Century, but before the depression. When we lived in FL, my mother commented that the water table was too high for a root/storm cellar.
What can you do to prevent case hardening when curing a whole leg in the refrigerator or a mini fridge?
Other than keep the humidity up, you can experiment with a rendered fat and rice flour paste spread over the cure to help slow the drying.
After slicing the leg, do you seal it in anyway before storing or can you leave it just hanging there?
2nd video of yours i watched and loved both, subscribed. ❤
No need to do anything else after slicing, just hang it back up for storage 😊 glad to hear you are enjoying!
@@apinchofpatience Thank you very much for your response! I cant wait to get me the ingredients and start following your advice and instructions here.
When you hang it to cure does it have to be in that 30-50 degree range as well?
Until it's stabilized and past the point where it could still go off and spoil, yes. You want to maintain cool temps but above freezing until the meat is nice and stabilized. Warmer temps during the initial hanging period increase the chance of the meat spoiling before it's last enough moisture to become "stable". The temps aren't nesesciary essential, I've successfully cured in more like 65 f temps but the risk of things going off is much higher. The ideal temperature range is 40 up to about 55f. After the cures are stable, they will easily tolerate warmer more normal room temps.
Thank you! I too am enjoying your youtube. My question is how long will the leg of lamb keep/ how long can you continue to eat it. Appreciate you!
I'm glad to hear you are enjoying the channel! This can keep for years if stored well! Ideal storage would be humidity around 60-80%, dark, with good airflow and cooler temps to preserve the best quality. Often, a basement, garage, or wine/root cellar are great storage locations!
Very informative 👏
I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
❤❤❤❤❤❤ BEST VIDEO TODAY!!!!!
Thank you 💕
❤
To save space, could the lower leg/shank be removed? And what about putting it on a rack in the bottom of the pan? Thanks.
I don't see why not, I like to use it to hang the meat and it makes a good handle when slicing but you can completely debone the leg and cure it like a ham as well, there are so many options! I used to use a rack, but the metal can easily corrode, so I switched to this two tub system and have been really enjoying that for the last two ish years. You can use a rack. Just be careful of the material you use. I've seen folks use wooden dowles or 1x1 as well, so again, options, you can experiment and find what you like 😀
How long will the lamb stay good for?
A really really really long time... Years and years, good storage conditions make it stay in good shape longer of course but its a pretty easy keeper!
If I cured something like this and wanted to take a little to snack on during the day, do I need to keep it cool or can it just go with me in a bag? ie: will it go bad if it gets warm for a few hours?
This travels very well! It does great for road trips, hiking, camping etc... if it gets hot, like left in a bag in the sun, it gets kinda gross because the fat melts, but if kept out of direct scorching heat, it makes an excellent travel snack. 😀 getting warm even in storage isn't nesesciarly an issue after it is fully cured and stabilized other than you could have a mess of the fat melting all over. I've stored them at 70-80f (only once fully cured and past the point of going off) for short periods when circumstances were not ideal and they were just fine.
Noticed after the third day curing there wasnt any brine being drawn out. Will check again tomorrow but was just curious if that meant i need to add more salt?
Thank you in advanced
Hi! So, with the leg of lamb, you are going to keep adding salt or salt/sugar mix for a while because it needs to get all the way to the bone! Don't worry too much about how much moisture is being lost. This will vary with each cure. It may not be much, but keep adding your cure periodically until the meat feels firm enough, then hang it. If you want to apply your second round of salt on day 3 or 4, that's going to be fine! I hope that helps. Feel free to reach out any time!
@@apinchofpatience this does help thank you!
How would it go on a stainless steel rack rather than an upper tub... means it would have air all the way around and no direct contact with plastic.
I have tried that and found the salt too corrosive but maybe a higher quality steel would hold up better 🤔 I have been thinking of adding wooden dowles in the bottom of the tubs to keep it off the plastic and still have the convenience of the double tub system.