Cured, smoked, but uncooked pork loin.

markjass · Post by **markjass** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 04:35

At long last I have some spare time. I have dried cured some pork loin. I have cold smoked it (problem with the gas burner). I have a couple of options.
1. I can slowly bake it in the oven to reach the required temperature.
2. Now dry it in my temperature and humidity chamber.
3. I can fry it up uncooked (I do not want it as dry as I normally make it.

Now this is what I am interested in. As it is cured, but not cooked and not air dried is it safe to eat (do not plan on doing that). How long will it keep in its present form?

I am going to use some of the 'bacon' (can I call it that?) in cassoulet. I am going to use chicken as I have no duck (do have some rendered duck fat) and I am going to use my version of Saucisson a L'ail (garlic sausage) in it as well.

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 12:50

If you can certify the pork as of pathogens you can safely eat it uncooked and cured and smoked. All f the other methods of use result in cooking.

Post by **redzed** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 16:27

Like Ross stated, you can eat the cured and cold smoked loin as long as it is certified and you understand the risk. CW has recently posted a ton info about the nasties that can inhabit pork. In Canada raw cured pork loin is sold as pea meal bacon (although these days it's rolled in corn meal). It is the predecessor to what the Americans call Canadian Bacon after they smoked it. Pea meal bacon is not meant to be eaten raw, but usually sliced, fried and eaten with eggs or added to soups and stews. The Poles have a product called polędwica łososiowa (salmon style pork loin). It is a cured and cold smoked loin meant to be eaten like cold smoked salmon. Check out this link:
http://www.sweetpoland.com/component/vi ... gory_id=22

As far as how long the loin would keep, I would keep in the fridge for up to a week and if I was not planning to eat it within that period, I would freeze it.

Give it a bit of sizzle before you put it into the cassoulet and it should be primo!

markjass · Post by **markjass** » Sat Sep 13, 2014 12:22

Ihave decided to go three ways:
1. Baked 1/3 to 56 degrees c will use for bacon
2. 1/3 will air dry
3. 1/3 will use in cassoulet and eat (tastes amazing).

In NZ there is no certified organic pork (as far as I know). The reason is that at certain times of the year supplementary feed is used and the producers cannot guarantee that this imported feed does not contain soya products which is not organic also, because markets are so small the cost of meting organic certification is prohibitively expensive. The pork I use is from a farm where the pigs are free range antibiotics are only used for disease and sows give birth in lean to's.

Earlier this year I visited the farm and its shop. I took in pictures of how I wanted a pig cut up. I then returned two days later and the butcher had cut up half a pig as to how I wanted it. Certain parts I wanted boned. He kept the bone and skin for me so I could use. The only part he could not give me is the liver, law, I did not moan to him as I know the local law

markjass · Post by **markjass** » Sun Sep 14, 2014 03:44

In the making of the bacon I changed three things and this has changed the taste a great deal. The bacon tastes far more smoked almost over smoked to me (I smoked it for 4 hrs) and much more salty (use 30 g per kg).

Part of the change may be due to the lack of a fat cap, at most 4 mm. The skin was intact. I cut the sugar down from 18g per kg to 4 g per kg. I do not know if the lower ratio of sugar affected the salty taste. I suspect it has done.

I also only soaked it for an hour rather than 2 hrs. The other thing I did was baked it to an internal temperature of 56 rather than 68 degrees. The bacon was slightly less dry.