WD Daily Chat - Talk about anything You Like

Talk about anything here as long as it is not against the rules.
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Bob K
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Post by Bob K » Sat Jan 07, 2017 15:01

What and how are you curing and what length of curing time do you plan on using.
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Post by nuynai » Sat Jan 07, 2017 15:14

I'm getting into dry curing- pork, venison, whole cuts of meats, etc- and maybe leave it in awhile longer till I get more experienced.
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Butterbean
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Post by Butterbean » Sat Jan 07, 2017 17:25

nuynai wrote:Question I have is are there any dangers or problems with leaving meats in a cure too long. I'd rather err on the side of caution then take it out early and get sick.
The immediate thing that comes to mind is that you might create something that is too salty. What I have seen is there are so many ways to skin a cat and I think a lot of people try different methods looking for that holy grail rather than understanding the general principle involved.

I think one is better off finding a method that they like then tweaking the general principle rather than scrapping and using something totally different. Its like making good wine. Anyone can make wine but to make good wine you have to make little tweaks to your existing process because your existing process is the benchmark you can adjust from. (I'm speaking mostly on the whole cuts of meat)

If you will stick to one method on whole cuts it doesn't matter so much what cut of meat you are curing but the size of the meat. The size will determine the length of time needed - not the cut. By sticking to one method you will have a sense of what you are doing and how long it will take so it can be repeated. And being patient and allowing the salt to equalize will hedge things so you can be consistent.

For me, I would have found life much simpler had I learned to stick with two brine strengths and not follow so many other processes. Not that any of these were wrong its just that you cannot get a handle on how the salt works till you standardize the amount of salt you are using. All the perfumes and spices are really irrelevant. You have to understand the salting process and when you have a handle on this everything is so much simpler.
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Post by nuynai » Sat Jan 07, 2017 19:55

Thanks, BB. Sounds like KISS principle kicks in again- Keep It Simple Stupid. Glad I'm able to call on all of you for guidance.
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Butterbean
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Post by Butterbean » Mon Jan 09, 2017 13:48

Multi-tasking = screw-up

Was making tasso, boudin and mexican chorizo yesterday and though I didn't screw up the recipes I did forget one important thing. The O-Ring in the stuffer. Boy did I ever feel like the smart one.

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Post by StefanS » Mon Jan 09, 2017 15:06

Butterbean wrote:Multi-tasking = screw-up
Butterbean - not only you are having problem with multi-tasking. I have forget to load kielbasa in smoker and then run it empty for almost two hours, is it :roll: :lol: ??
BTW - can you show your whole stuffer in picture pls.? looks very interesting
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Post by nuynai » Mon Jan 09, 2017 15:20

BB, don't feel bad. I was making smoked cheese for the first time and left the smoker on a low temp, with cheese in it. Came back next day and I had a bunch of soft cheese tear drops. No problem, cooled them down, ate them and learned to put a note on the smoker to shut it down as a reminder. Never too old to learn from my mistakes.
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Post by Butterbean » Tue Jan 10, 2017 00:59

StefanS wrote:
Butterbean wrote:Multi-tasking = screw-up
Butterbean - not only you are having problem with multi-tasking. I have forget to load kielbasa in smoker and then run it empty for almost two hours, is it :roll: :lol: ??
BTW - can you show your whole stuffer in picture pls.? looks very interesting
This is my big stuffer. I have a smaller table top for smaller batches but this works beautiful for larger batches. Its hands-free and worked with the blue knee peddle. Forward and reverse. One ingenious thing is when you stop stuffing it backs off to what would be equivalent to a quarter turn with a hand crank. It also is variable speed so you can adjust to the size casing you're using. Its very easy to clean also but it is very heavy. Knock on wood but thus far I haven't had a moments problem with it - barring my brain fart which caused me to leave the main o-ring out. My only complaint with it would be the waste of mince when you finish. There will be about a pound or so left in the horn area but that's really not that much when you consider it will hold around 50 lbs and with someone linking and good quality casings I can empty it in about 15 minutes.

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Post by StefanS » Wed Jan 11, 2017 15:29

Thanks BB. It looks really nice. Some kind of "big little" stuffer.
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Butterbean
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Post by Butterbean » Sun Jan 15, 2017 04:47

Friend of mine got these today just a few miles east of me.

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Post by redzed » Sun Jan 15, 2017 17:34

Wow! you guys live in paradise! Are you helping out in the processing?
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Butterbean
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Post by Butterbean » Sun Jan 15, 2017 18:36

Legally, I have to say no on the processing. That is yet another license I haven't bothered to get.

I have and will do a few but only for myself and a few close friends.

We have some funny regulations when it comes to these things. I can't even give the meat to the prison. I know the USDA means well but sometimes you have to scratch your head in wonder.

For your own personal use, I could get you more pigs than you could ever use in the next few months. Deer season is out so we can run the pigs with dogs so they will be harvesting a lot of them and most farmers welcome the pig hunters on their property. Year before last, my neighbor across the river killed 60 on his property and most of these went to waste. This is sad, because the meat is really good in that they have a lot of fat in relation to the actual flesh so they perfect for what we do. Its just they lack that little blue stamp of approval and the animal must be alive for inspection to get this stamp.
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Post by nuynai » Mon Jan 16, 2017 15:51

Hey BB. Question I've got is are those Russian boars, as opposed to feral swine. The hair, body shape, etc lead me to think they're Russian boar. Red, things aren't always as they appear. We don't have feral swine here in WNY but some guys are trying to introduce them. A whitetail deer will have 1 to 3 fawns once a year and some say we are overrun by them. Feral swine will have 2 litters of 5 to 6 babies twice a year. Do the numbers and you'll see why BB's neighbors and others are overrun by feral swine. Next introduce government Bravo Sierra and you can see why nobody wants this problem. They cause BILLIONS of $$$$$$ of damage to farms, land, etc. to southern states of US. I'd like to have something to hunt in the off seasons for meat but looking at the big picture, I'd rather not.
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Post by Butterbean » Tue Jan 17, 2017 02:34

Your math on the population growth is spot on I think. One then lacking is the damage they do to your deer population. The deer will essentially leave because the pigs are such efficient feeders. They are a problem but they are definitely a solution to feeding the needy - IF ONLY. Killing one of these will pretty well fill your freezer.

I don't know if these have any Russian in them or not. Supposedly, we do have some in the area but I couldn't tell one from the other except for the large tusks the Russians have. I live south of Abbeville, which has a lot of Russian pigs and they say they have bred with the feral's and have created some monster pigs which are said to be quite vicious when cornered.

Having them here is bittersweet. In a perfect world I would kill a hog for every two deer I kill. That would be perfect.
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redzed
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Post by redzed » Tue Jan 17, 2017 05:29

The three in the pic definitely have a lot if not all European Wild boar in them. The ones from Russia are essentially the same species but tend to be huge. And not only do they do a lot of damage to crops and native habitat, they can be quite dangerous if cornered. The meat, however, is fantastic for sausage, adding another dimension of flavour.
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