CURING, SMOKING AND PICKLING
Rec.Food.Preserving FAQ
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ) in the group preserving
Curing/Smoking Meats and Vegetables
No author
represented in this FAQ is qualified to establish scheduled processes nor
is any author a competent processing authority in the sense of 21 CFR 113.83
et alia.
1. [What do I *really* need to know about curing foods, and what makes this
different from pickling?]
Sometimes the difference between pickling and curing is semantic, but gen-
erally curing is salting, etc, without the second acid step. Again, by add-
ing the salt or sugar, you dehydrate the food sufficiently to stop microbial
growth. Examples of salt curing: salt pork, olives, anchovies, herring, lox;
sugar curing: crystallized flowers, syrups, fruit "cheeses", jam/jelly, Vir-
ginia ham. Lye (NaOH) treated foods include olives, hominy, lutefisk--per-
haps lye changes the food sufficiently so that no self-respecting spoiler
would grow on it (grin).
1. [What do I *really* need to know about smoking food?]
Smoking food in order to preserve it is a bit different than smoking food on
the barbeque. Generally, the meat or fish to be smoked is salt cured, which
preserves the tissue throughout, then is smoked either for flavor, or to pre-
serve the surface of the meat. Other items can be smoked to preserve them
and concentrate their flavors, e.g smoked hot peppers. Smoking provides the
flavor, but dehydration preserves the pepper. If you are smoking or curing
meat, you need to be concerned the health of the animal (i.e. trichina).
1. MEAT CURING AND SMOKING
Compliments of Richard Thead
(C) Copyright 1995 Richard Thead. All rights reserved.
[--N.B. This is *not* the most current edition of the meat curing/smoking FAQ.
The most recent versions are on the Web, at URL http://www.azstarnet.com/
~thead/msfaq.html. I put this file in simply to give the reader an idea of
what this FAQ contains. --LEB]
Cures described herein are not representative of those prescribed in 9 CFR
318 et al. for commercial applications. They are for general information
purposes only. No HACCP procedures have been included in this information.
----------------- I. Curing -------------
[Why is meat cured?]
For a couple of reasons. One is safety. When meat is cold smoked
its temperature often stays in the danger zone for several hours or
days. Many environmental factors of this treatment are such that
the growth of dangerous bacteria is greatly accelerated. The
curing of the meat inhibits this growth.
The other reason is traditional preparation. There are many curing
techniques that were developed in the days before refrigeration
that are continued today for traditional reasons. A good example is
corned beef.
Old time butcher shops closed every weekend. Ice, the
only refrigerant available, could not dependably hold
fresh meat for two days. To keep unsold meat from
going to waste, the butcher soaked the meat in a strong
brine or covered it with coarse salt to trigger osmosis.
The grains of salt were called "corn" in England, and the
name "corned beef" stuck with the product. [1]
[What is osmosis?]
Osmosis is the movement of water across a membrane from weak solutions
toward strong solutions. [1]
[What is meant by "the danger zone"?]
The "danger zone" is the temperature range between 40 and 140
degrees F. When uncured meat remains in this range for more than 2 hours
the growth of dangerous bacteria increases to a dangerous level.
[What other factors affect the growth of bacteria?]
When meat is smoked, the environment is robbed of most if its
oxygen.
If this is combined with temperatures between 40 and 140F, the growth
of the bacteria that causes botulism is increased.
[What is botulism?]
Botulism is an intoxication of the bacteria clostridium botulinum.
This bacteria is anaerobic meaning that it requires an environment
relatively free of oxygen to multiply. It also requires a moist
environment and temperatures between 40 and 140F. The symptoms of
botulism are sore throat, vomiting, blurred vision, cramps, diarrhea,
difficulty breathing, and central nervous system damage (including
paralysis). Symptoms usually occur within 12 to 36 hours. The fatality
rate is up to 70%. [2]
[What are the commonly used curing compounds?]
Salt, sugar, sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate. Salt and sugar both
cure meat by osmosis. In addition to drawing the water from the food,
they dehydrate and kill the bacteria that make food spoil. In general,
though, use of the word "cure" refers to processing the meat with either
sodium nitrite or sodium nitrate.
Sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate are the basis for two commercially
used products: Prague powders #1 and #2. Prague powder #1 is a mixture
of 1 part sodium nitrite and 16 parts salt. The chemicals are combined
and crystallized to assure even distribution. Even though diluted, only
4 ounces of Prague powder #1 is required to cure 100 lbs of meat. A
more typical measurement for home use is 1 tsp per 5 lbs of meat.
Prague powder #2 is a mixture of 1 part sodium nitrite, .64 parts sodium
nitrate and 16 parts salt. It is primarily used in dry-curing.
One other commonly available curing product is Morton's Tender Quick.
It is a mixture of salt, sodium nitrite, sodium nitrate and sugar. Ask
your butcher or grocer to stock it for you.
[Where can these compounds be obtained?]
If you are chummy with a local butcher who does curing, maybe (s)he
will sell you a small quantity. Otherwise, the Sausage Maker offers all
items mentioned here and elsewhere in this FAQ mail order. See the
books section for a phone number where you can obtain a catalog.
[What is spray pumping?]
It is the process of injecting the meat with cure using a special
purpose needle. [Special purpose needle and syringe is called a stitch
pump--can get this item from either the Morton's Salt Company or the
Embarcadero Home Cannery, addresses are in part 6 of this FAQ.--LEB]
[What's trichinosis?]
It is an infestation of trichinae. The parasites invade the voluntary
muscles causing severe pain and edema. It can be avoided by ensuring
that cooked pork reaches an internal temperature of 150 degrees F.
[If my cured pork doesn't reach a safe temperature, what about
trichinosis?]
Trichinae can also be killed by freezing the pork according to the
following chart:
Temperature Grp1-days Grp2-days
----------- --------- ---------
5 deg F 20 30
-10 deg F 10 20
-20 deg F 6 12
Group 1 comprises product in separate pieces not exceeding 6" in
thickness or arranged on separate racks with the layers not
exceeding 6" in depth.
Group 2 comprises product in pieces, layers or within containers
the thickness of which exceeds 6" but not 27". [3]
[What about dry-curing sausages and meats?]
I'll leave this topic open for someone with real experience. The dry
climate in Tucson makes it difficult to maintain the ideal 70% relative
humidity required for dry-curing so I've never even tried.
-------------- II. Smoking -------------
[What is the difference between smoke cooking and curing?]
Pretty simple; Smoke cooking is done at higher temperatures in order
to cook the meat. Smoke curing is really just smoking cured meat or sausage.
[What are the proper temperatures for smoke cooking meat?]
I prefer to keep the temperature around 220F. This means the
temperature *at* the meat. I use a large log burning smoking pit with
an offset firebox so it's easy to maintain this. In an upright water
smoker you will have trouble keeping the temperature this low, since the
heat builds up at the top where the meat is. You can achieve decent
results with a water smoker, but the cooking time will be shorter and
the depth of smoke penetration will be less. My briskets and pork
shoulders smoke for 20-24 hours; pork ribs and loin roasts take less
time.
[How important is temperature control during smoke curing?]
Very. If you are smoking sausages, excess heat will melt the fat out
and leave the final product dry and crumbly. This I know from
experience. Here, we're talking about temperatures around 140F,
although it varies from recipe to recipe. This is very difficult to
maintain in a wood burning smoker. Mine has a slow smoking section
farthest away from the fire. With experience, I've learned to control
the temperature in this section without overdamping the air inlet. Some
other meats, like bacon and ham, are a little more tolerant of higher
heat, but it can affect the quality of the final product.
The best solution is a thermostat controlled gas or electric slow
smoker like those sold by the Sausage Maker (see sources). These are
not good general purpose smokers, in my opinion. I just don't think
they do nearly as well as a log burning pit for smoke cooking.
Unfortunately for the many water smoker owners, they just won't do for
slow smoking--don't even bother trying.
[Is closing down the air inlet dampers a good way to keep the
temperature down?]
If you keep the temperature low by closing down the inlet dampers, the
smoke gets thick and sooty and produces an unattractive and bitter
coating on the surface of the meat. I prefer to keep the fire burning
more freely and control the temperature by providing some draft between
the fire and the meat.
[What are the various woods used for smoking?]
Alder
The traditional wood for smoking salmon in the Pacific
Northwest, alder also works well with other fish. It has a
light delicate flavor.
Apple and Cherry
Both woods produce a slightly sweet, fruity smoke that's mild
enough for chicken or turkey, but capable of flavoring a ham.
Hickory
Hickory is the king of the woods in the Southern barbeque belt,
as basic to the region's cooking as cornbread. The strong,
hearty taste is perfect for pork shoulder and ribs, but it also
enhances any red meat or poultry.
Maple
Mildly smoky and sweet, maple mates well with poultry, ham, and
vegetables.
Mesquite
The mystique wood of the past decade, mesquite is also America's
most misunderstood wood. It's great for grilling because it
burns very hot, but below average for barbecuing for the same
reason. Also, the smoke taste turns from tangy to bitter over
an extended cooking time. Few serious pitmasters use mesquite,
despite a lot of stories about its prevalence in the Southwest.
Oak
If hickory is the king of barbecue woods, oak is the queen.
Assertive but always pleasant, it's the most versatile of
hardwoods, blending well with a wide range of flavors. What it
does to beef is probably against the law in some states.
Pecan
The choice of many professional chefs, pecan burns cool and
offers a subtle richness of character. Some people call it a
mellow version of hickory. [5]
[Rick, do you have any politically incorrect views about smoke cooking
that you enjoy getting flamed about?]
Don't get me started.
--------------III. Specific Foods -------------
[Can I make a Smithfield Ham at Home?]
These are unique since the hams come from only peanut-fed hogs. They
are worked with cure for 30-45 days. Then they are smoked for at least
7 days and left in the smokehouse for another 6 months. "The Smithfield
ham or a reasonable facsimile is rather difficult to produce unless you
have a steady supply of peanuts and a huge smokehouse 3-4 stories high."
[3]
[How do I make my own bacon at home?]
It is my experience that bacon is the easiest product to produce at
home and the results are as good as, or better than, the best
commercially produced bacon.
I use Morton Tender Quick and brown sugar. Rub down a slab of fresh
bacon (pork belly) with a liberal quantity of the Tender Quick. You
can't really use too much but a cup or so should do. Then follow with a
thorough rub of brown sugar (again, start with a cup or so). Then place
the meat in heavy plastic and allow to cure for 7 days at 38F. I use a
small refrigerator for this. I run a remote temperature probe inside
and monitor the temperature, tweaking the thermostat when necessary.
The temperature is important; too low (below 36F) and the curing action
will cease, too high (above 40F) and the meat will begin to spoil. I
also cut the pork belly in two and cure it with the meat surfaces face
to face and the skin on the outside. It helps it fit in the fridge and
improves the curing action. I then smoke it at 140-150F until the
internal temperature of the pork reaches 128F (about 8 to 10 hours). I
find it best to remove the skin about 3/4 of the way through the smoking
process. This way the fat is protected but still acquires some color.
Chill overnight before using.
If you are using Prague Powder #1, mix 2 oz with 1 lb of salt and use
like the Tender Quick.
Other sugars can be used instead of brown sugar. Try honey or even
some maple syrup.
[How do I make my own corned beef?]
For best results, use trimmed briskets.
Start with a curing brine. This recipe comes from [3] and makes
enough for 25 lbs of meat.
5 quarts ice water (about 38-40F)
8 oz. salt
3 oz. Prague Powder #1
3 oz. powdered dextrose
Spray pump the briskets to about 12-15% of their original weight.
After pumping, the briskets are packed in a vat, and sprinkled with
whole pickling spice. If more than one brisket is done at a time, pack
them flesh to flesh with the fat sides out. Add enough brine to cover
and allow to cure for 3-4 days at 38-40F. The meat is then ready to use
(but still requires cooking).
[What is pastrami and how do I make my own?]
For best results, use trimmed briskets.
Start with a curing brine. This recipe comes from [3] and makes
enough for 25 lbs of meat.
5 quarts ice water (about 38-40F)
8 oz. salt
5 oz. Prague Powder #1
5 oz. powdered dextrose
1 Tb garlic juice
Prepare and cure as for corned beef. After curing, remove from brine
and rub liberally with cracked black pepper and coriander seeds. Smoke
at 140F until the meat is dry and then increase smoker temperature to
200-220F and hold until internal temperature of meat reaches 170-180F.
Chill overnight before using. This meat is fully cooked.
[How do I make beef jerky?]
There are a jillion recipes for jerky--take a look in the recipe archives.
[There is a template recipe in the Dehydration section; you can find an arc-
hive at ftp.rtd.com:/pub/rthead/jerky.rcp]
--LEB)
I prefer a teriyaki-based marinade (use 1/2 tsp of Prague
Powder #1 or 1 tsp of Tender Quick for safety) with other spices,
lightly smoked. My recipe is not for publication, but it's nothing out
of the ordinary. Experiment with your own combinations of spices and
find something you like.
-------------- IV. Other Sources (besides this FAQ) -------------
BOOKS:
Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing (1984). Rytek Kutas.
Self published. Can be obtained from the author at The Sausage
Maker Inc./ 26 Military Road/ Buffalo NY 14207. (716)-876-5521.
-------------- V. References -------------
[1] Food Science--Osmosis, Rita Sorci Planey, "Fine Cooking",
Aug/Sep 1994, pp 12,13
[2] The New Professional Chef (1991). The Culinary Institute of
America.
[3] Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing (1984), Rytek Kutas.
[4] On Food and Cooking (1984), Harold McGee.
[5] Smoke and Spice (1994), Jamison and Jamison.
Please direct questions, comments, criticisms, and contributions to:
Richard Thead
thead@azstarnet.com -or-
thead@igate1.hac.com
----
Extras:
1. [I bagged my deer. Now what do I do?]
Subject: Venison Processing FAQ, final version
From: pleasure@netcom.com (Tanith Tyrr)
**Since I've been asked for inclusion in a FAQ, I figured I'd go over this
account and do it right. Here's a pretty well complete tutorial on what
to do with Bambi (or more accurately Faline) when you pot one. Reprint or
archive it anywhere you want electronically, just credit the author.
Enjoy!**
"Euwwww," cry the husband/wife/children of the mighty hunter who has just
dragged home the antlered kill. "This stuff is gamy and yucky. Do we
hafta eat it?"
Disappointed, and maybe secretly agreeing with the spouse and kids, the
mighty hunter chokes down his or her portion of venison and declaims in a
hearty voice that it's perfectly good and really just like beef if you
grind it into burgers and mix it with salt pork so you can't taste the
deer.
This is a rather sad scenario that has undoubtedly been played out more
times than most hunters (and cooks) care to think about. Why? It isn't
because venison is a poor quality meat; far from it. The finest chefs
serve medallions of venison braised with sauce Perigourdine and Merlot in
their fancy restaurants, and they get a hefty price for it because they
know how to cook it properly to maximize the enjoyable flavor. More
importantly, they know how to obtain it from the right source, which is a
young and healthy animal in prime eating condition.
The majority of game that tastes gamy, nasty, raunchy, sour or just plain
awful does so for one of two reasons: either you messed up in the process
of picking a target or you didn't treat the meat properly after you killed
it - sadly common outcomes among today's generation of sport hunters who
kill for antlers and not for meat.
Pick and treat your meat properly in the first place, and you will not
have any gaminess to worry about, nor will you need to disguise the fine
taste of properly prepared venison with strong flavored marinades.
Venison which is butchered quickly and professionally with a high standard
of hygiene and care is comparable to the finest cuts of lean beef - only
better and more flavorful - and it has absolutely no gamy or unpleasant
taste.
However, if you pick an animal to shoot that is not a good meat animal,
for reasons of age, sex or rutting condition, you don't have anybody to
blame save yourself if the results are not pleasant. If you shoot an old,
tough, nasty buck in rutting condition because you want trophies, your
dinner will taste crappy and you will have silly pointy things to hang on
your wall and brag about. Enjoy your bragging rights and choke on your
tough, testosterone-laden dinner, and don't say you weren't warned.
If you want to eat as opposed to rustically decorate your fireplace,
eyeball out a young doe with a nice chunky brisket-shaped chest bespeaking
plenty of fat. Look for graceful rounding in the hindquarters as well;
you want fat hams, and the rump is where well-fed deer tend to put on padding.
Choose your target not for massive size or horned protuberances, but for
a body conformation that indicates a plump, young, tasty meat animal.
Read agricultural texts or butchering handbooks for better information on
how to judge this, and study the pictures of cows, pigs and sheep
carefully until you are confident that you know by the eye at least some
of the characteristics that distinguish a fine meat animal from a poor
one. Then go out hunting; your taste buds will be better pleased with
the results.
Some folks say that wild game fat is rancid; I suspect that these are the
trophy-hunting folks who want to go shooting aged, tough males for the
dinner table. Silly people. If you must take bucks, take the spikes; an
old animal is a tough animal. You wouldn't eat a cow that old, would you?
Well, maybe you would, but my palate will take a pass, thanks. I'll take
the plump young meat animals every time, preferably 18 months to 2 years
old.
Fresh yellow-white fat from a well-marbled deer which has been grazing in
somebodies' cornfield is perfectly good food; the main danger here is eating
too much of it and getting fatty deposits on your hindquarters your own self.
;P Check each carcass as you process it by frying a small portion of the
fat and tasting it; individuals can vary. But don't chuck this lovely stuff
until you have at least tried it. Venison confit crocked in its own fat and
drained is stunningly spectacular with garlic mashed potatoes and sun-dried
cranberry sauce, among other things, and the sizzling fat from a side of
deer ribs popping and browning over the fire is an almost primal trigger to
the hunter's appetite.
If you want this clean-tasting fat, don't hunt in areas where the deer are
known for desperate grazing habits; strong tasting fodder can and does affect
the taste of both fat and muscle meat. You'll figure it out if you shoot an
otherwise good meat animal and it tastes like a pine pitch and mud marinade.
Grouse is game that is famous for this problem in particular, but deer suffer
from it too if they're browsing too much on scrub or tree bark. Get as quick
a kill as you can, for mercy's sake and also for the meat's sake; an animal
that dies in pain and fear is not as good eating as an animal that dies quick
and clean.
So much for the hunting precautions. On to the butchering. Once you kill
the animal, draw it as quickly as possible. Forget any silliness about
cutting its throat; if you must finish it with a mercy stroke, use a brisket
stick, thrusting your knife into the brisket at first a straight then an
upward angle to sever the arteries around the heart. See a good butcher's
handbook for pictures and information on the correct method of brisket
sticking.
If you are not confident you can do an accurate brisket stick and the
animal must be put down quickly, use a throat stab, not a throat slice.
Insert (stab) the knife blade side facing outward as close to the animal's
spine on the throat side as possible. Pull straight forward with a single
swift move until everything from the front of the spine out to the throat
is severed. This technique reliably severs a throat; slicing tends to be
useless and unnecessarily cruel if you do not have the strength or the
expertise to do it properly. Often, an inexperienced hunter will miss one
or both jugulars or cut insufficiently deep to bleed the animal out
quickly using the slice technique. The stabbing technique essentially
can't miss and it *removes* the throat from the spine out, also severing
the windpipe.
If you are approaching a downed deer that is still alive, approach from
the back if possible. Those hooves are razor sharp and horns are no joke
either. If you can get on its back and an arm around a doe's neck forcing
the chin up, the throat stab-and-pull maneuver is easy and finishes the
deer rapidly. If your downed quarry has antlers, use them as handles and
pull the head up this way instead. Speed is of the essence; every second
your downed quarry remains alive, terrified and struggling increases its
suffering and decreases the quality of your fine steaks and chops.
Expect there to be some struggling and continued attempts to breathe even
after the throat is severed. If this bothers you, sever the spine just
between the skull and the first vertebrae with the deft insertion of a
knife. WARNING - Don't attempt this technique on a live deer until you
have practiced it and can do it reliably and quickly, one-handed, on a
dead deer.
There is a reason I don't advocate spine severing, eye stabs or braincase
stabs as the first method of dispatch - it's dangerous, as the knife can
slip on a struggling animal and hurt you badly.
It's better to wait for a clean shot in the beginning, but should you miss
and cripple, it is your responsibility to finish the animal as quickly as
possible. Some hunters use a second bullet or arrow at this stage, but
there are certainly reasons to prefer finishing with a knife. Should you
wish to save the blood, mix it immediately with vinegar in roughly 10-1
blood to vinegar proportions to use in a civet or sauce. You have about
one to two minutes before it clots completely and is unusable for most
culinary purposes.
Get those innards outwards as quickly as possible and wash and/or wipe the
carcass down with a towel. If you have to field transport, leave the skin
on, but get the skin off as soon as you make it to camp and get the
temperature of that carcass down by any means you can, as fast as you can.
A carcass left at blood temperature will quickly sour and ruin good meat,
and getting the skin off helps heat to dissipate. Ice can be helpful, but
be aware that moisture is not a good thing in general for meat, so you
want to keep it dry if possible as well as cold.
To start processing Bambi, fist the hide off the deer while it is still
warm from the kill, and mind those thin stringy flat pieces of muscle
under the forelegs that will stick to the hide and make your job a pain if
you don't catch them early on and separate them by slashing lightly ahead
of the muscle and into the silvery-white, slimy translucent membrane that
separates muscle and hide. Pliers may help in getting the "slippers" off
from the lower legs. Watch out for those nasty hairs that get stuck in
the membrane and take forever to wash out. Pull that hide and get it off
your butchering floor. Plastic tarps are your friend.
Don't pull the membrane from the muscle (the silverskin) if you plan to
hang the meat. Personally, I don't age venison if it's a fat young doe,
but that's a matter of taste. Once you've hung the meat, you can trim
the silverskin, which should be a bit dry and hard in texture if you've hung
it right (and it might even be blackened; this is common enough for an
extended aging process). Some meat will go with it, but this is the price of aging.
I have two favorite ways to process a carcass. One of them is the
traditional gambrel hang, with a cross-hatched stick splitting the legs
and the deer hung from a tree. T'other, the one I pick when in my home
facilities under ideal conditions, is a waist-height table with a raised
metal surface which is holed to allow blood drainage.
Hang the deer up by its forelegs to let gravity do your work for you in
removing those unpleasant bits. Unzip the front end of the deer carefully
as you do not want the guts on your shoes in a hurry and by surprise, and
have a barrel lined with a big Hefty garbage sack between the deer's legs.
I make a *tiny* cut first, then slip my hand inside the carcass and keep
two cupped fingers on the back of the knife as I cut. This keeps the guts
from accidentally being slashed, which is as you probably can figure a
really disgusting mess. Unzip slowly and let the guts fall down unbroken
out of the slit you are making.
If you've done this technique right, you will have a mess of guts neatly
in the barrel. Urge them into the right place with your hands. Wear
latex gloves if you're fussy. Don't forget to get the stomach out too,
and carefully sever any connections between the stomach and other
organs. Let the stomach fall into the barrel; it's tough and won't
burst unless you were clumsy with the knife earlier. The rest of the
mass will likely remain attached; fish around the diaphragm (just
under the heart and lungs) with a short bladed knife that is not too
sharp and find the connections to cut when you're ready to dump the
stomach and guts. You may find it helpful to haul out the guts in your
fists and try to have the connective tissue visible before you cut into
it. Small scissors can also be invaluable at this stage.
Don't forget to tie off the bung and *carefully* find and remove the
bladder, or your meat will be unsanitary and smell funny. I once clumsily
dropped a deer bladder I had just carefully removed, and it burst on my
tennis shoes. The results were really unpleasant. Dispose of the bladder
carefully and don't let go of the tube on the other end until you have a
wastes bucket to dump it.
Likewise, cut off the bung (the intestine leading up from the rectum)
about eight inches from the bottom and tie it off carefully, after
squeezing its contents to clear the area of your cut. Tie off both ends
with a standard square knot. Without letting the cut ends touch flesh,
dump the stomach and attached guts into the waste bucket and push the
tied-off bung end through the rectum. Yes, I know this is gross. Do it
anyway. Wear latex gloves and discard them when you are done touching
these less than sanitary parts of the carcass. Take your knife and cut
out the deer's entire rectum, with some flesh around it, including the
tied-off bung. Carefully discard this unclean bit, without letting it
touch the meat. Wash your hands. Wash any meat which has come in contact
with this yuckiness very thoroughly, and cut out any discolored or suspect
pieces. Discard the guts and waste away from your butchering area.
You can then fish around and grab a tough bundle of flesh up past the
heart that is attaching the rest of the more solid innards to the carcass.
Cut it as high up inside as you can reach, and pull. The whole mess will
come down, so have another clean sack ready. This mess, except the green
bubble attached to the liver, is good eating - don't waste it. Wash it
well and save it on ice. You can eat the heart, the liver, the lungs, the
spleen and the diaphragm, though I recommend throwing the latter scrap of
tough flesh into the stock pot with the bones. Remove the nasty green
gallbladder from the liver carefully and pitch it along with stomach and
intestines.
You may wish to be extremely anal retentive about using all of your kill,
and try to get something out of the deer's less pleasant parts. I used to
be. Two experiences washing out deer stomach and intestines and using
them in haggis and sausage was enough to convince me to never mind. They
take hours to wash free of ick and they don't taste all that wonderful
anyhow. The only use for deer gall that I know of is authentically
medieval ink, which you make by mixing in pounded oak ashes. Not in my
food processor, thanks.
One small warning: the kidneys of a deer can range from flavorful to
pungent and disagreeable; you can either discard or soak in milk overnight
to reduce ammoniacal odor and taste. The kidneys of a rutting buck aren't
even worth discussing; no marinade can save them, except possibly turpentine.
There is only one recipe worth thinking about for buck kidneys in my opinion,
and it is this: bake the kidneys underneath a hot brick in the oven for 8
hours. When finished, discard the kidneys and eat the brick, which will
probably taste better.
Take a hose to the inside of the carcass once it is gutted out, or if you
are field butchering away from a water source, wipe down with a damp cloth
thoroughly. Dry the meat with a clean towel before proceeding. If the
day is hot, throw some ice in the carcass instead and skip the dry towel -
the moisture content of the meat might suffer, but the temperature is more
important.
At this point, you have a whole mess of tasty and hopefully clean-smelling
meat ready for your processing. You can hang at this stage if you like (I
don't, especially with a doe whose hindquarters are covered in nice yellow
fat - mmmm!), but you can also proceed to dismember into neat freezer
and fridge packages. A fresh-killed deer keeps a surprisingly long time
in the refrigerator, but your results may vary depending on the condition
and holding temperature of your refrigerator.
I separate the meat into: shanks for long braising (venison osso bucco is
delish!), two shoulders, two hams which I usually bone out, a whole saddle
roast (that's the butt end minus the bare bone you have left after the legs
are gone), a crown tenderloin roast with the backbone split in half and
about 6" of the ribs still on, two slabs of ribs for immediate BBQ slathered
in homemade sauce, the neck for stewing and the flank for scrap. You can
further reduce the saddle or the crown tenderloin roast into chops; it
depends on how many folks you want to invite over to eat.
Now, all of this is *damn* fine eating and the only parts I would turn into
burger or sausage would be the flank, the neck and the shoulders of a lean
deer. (A fat deer makes a nice shoulder roast!). The innards are nothing
to waste, either. Stuffed deer heart with breadcrumbs and onions and bacon
is marvellous, and if you're a medieval cook like I am, haggis is always in
the works when I get hold of a nice chunk of internals that includes spleen
and liver and lungs. Boiled deer tongue is not unlike beef tongue if you
are fond of such things, and you can also use the jowl and palate meat in
slivers in any French recipes calling for ox palate. Warning: skinning a
deer head really and truly sucks, so less than die-hard medieval recreation
enthusiasts may choose to skip this step. I've done it a number of times,
but since I managed to get carpal tunnel syndrome, I'm not sure I'll ever do
it again. It is some tedious and painful work, though you do get a nice
"deer face" that you can flesh out and tan to make an interesting hat or
shaman's pouch. Deer brains are good poached, but make sure you cook them
well and don't mind the bottfly larvae that you will occasionally find in
the nasal cavities of the skull as they're not uncommon to find. If you're
squeamish, don't delve in there at all.
Even the bones of a deer can provide some amazingly good eating. Cut the
bones into fairly small chunks (1-2") or have the butcher do it for you,
roast them until lightly browned and boil down with the scrap meat for 4-6
hours for venison demiglace, which stores for months in the freezer and
adds amazing flavor to all kinds of dishes.
If you must make sausage, make it well. Venison can actually make a very
good sausage product that showcases rather than disguises its unique
flavor. Much depends on whether you do the sausage "black" or "white"
style, ie, do you bleed and rinse the meat thoroughly first for a more
delicate product, or do you make a civet with the reserved blood mixed
with vinegar? The former will produce a mild, delicate product which
takes well to a bit of sage, basil and shallot in the mix. The latter
takes to onions and garlic or perhaps fennel or caraway. The middle
ground is to use fresh venison that is neither washed and beaten free of
blood or civetted, and much depends on the individual carcass - age, sex,
diet, condition, etc.
A lot of hunters ignorant of fine venison cuisine turn the works into
deerburgers or hash or sausage, trying to disguise its taste rather than
showcase it with fine cooking. I suppose if you shoot a rutting buck deer
and then don't gut it out before it sours, burgers or sausage or dogfood
is a reasonable destination for such a wasted kill. But geez Louise, if
you have a mountain of fine gourmet steaks and roasts and chops in front
of you and you make mush out of them or allow them to spoil, you have just
effectively pissed money away into the snow. Also it's bad karmic brownie
points, y'know? Eat what you kill. Don't waste good food, or the life of
an animal, senselessly. The Goddess is watching you. ;P
It is all very well I suppose to want to kill the biggest boy deer with
the biggest antlers if you wish to prove your fitness to rule the herd and
to mate with the does. I guess it's a phallic kind of guy thing. ;P
Since I'm not a guy, I'll just take good venison where I can get it and
never mind the big rack of antlers, a sure indication to me of a less than
prime meat animal.
Rare roasted venison, fragrant with bay leaves and garlic on a bed of wild
rice with pecans, is serious cuisine. Deer neck braised Moroccan style
with lemons and honey and olives is delicious over cumin-scented
couscous. Venison shanks osso bucco, steam-braised for hours in your
oven, will fill the house with its tantalizing perfume until the neighbors
sniff their noses into your yard and cry, "What's for dinner?"
In a rougher setting, wrap chunks of lean hind leg or whole tenderloins in
bacon and shishkebab them over the fire with a little cracked black
pepper, or throw a slab of deer ribs on the fire and baste at the last
minute with the best sauce your granny ever gave you a recipe for.
If you must make sausage, make it well. Don't disguise the taste of the
meat; enhance it with the freshest herbs and the finest ingredients. The
conventional wisdom is that deer fat is rancid; sometimes this is so and
more often in my experience it isn't. Fry a small piece and judge for
yourself for each carcass. If there isn't enough of it, add some fresh
pork fat of the best quality, and possibly some veal meat, which does not
overpower the venison as pork can do.
Venison should be done either rare or falling-off-the-bone well stewed for
the tougher cuts such as neck or shank. To enhance the meat, marinades
are permitted, but remember that if you've done your job well in selecting
a good animal and butchering it cleanly, you don't need to overpower any
gaminess with the marinade. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlots are traditional
companions of venison, and should you have some money to splurge, a fine
red Bordeaux from one of the great vineyards would also not be amiss. These
can be sipped along with the venison as well as making a fine marinade with
the addition of some fresh herbs, garlic and best quality olive oil.
Dry coatings for a venison roast are as good as marinade and in many cases
better; try powdered porcini mushrooms and pink peppercorns in seasoned
flour, or crushed dried chanterelles and hazelnuts as a crust before
roasting. Drizzle on some extra virgin olive oil for additional basting
on your lean meat. Herbs du Provence, with lavender and rosemary, can add
a note of delicate sweetness when balanced by the mellow sweet tang of
balsamic vinegar. Keep your aceto balsamico in a small spray bottle; you
will find it amazingly easy to do a thirty second spray-on "marinade" to
all sorts of meats and vegetables that way, and it can give a lovely
caramelized look and taste to dishes like mashed potatoes or baked savory
pies if you spray it on at the last minute.
To accompany venison, I recommend simple dishes with hearty, earthy
flavors - a duxelle of dark wild mushrooms perhaps, or wild rice with
roasted chestnuts and brandied dried cherries. The simplicity of fluffy
mashed potatoes drizzled with a bit of olive oil and served with a head of
softly sweet, caramelized roasted garlic always complements a good piece
of venison. Vegetables on the grill can be sprayed briefly with balsamic
vinegar and dipped in fine olive oil and herbs, and then seared briefly
before joining the tender pieces of meat and the creamy pillows of mashed
potatoes on your plate.
Any sauce you want to use on your high quality meat can of course be
enhanced with truffles, and if you find yourself the fortunate possessor
of some of this Perigourdine black gold, chop it very fine and simmer
gently in a simple sauce made from the roasting venison juices thickened
with a little cream and flour. Simmer (but do not boil) until your whole
kitchen is perfumed with the indescribably savory aroma of venison and
truffles. Then eat like the kings and queens of old, feasting on the
finest viands in your kingdom. Your deer deserves it, don't you think?
Not to mention the hunter.
Larousse Gastronomique gives recipes in plenty for venison done in this
royal style, often enhanced with foie gras or other delicacies or enclosed
in fine pastries. They knew how to properly treat a deer in that culinary
era, to be sure; and none went wasted or unappreciated by the serious
gourmet. The phenomemon of "deerburgers" is a modern abomination of
antler-mad sport hunters who care nothing for cuisine and consider venison
a mere by-product of the hunt instead of its object.
I have no moral qualms with hunting, but when it comes to wasting and mis-
treating fine meat, I will certainly have some words to say to the ignorant
boor who does not respect his kill enough to use it properly. (The mildest
are: Give it to me, you bozo, and I'll enjoy it properly if you're not
going to!)
However you cook your deer, you should certainly enjoy the rightful reward
of the hunt - the taste of venison in all its glory, not disguised but
showcased and enhanced by careful handling of the meat and respectful
cooking.
2. [Virginia Ham]
From dgill from the bbq mailing list at
bbq@AZStarNet. com:
CURING PORK VIRGINIA STYLE
The process of curing pork is essentially one of creating conditions favor-
able to good microbes and unfavorable to bad ones long enough for the meat
to absorb enough salt so that it won't rot before it is can be used. Before
refrigeration the primary objective was preservation but now curing is used
as a means to flavor meats. In addition to salt, sugars are used to enhance
the action of salt, improve flavor and keep the meat more moist and soft
during aging. Nitrates and nitrites are often included as anti-bacterial
agents, particularly effective against the botulism organism, but they tend
to make aged meat hard and dry.
Other seasonings such as black pepper, paprika, and red pepper are used as
flavorings and may have some preservative effects but I suspect that their
use is more psychological than functional.
Methods of naturally curing pork vary greatly in different areas because
of climate and other variables. Since curing conditions are unpredictable,
the methods I will describe are more art than science and procedures are
admittedly vague. The general principles are pretty simple, though, and
there is plenty of room for variations.
In the Tidewater area of Virginia, hogs are killed from mid-November to late
January. We try to pick a time when cold weather has settled in but we do
not expect it to get too cold. Once meat has frozen, it does not take the
cure properly and extended periods of warm weather (50 F ambient) before the
cure has penetrated will spoil the meat. Fresh meat freezes at 28 F but as
the cure is absorbed, the freezing temp is lowered. The ideal conditions for
the first phase, taking the cure, is about 38 F with relatively high humid-
ity. The curing process stops at meat temperatures below 34 F. and curing
time must be increased to compensate. Time varies depending on the cut and
weight from 2 weeks min. for bacon to over two months for large hams.
After the initial cure, the meat can stand a gradual warm-up through the
aging process. Good cures start with good meat. We raise our own hogs and
fatten them on a corn based ration supplemented by whatever is available -
stale bakery products, household garbage, etc. Garbage should not dominate
the ration as the fat will be soft. Top hogs weigh 220 pounds and yield
about a 16 pound ham. We like to cure hams between 20 and 30 pounds. Large
hams with adequate fat layers age better and don't dry out as much during
extended storage. Country cured hams will keep indefinitely but achieve their
full flavor after about one year when "white flecks" appear in the muscle.
We feed our hogs to 300 pounds or better but don't let them get too fat.
Some cuts may be slightly tougher with heavy hogs.
Hams, shoulders and bellies may be bought from packing houses and can be
ordered by butchers if you are not in position to grow your own. You may
have to buy box lots but make absolutely sure that the meat is fresh and
quickly chilled. Pork should be put in cure as soon as possible after
chilling and trimming but, properly handled, it can be a couple of days old.
I once bought ten, 25 pound hams that had been two days in transit to the
butcher and then were left in his cooler over the weekend. I lost the whole
batch! Those hams had also been trimmed excessively leaving little skin and
fat covering. As a result, I have gone back to raising my own so I know what
I have to work with. I am supposed to talk about curing bacon and I will get
around to it. As hams (and shoulders) are more valuable, demanding and
risky, the entire process is keyed to the larger cuts.
Curing and smoking facilities vary greatly. Traditional farm hamhouses/
smokehouses are windowless wood frame buildings about ten feet square with a
dirt floor. Wooden plank benches provide work areas for mixing the cure and
salting down meat. Joists are within reach and studded with 20 penny nails
for hanging meat. The dirt floor allows a higher humidity in winter and al-
lows a smoldering fire to be built inside - both for smoking and to keep
meat from freezing during extreme cold. Some hamhouses have external smoke
generators - simply a firebox with a stovepipe stuck through the wall. This
arrangement makes it easier to cold smoke for several days (or weeks) in the
spring without exceeding 100 F. and is essential if the smokehouse is made of
wood and insulated. Either the eaves are loosely fitted or there are oper-
able vents to allow for air exchange, especially during smoking, so that
there is adequate fresh air and the smoke does not become stale and acrid.
Openings are covered by fine screen mesh and the interior is kept dark to
discourage skippers (larvae of a small black fly which also likes pork).
My smokehouse follows the tradition except that the walls are poured concrete
and the roof is metal. The thick walls store a lot of heat and smooth out
daily temperature fluctuations. I have no smoke generator or operable vents
but there is plenty of air exchange at the eaves. In places where conditions
are not favorable, curing and smoking chambers with temperature and humidity
controls and a smoke generator can be easily fabricated or small cuts may be
cured in the refrigerator.
My dry cure is mixed by the "pour 'til it looks right" method. My daddy
showed me how. There was a request from a pork eater in Israel to provide
metric measurements. Unfortunately, I don't know how to convert the SAH
(Standard American Handful)! I buy plain (not iodized) dairy salt in 50
lb. bags from a farm supply co-op and other ingredients from one of the ware-
house retailers.
I had better stop writing and start posting. Sorry about the verbosity,
Rick, but it should be clear. Will finish this one soon and then talk
about bagged sausage - my favorite!
3. [Sausage]
From Bryan L. Gros :
If you're really nervous, just grind some pork (maybe 2 lbs). If you don't
get the leanest pork roast, you won't need to add fat. Or maybe just a lit-
tle. If you don't have enough fat, the sausage will be a bit dry. You can
often get fat for free from the meat guy at your local supermarket. Oh,
grind on the coarse plate.
Now to your ground pork add spices. For a spicy Italian, add about 1 Tbsp
salt, 2 tsp black pepper, 2 tsp (or whatever) of cayenne. I find that to
get really spicy sausage, use crushed red pepper rather than cayenne. Add
paprika for a more red color. Add chopped fresh parsley, about 8 cloves of
garlic, maybe some fresh basil.
Now mix real good and form a couple small patties. Cook the patties and try
it. Is it good? Add whatever you need.
You now have bulk sausage. If you want to stuff it in casings, that isn't
too hard with a Kitchen Aid. Grease the casings holder a little, slide the
casings on, and feed the sausage through the feeder. Having two people
helps, and it is a bit messy, but fairly quick. I'll try to post a couple
recipes if that is okay on this digest. I'd like to see others' recipes as
well as tips on smoking sausages.
[A couple of things you need to know about dry-curing sausage.]
From Paul Hinrichs :
Someone asked here a while back what Fermento was and, collectively, we got
them sort of an answer, that it was a starter culture for fermented sausages.
These are of the general family of dry-cured sausages and the process making
these has been greatly accelerated and made more dependable by Fermento (or
Lactocel, a similar product).
Specifically, there are two stages in dry-curing. The first is called pan
curing. It takes about 3 days at 37 degrees and is used specifically to
allow time for some of the NaNO3 (saltpeter) to convert to NaNO2 (sodium
nitrite), which is the inhibiting agent for _C. botulinum_. The disadvantage
of this 3 day wait is that worked meats become harder to stuff into casings
since it "sets" some, becoming more viscous. Lactocel accelerates this es-
sential conversion process by using a _micrococcus aurantiacus_ culture which
converts NO3 to NO2 more rapidly. Products using Prague Powder #3 do not
require pan curing at all, since this already has nitrites (as well as nit-
rates for the longer run) in it.
Second process is called greening. It takes place after stuffing and is the
time that fermentation takes place, in which sugar is converted to lactic
acid for the characteristic "tangy" flavor. This would normally take 10 days
at 73 degrees F. However, with the _lactobacillus planarum_ starter present
in both Lactocel and Fermento, greening takes place in about 16 hours at 85
degrees F. The drying process used with these sausages (the period in which
the nitrates come into play for long term safety, converting to the _clo-
stridium_-inhibiting nitrites slowly) still takes 10-90 days, depending on
the type of product being made, but the use of starter cultures reduces the
13 days needed for pan curing and greening to a mere 16 hours.
3. [Salami]
From Paul Hinrichs :
Here's the salami recipe I concocted/adapted:
2 1/2 pounds pork butt, trimmed lean, ground through 3/8" plate
2 1/2 pounds beef shoulder (both of these were on sale for $1.49 a
pound), ground through 1/8" plate
1 pound bacon, diced into 1/8" cubes (easier with homemade bacon
because it's more firm than most store-bought)
3 tablespoons corn syrup solids
1 tablespoon freshly-cracked pepper
1/2 tablespoon whole pepper
1 tablespoon cardamom
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon nutmeg
4 cloves smoked garlic
1 cup soy protein concentrate
1 slightly-bulging teaspoon Prague Powder #2
1 1/2 cup Gamay Beaujolas
I mixed the meats together around noon and let them chill until early evening.
Then, I mixed together all the other ingredients in the blender, adding wine
until it became the consistency of pancake batter. This all went into a well
in the middle of the meat, then got kneaded in. Meanwhile, I had been soak-
ing some 3 1/2" fibrous casings in vinegar, which keeps them from sticking
to the meat. I stuffed them in about 10" lengths and got 3 and a half
salamis. These went into the smoker at 100 degrees and at 8 o'clock in the
evening. There they stayed while I napped until midnight. Then I cranked up
the smoker to 130 degrees F for one hour.
Time to smoke 'em! Temperature raised to 150 F and a pan of sawdust in the
smoker. By 3am, the first pan was gone, so I added another and went back to
bed. When I got up at 6am, I cranked up the temperature to 165 and got a cup
of coffee. It's now 8:30 and I'm ready to finish them off by steam-cooking
them. I'll put a pan of boiling water in there until they get to 152 degrees
internally, shower them down to 120 so they don't shrivel, then let 'em
"bloom" until noon when they'll hit the fridge to set up solid.
I am hoping the various textures of meat add a nice touch, but you never
really know until you slice it.
4. [Does anyone know of a mail order source for kosher beef casings?]
From our Thomas Jefferson of rec.food.preserving, Paul Hinrichs
:
Both the Sausage Maker (1-716-876-5521) and Stuffer's Supply Company
(1-800- 615-4474) sell beef and lamb casings. I am not aware of the slaughtering
requirements for a casing to be deemed "kosher", but if all that is needed is
for the product to be free of blood, then these will pass.
You might also check the Con Yeager Spice Company, who I've been told have
very reasonable prices. I don't have their number, but I believe their web-
site is http://www.nauticom.net/w-pa/yeager.htm. It shows mainly spices for
sausage making, but you can get a list of stuff available mail order by
calling 1-800-222-2460 or faxing 1-412-452-6171.
5. [Pickled beef.]
From Sallie Montuori :
A while ago, somebody requested recipes for pickling beef. This weekend I
finally saw my mother long enough to winkle out of her our family recipe.
Please note that amounts are approximate at best, and I'm sure someone is
going to point out that the traditional method is an invitation to food poi-
soning in one or more ways for a variety of reasons.
Spiced Beef (Christmas tradition, made in early December)
1 small box each ground cloves and ground allspice (about 1 oz.?)
1 1/2 cups salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons saltpeter (optional; all it really does is keep the meat pink)
4 to 10 pounds of boneless beef. My mother uses chuck because she likes the
taste; her grandmother used prime rib, boned, rolled, and tied. The
tougher cuts work fine, since it gets sliced paper-thin in the end.
In a non-reactive container (hereafter referred to as "the crock", although a
large bowl with a plate to cover works fine) large enough for all ingredients,
mix the spices, salt and sugar. Rub the saltpeter into the beef, then drop
it into the crock and rub the spice mixture into it. (You may want to use
rubber gloves to save on scrubbing your hands.) Cover and set out from under
foot; the garage works fine in the winter when this is traditionally done.
Use the fridge if you'd rather.
Every day for 7 to 14 days (depending on the size of the piece(s) of meat
you're curing), turn the meat and rub more of the spice mixture into it.
After a day or so, the mixture will be wet from the meat juices. Try not to
overcure the meat; it will get dry.
After the meat is cured, you need to cook it. Do this on a day you weren't
planning on doing anything else!
In a large, non-reactive pot, put a rack on the bottom to keep the meat from
sitting and burning. Wipe as much of the spice mixture off the meat as you
can, then put it on the rack, and add cold water to cover. Bring slowly to a
boil; reduce heat and simmer until the meat floats. This will take a couple
of hours for a small piece, longer for a larger one. Turn the heat off and
let the meat cool in the pot (again, allow a few hours). Wrap (not in alum-
inum foil) and store in the refrigerator.
6. [Sources for wood chips for smoking.]
From: Kit@maine.com/ eskwired@shore.net
I obtained a bag of lump natural harwood charcoal. It comes from Brookline
Ice & Coal. (617)232-0941. I called my local hardware store and they are
going to start carrying it. Maybe yours will too.
Kit--
... I called them up--they said that they manufacture the charcoal themsel-
ves, using only oak and hickory. $7.75 for 20 lbs. They carry apple, mes-
quite and hickory chunks at $12 for 50 lbs. They also carry 1 in chips of
maple, cherry, apple and mesquite for $1 per lb. [1996 prices--LEB]
2. VEGETABLE/FISH CURING AND SMOKING
E.2.1 {Salt curing items.]
E.2.1.1 [How do I cure olives?]
MMMMmmm. Nothing I like better than a home cured olive, and they are very
easy to make. All that's required is patience, yer olives, a rolling pin or
a paring knife, canning salt and a non-reactive container.
You can cure olives at nearly any stage, but the really tiny green ones
aren't worth it. Green olives are green colored; red ripe olives have a
reddish 'blush' to them (if you have olives, you know what I mean); black
(or dead) ripe olives are deep black throughout. Just make sure that the
black ripe olives are still firm, and don't cure 'drops', olives that have
fallen to the ground. You've got several choices, depending on your cur-
iousity and your fanaticism.
Water curing. (For the most fanatic)
Generally you water cure the big green ones, right before they turn red.
You pick the olives, crack each of them with a rolling pin, then immerse
them completely in cold water, changing the water *each* day for at least
25 days. Stir them up when you think about it. Immerse and change the
water, etc, taste one after 25 days. If they are too bitter, keep up this
regime until they are edible.
Brine curing. (A little less fanatic)
Brine cured red-ripe or black-ripe olives are Greek-style; brine cured green
olives are Sicilian style. The red-ripe olives generally turn a grey green
to pink, while the black-ripe ones keep their color, becoming a Kalamata-deep
purple. Again, you pick the olives, or you shake the tree over a tarp, and
collect the olives. Deeply slit each one using a sharp paring knife, then
plunk them into a brine (brine is 1/4 cup canning salt in 1 qt water).
Weight down the olives, make sure they are fully immersed. Cover your vat
of olives, stir once in awhile, wait one week. Rinse, and change the olive
brine once/week for at least 3 weeks. Taste, if still too bitter, keep
changing brine 1/week. Mine usually take about 6 weeks. Scum will form on
the top of the vat; its harmless *if* olives are immersed, but get rid of it
when you see it.
Lye curing. (No fanaticism necessary)
You always lye cure green olives. If you bubble air through the lye solution,
those green olives turn black; the California black olive is born. You pick
the olives, clean them. Save a few of your biggest olives for the top of
your vat. Immerse all those olives in a lye solution (2 tablespoons flake
lye in 1 qt water) for 12 hours. Dispose of lye solution, reimmerse olives
again in new lye solution for 12 more hours. Take and cut into some of your
largest olives to see if the lye penetrated the olive (olive will be soft to
the pit, easy to cut to the pit, and the flesh will be yellowish green when
ready). Soak olives in water for 3 days, changing the water at least 3-4
times/day. Taste an olive on the fourth day. Should taste sweet and fatty,
with no bitterness, a little like a tiny avocado. Immerse for 1 week in a
light brine, about 6 Tbs salt in gallon of water.
***Lye is nasty, remember to wear rubber gloves, use lemon juice or vinegar
to neutralize lye burns, and your olive vat shouldn't be plastic.***
Can also make marinades for your cured olives, good flavors/herbs to use in
various combinations are: garlic, bay leaf, oregano, thyme, dried chiles,
fennel seed, peppercorns, coriander seed, orange peel, lemon peel, lemon
slices, cumin seed.
E.2.2.2 [Salt cured (pickled/preserved) lemons and limes. Used in
Middle
Eastern/ Moroccan cookery.]
From: Paul Holt
Hamad M'Rakad (Preserved Lemons and Limes )
This preserve gives a mellow lemony flavour to many North African dishes and
is easily made. Choose ripe unblemished lemons or limes. Wash them and make
two deep vertical cuts in a cross, almost, but not quite through them, so
that they still hold together at the stem. Sprinkle plenty of salt inside on
the cut flesh, about 125 g (4 OZ) for 1 kg (2 lb) fruit.
Then close them, and put them in a sterilized jar so that they are jammed
tightly together. Squeeze enough fresh lemon juice over them to keep them
covered. The salt will draw out the juices and the peel will soften within
a week. They will be ready to use in 3 or 4 weeks. Rinse off the salt be-
fore using and discard the flesh; it is the peel alone that is used for
flavouring. It is cheaper and easier, but not as good, to cover the salted
lemons or limes with strong brine, or a mixture of sunflower oil and water.
Claudia Roden: MIDDLE EASTERN FOOD, Harmondsworth 1970 (Penguin Books)
Lamoun Makbouss (Pickled Lemons)
A delicacy which is also magnificent made with fresh limes.
Scrub lemons well and slice them. Sprinkle the slices generously with salt
and leave for at least 24 hours on a large plate set at an angle, or in a
colander. They will become soft and limp, and lose their bitterness. Arrange
the slices in layers in a glass jar, sprinkling a little paprika between each
layer. Cover with corn or nut oil. Sometimes olive oil is used, but its
taste is rather strong and may slightly overpower the lemons.
Close the jar tightly. After about 3 weeks the lemons should be ready to eat-
soft, mellow and a beautiful orange colour.
[Email note: My mother accidentally discovered a way of speeding the process
when left with dozens of lemon wedges which had been used to garnish a large
party dish. She put them in the freezing compartment of her refrigerator to
keep them until she was ready to pickle them. When she sprinkled the frozen
lemons with salt, she found that they shed a large quantity of water and
softened in just over an hour. They were ready for eating after only a few
days in oil and paprika.]
--
Lime Pickle (Hot)
12 whole limes
2 Tbsp salt
Juice of 3 lemons
2 bay leaves
4 oz green ginger (see page 160)
2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 oz green chiles
Peel and slice the ginger. Remove the seeds from the chiles. Wash and dry
the limes and cut them into slices and remove the pips. Put a layer of lime
slices in the bottom of a jar, sprinkle with salt and crushed bay leaf, add
some of the chopped chilies and strips of ginger. Repeat these layers until
the ingredients are used up and then pour in the lemon juice.
Having tied a piece of cloth over the jar, shake it thoroughly but carefully
and put it on a windowsill in the sunshine. Each day for 4 days add some
more salt and shake the jar again. Remove the cloth and put on a glass or
plastic top (never a metal one). Then leave the pickle to mature for a fort-
night.[2 weeks]
This makes a strong sharp pickle, not for over-sensitive palates. To make it
even stronger, put in more cayenne pepper, and leave the seeds in the chiles.
To make it less strong, halve the amount of chiles and omit the cayenne
pepper. This is really a basic recipe which can be added to or subtracted
from as you wish. It can be made with half limes and half lemons, or lime
juice may be substituted for the lemon juice. in a pinch it can be made
entirely with lemons and just the juice from half a dozen limes, or tinned
natural lime juice, if you can get it.
Spiced Lime Pickle
This very hot pickle is usually served in Indian restaurants with curry and
can be bought ready made up in jars, but is well worth making up for yourself.
10 limes
2 tsp fenugreek
5 lemons
1 Tbsp cumin seeds
2 Tbsp dried chiles
1 1/2 pints olive oil
1 dessert spoon ground black pepper
3 Tbsp salt
6 cloves crushed garlic
1 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp mustard seed
Wash and dry the limes and lemons and cut them into pieces removing all the
pips [seeds]. Shake the mustard seed and fenugreek in a dry frying pan over
a good flame to roast them for a minute or two, and then grind them down
finely. Grind the cumin seed or crush it, but not too fine. Put together
the salt, garlic, ginger, mustard and fenugreek, and sprinkle them all over
the fruit, stirring well. Then pack the fruit into a jar, adding in the rest
of the ingredients in layers so that they are well spread through the pickle.
Heat the oil until it is smoking, and keep it hot for 5 minutes, but do not
burn it. Let the oil cool so that it will not break the jar, and pour it
over the pickle. Leave it loosely covered for a week, then screw down the
lid and keep it for another week before using it.
To make a milder pickle cut down on the chiles, or leave them out altogether
and substitute a pinch of chili powder or cayenne pepper.
E.2.1.3 [Lox, Nova Lox, and Gravlax]
1. from Ray Goddard :
Gravlaks(Norway)- buried or grave fish, for a modern version:
Take a 6-7 lb salmon, 1 tablespoon brandy, 3/4 oz sugar, 1 1/2 oz salt, pep-
per, fresh dill.
Clean and wipe out fish (do not wash), fillet, sprinkle with brandy. Mix
sugar, salt and pepper and sprinkle over fish. Put one fillet skin down on
plate, chop dill and spread it over, place other fillet on top skin side up.
Cover with foil and place board on top and a weight (1lb) on top of that.
Put in cool place 3 - 4 degrees C. Turn fillets twice a day and pour liquid
back onto fillets. Remove weights after two days. Ready in three to four
days. Serve cut in thin slices with more pepper and chopped dill, accompany
with rye bread and butter.
2. from <> , by way of Leah Smith:
Lox comes from the German word "lachs," which means salmon, and came here
with German-Jewish immigrants. Note that true lox is not smoked, merely
brined, although the smoked salmon called Nova is often incorrectly referred
to as lox. The name Nova comes from Nova Scotia, which is where that type of
cold-smoked salmon first came from. Old-fashioned Jewish lox is saltier and
oilier than Nova.
Here's a recipe:
1 - qty of VERY fresh, VERY fatty (with whole skin) salmon
1 - large earthenware crock (or wooden keg) Kosher Salts (or rock salt)
Qty of clear flavorless oil comparable to the qty of salmon
- Skin the salmon keeping the skin as whole as possible.
- Cut the salmon meat into thin slices.
- Within the crock, (or keg), lay down a layer of salt to cover evenly.
- Place one side of the salmon skin scale side up flat onto the salt layer.
- Drizzle the oil lightly over the skin until shiny.
- Lay one salmon slice atop the oiled skin.
- Drizzle the oil lightly over the salmon slice until shiny.
- Layer the salts thinly atop the salmon slice to cover.
- Repeat the layers as above alternating salt, salmon, oil for all remaining
slices.
- Before adding the final layer of salts, lay the other side of the skin
scale side up atop the oiled salmon.
- Drizzle with oil until shiny.
- Layer salts atop the final layer of skin to cover.
- Cover entire crock (or keg) with multiple layers (3-4) of plastic wrap.
- Weigh down the top of the sealed crock (or keg) with heavy stones.
- Store in a cool place 2 weeks prior to usage.
- Eat when ready!~
NOTE: This will keep almost indefinitely, but refrigeration is
recommended.
E.2.2 [Lye and Mud curing items.]
E.2.2.1 [A friend of mine is looking for the recipe for "preserved
eggs" or "1,000 year old eggs". Jim Kofler ]
from Katherine Pepers , rec.food.cooking
I just got a new Chinese cookbook - "The Chinese Gourmet" by William Mark.
It has a detailed description of "Hundred-Year-Old Eggs", though not an actual
recipe. I'll pass on what it says, in case it may be of use/interest.
"Rather than being dug up from an ancient tomb, as the name might suggest,
'100-year-old eggs', or as some call them '1000-year-eggs,' are actually
preserved for only 100 days at most. Fresh duck eggs are mixed with various
preservative compounds that permeate the shell and alter the consistency of
the egg.
There are two main methods for preserving eggs in China: P'i tan are coated
with an alkaline mud and then covered in ash, rice husks, or tea leaves, be-
fore storing in large crocks for 100 days. The yolk becomes creamy and very
pungently flavored, the white turns an amber-gray color and coagulates into a
firm, gelatin-like consistency.
They are shelled and the egg sliced to serve as an hors d'oeuvre with slivers
of preserved ginger and a vinegar dip.
Hom tan are preserved in brine and saltpeter, or a mixture of finely ground
charcoal and brine. The yolk hardens to a firm, grainy texture and acquires
a pleasing salty taste. These must be cooked before they are ready to eat,
as a snack with a splash of sesame oil and vinegar and a sliver of ginger, or
to add, sliced, to congee. The yolks are an ingredient in the fillings of
many sweet pastries.
Hundred-year-old eggs are valued not only for their taste, but also for their
medicinal value. The preservation process raises their alkalinity, making
them a good antidote for ulcers and other conditions caused by hyper-acidity.
They are also considered a cure for hangovers."
--
E.2.4 [After some discussion on posole (aka, hominy) on the Chile-Heads list,
someone in France asked how you make hominy, since it isn't really available
there. ]
from Justin M. Sanders , the Chile-Heads list..
Traditionally not lime, but *lye*. Here is a recipe paraphrased from a de-
lightful recipe book called "Seems Like I Done It This A-way", by Cleo S.
Bryan. (Mrs. Bryan was an Extension Home Economist in Oklahoma, and many of
her recipes are traditional Native American recipes).
Hominy
2 qts. dry shelled corn (white or yellow)
8 qts. water
2 oz. lye
Boil the above 3 ingredients 30 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 20
minutes. Rinse in cold water until all the skins and the "eyes" on the corn
are loose. Return to heat, cover with water, bring to boil for 5 minutes.
Pour off the water, and repeat 2 more times (for a total of 3 five-minute
boilings with fresh water). Cover again with water and cook 30 minutes and
can. Process in a pressure cooker at 10 lbs. pressure for 70 minutes for
quarts, or for 60 mins. for pints.
Apparently, if you don't wish to can the hominy, you can eat it after the 30
minute cooking period.
In more traditional recipes, the lye was obtained by straining water through
hardwood ashes-- or by boiling the ashes along with the corn.
--
E.2.3 [Sugar curing or candying items]
E.2.3.1 [Does anyone know how to make candied orange rind, grapefruit rind or
pineapple, etc?]
From: Barbara Mayo-Wells :
Here's how my grandmother (1880-1965) and mother (1908-1982) made candied
fruit rind:
1. Remove as much of the white stuff as you can from inside the rind.
2. Cut the rind into strips about 1/4 inch wide and as long as you like.
Remember that the size you cut now is the size you'll wind up with.
3. Submerge the rind in a pan of cold water. Bring to a boil. Drain.
4. Repeat step 3.
5. Repeat step 4. (That is, boil the rind in three successive waters.
The purpose is to eliminate bitterness.)
6. While the rind is boiling, prepare a simple sugar syrup: 1 part sugar to
1 part water. How much you make depends on how much rind you want to
candy.
7. After draining the thrice-boiled rind, put it into the sugar syrup. Boil
gently until almost all of the syrup is absorbed. Keep a close eye on
this process. Stop too soon, and the rind will be gooey. Wait too long,
and you'll have scorched sugar.
8. While the rind is boiling in the sugar syrup, put some granulated sugar
(a cup or so) in a bowl and arrange some cake racks over cookie sheets.
9. A few pieces at a time, drop the sticky rind into the sugar, roll them
around to coat them thoroughly, and transfer the pieces to the cake racks
to dry. Let them get quite dry to the touch before putting them into an
airtight container.
E.2.3.2 [Candying fruits]
From Ellen Wickberg :
Martha wanted the candied fruit instructions, so here they are.
Choose firm ripe fruit. Peel, then core peaches or pears and cut into quar-
ters, pit cherries, cut small thin wedges of pineapple, can leave small crab-
apples whole, apricots and plums should be pricked several times to the
centre with a fork.
Cover the fruit with boiling water and simmer until just tender (test this
with a skewer). This should take about 10-15 mins for firm fruits, 3-4 for
tender ones. Test this frequently - over cooking makes fruit squashy, while
undercooking makes them dark and tough. Drain fruit into a large bowl, but
save the cooking water.
For each 1 lb of fruit make a syrup combining 5 fluid oz of the water in
which fruit was cooked and 6 ozs (by wt) of sugar. Stir until the sugar dis-
solves and then bring to boil.
Pour the boiling syrup over the cooked, drained fruit. If you have insuf-
ficient syrup to cover the fruit, make up some more (same proportions as
above) with water. Note how many times you have to do this. Weight down the
fruit with a plate, and leave the fruit in the syrup for 24 hours.
On the 2nd day: drain the syrup into a saucepan, add 2 oz sugar for each
original 5 fluid ozs of water, bring to the boil and pour again over the
plate. On the 3rd day, 4th day, and the 5th day repeat what you did on the
2nd day.
On the 6th day, add 3 oz of sugar for every original 5 fluid oz of water,
heat and stir to dissolve in the saucepan. Add the drained fruit and boil
for 3-4 minutes and then put all back in bowl. Leave for 48 hours. On the
8th day, follow the day 6 instructions and then leave the fruit for 4 days.
If you notice that the syrup is still thin as it is cooling on the 8th day,
repeat the instructions for day six again before leaving it to soak for the
4 days.
At this point you can leave it in the heavy syrup for up to 3 weeks OR remove
from the syrup after the 4 days, drain on wire rack (put a sheet below to
catch the drips). The instructions then say to dry in a cool oven, but I
don't, usually just air dry. Pack or put in sugar to coat and then pack.
Keep in cool place. Have fun. Ellen
E.2.3.3 [Candying flowers]
From Lynn Otto :
Last summer I spent many hours sugaring violets, geraniums, daisies, borage
flowers, and other types of blossoms. The conclusion that I came to after a
lot of botched attempts is that the simpler the flower, the easier to sugar
(or candy). Here's my method:
1--Pick blossoms early in the day, and put them into cool water.
2--Have ready a wide bowl of extra fine, or berry, sugar. Sometimes I grind
the sugar just a bit more.
3--Beat equal parts eggwhite and water--mixture should not be too gelatinous.
I have heard that it is possible to obtain powdered eggwhite and if you can
get it in you area I would suggest trying it. It was nowhere to be found in
Edmonton last summer.
4--On a steady surface ready everything for sugaring: eggwhite, sugar, a
plate or wax paper on which to dry blossoms, tweezers, a bowl of water for
washing hands, and the flowers.
5--Take tweezers, and grasp stalk of flower close to stem. With paintbrush
dipped in eggwhite, paint all surfaces of flower leaving no dry spots. Areas
not painted will darken and decay in time.
6--Quickly, while eggwhite is still wet, sprinkle blossoms with sugar. You
may wish to use your fingers or a small coffee spoon. The idea is again to
cover all areas of blossom. Tap spoon on tweezers to shake off excess sugar.
7--Place sugared flower down on plate or sheet of wax paper to dry. You may
want to put a fine layer of the sugar down first to avoid sticking.
8--The flowers should be left undisturbed for several days in a cool area.
When removing from plate/paper you may wish to use a razor blade to gently
pry blossoms from plate.
9--Always candy more flowers than you need as there is bound to be some
wastage.
I still have candied flowers left over from last summers work. I simply keep
them in a covered container.
E.2.4 [Smoking vegetable/fish items.]
E.2.4.1 [How do I smoke chiles?]
Some recipes and techniques are available at the chile heads www site. Check
the Other Sources List for the URL.
From Garry Howard, , taken from the chile-heads
list..
Americans who love the smoky taste and fiery bite of chipotles have recently
been hit with high prices and a scarcity of product. With prices for these
smoked jalapenos reaching $15 a pound wholesale, home growers yearn to smoke
their own. But the Mexicans have been fairly secretive about their techni-
ques, and none of the books on chiles describe home smoking. After a trip
to Delicos Mexico, I think I have solved this mystery -- but the process
takes some dedication. First, let's look at how the Mexicans do it.
They use a large pit with a rack to smoke-dry the jalepenos. The pit con-
taining the source of heat is underground, with a tunnel leading to the rack.
The pods are placed on top of the rack where drafts of air pull the smoke up
and over the pods. The jalapenos can be whole pods or pods without seeds.
The latter are more expensive and are called "capones", or castrated ones.
It is possible to make chipotle in the back yard with a meat smoker or Weber
type barbecue with a lid. The grill should be washed to remove any meat
particles because any odor in the barbecue will give the chile an undesir-
able flavor. Ideally, the smoker or barbecue should be new and dedicated
only to smoking chiles.
The quality of homemade chipotle will depend on the maturity and quality of
the pods, the moisture in the pods, the temperature of the smoke drying the
pods, and the amount of time the peppers are exposed to the smoke and heat.
The aroma of wood smoke will flavor the jalapenos, so carefully choose what
is burned. Branches from fruit trees, or other hardwoods such as hickory,
oak, and pecan, work superbly. Pecan is used extensively in parts of Mexico
and in southern New Mexico to flavor chipotle. Do not be afraid to experi-
ment with different woods.
The difference between the fresh weight of the fruits and the finished pro-
duct is about ten to one, so it takes ten pounds of fresh jalapenos to pro-
duce approximately one pound of chipotles. A pound of chipotles goes a long
way, as a single pod is usually enough to flavor a dish.
First, wash all the pods and discard any that have insect damage,
bruises, or are soft. Remove the stems from the pods before placing the
peppers in a single layer on the grill rack. Start two small fires on each side
of the grill with charcoal briquettes. Keep the fires small and never
directly expose the pods to the fire so they won't dry unevenly or burn. The
intention is to dry the pods slowly while flavoring them with smoke. Soak the wood
in water before placing it on the coals so the wood will burn slower and
create more smoke. The barbecue vents should be opened only partially to
allow a small amount of air to enter the barbecue, thus preventing the fires
from burning too fast and creating too much heat.
Check the pods and the fires hourly and move the pods around, always
keeping them away from the fires. It may take up to forty-eight hours to dry
the pods completely. The pods will be hard, light in weight, and brown in
color when dried. If necessary, let the fires burn through the night.
After the pods have dried, remove them from the grill and let them cool. To
preserve their flavor, place them in a zip-lock bag. It is best to store them
in a cool and dry location. If humidity is kept out of the bags, the
chipotles will last for twelve to twenty-four months.
Buen apetito!
NOTES : From the article: The Chipotle, Mystery -- Solved at Last!
by: Dr. Paul W. Bosland, Agronomy and Horticulture Department
New Mexico State University
Chile Pepper Magazine - October, 1992
MasterCook formatted by Garry Howard, Cambridge, MA
garhow@hpubmaa.esr.hp.com
[And remember, you can smoke anything. Fruits, garlic, cheeses..]
From Paul Hinrichs :
... for anyone who thought I was losing my mind when I smoked garlic, let me
prove I was not the first. Here is the procedure given in the book for
smoking blueberries:
"Pacific coast Indians used to smoke-dry blueberries for winter use. They
may be successfully processed in an ordinary smoke oven.
Spread the blueberries on a fine wire screen and cold-smoke at 75 to 85 F,
[you guys in the heat are out of luck--LEB] until they are partly dehydrated.
The skins become wrinkled, and they look somewhat like dried currants. Keep
in a covered - though not airtight - jar or dish under refrigeration."
"The smoked berries make a very tasty dessert served with ice cream or sher-
bet." ...the same section also tells about smoked nuts, eggs, and garlic
bread.
E.2.4.2 [What do I need to know about smoking a fish?]
from Doug Smart, ...
This isn't a recipe, but it is good information and does offer something on
the strength of the brine:
Pacific Northwest Cooperative Extension publication PNW 238 advises the fol-
lowing (somewhat paraphrased) for safety in smoking fish:
- Fish must be heated to 160 F internal temp and held there for at least
30 minutes during the smoking process.
- Fish must be brined long enough to absorb adequate salt for preservation.
A brine solution containing 1 part salt to 7 parts water by volume for 1
hour will usually suffice.
- Oily fish such as salmon, steelhead, shad, and smelt take longer to absorb
brine, but tend to absorb smoke faster.
- Fish should be air dried before smoking for better smoke absorption and to
minimize the chance of spoiling during smoking.
- It is best to smoke at a low temp for 3-5 hours before elevating to the
160 F cooking temp. This helps eliminate "curd" formation as juices boil
out. To avoid spoilage during smoking, the magic 160 F temp should be
reached within 6-8 hours.
- Commercial smoked products must meet an FDA requirement of at least 3 1/2%
water phase salt after smoking. Since most home smokers cannot make that
measurement, refrigeration is essential for safe storage of home-smoked
fish.
- Use only hardwoods for smoking. Maple, oak, alder, hickory, birch and
fruit woods are recommended. DO NOT USE WOODS FROM CONIFERS.
E.2.4.3 [Smoked salmon]
From Brian Bigler ...
I recently responded to a thread concerning oily versus non-oily fish by
listing my recipe for smoked salmon. I figured it may be of use to others on
this newsgroup, so I'm posting this to the group. I hope to hear from some
of you who have improvements on this, but be advised, this recipe has received
rave reviews from my colleagues in the salmon business:
First of all, the smoker you use will greatly effect the final product. I'm
not familiar with all the various brands, but the hobbyist smokers that I've
seen tend to be small, for the sake of shipping, and not really practical for
the performance I need. I like to use cool smoking for cheeses, as well as
warmer smoking for salmon or trout. I'll describe my ideal smoker at the end
of this. [I put a copy of this under equipment sources--LEB]
SMOKED FISH
I use the following for at least two-six pound fish
Brine:
1 gal water (at least a gallon, I use a couple)
1/2 lb (at least) pickling salt
1/4 lb (at least) brown sugar
3-4 tbs pickling spice
2-3 tbs paprika
Put the water on to boil, adding the entire 1/2 lb of salt, stir until salt
is dissolved. Add sugar and stir. Add the pickling spice and paprika. You
may not be able to get the sugar to dissolve, but if you can, add more salt.
Irrespective of the amount of water, you want to achieve a super-saturated
saline solution with the salt and sugar. The mixture will be super-saturated
when you have salt granules on the bottom of the pot at a boil. Speaking to
details, the sugar is absorbed by the meat much slower than the salt. I've
used half salt/half sugar mixtures with great success, but the amount I re-
commend here will allow you to reach the point of super-saturation and keep
the salt content down.
Boil the mixture (covered) for five or so minutes, and either set it aside to
cool, or put it in a sink of cold water (change the sink water several times
as it gets hot).
I cut my fish in fillets and then in pieces about two to three inches wide.
Brine the pieces for 3.5 to 5.0 minutes, depending upon thickness. Timing is
important, don't brine longer than 5 minutes, no matter the thickness of the
meat. This brine time imparts salt/sugar/pickling spice flavors to the outer
tissues, that then diffuse through the meat as it dries. I've tried the pro-
ducts of people who leave the meat in brine for so long all you taste is
salt. Don't make that mistake, too little salt is MUCH better than too much.
Take the pieces from the brine and place on a paper towel-covered board.
Allow to dry at least until a pelicle (hard outer surface) has formed. This
could take up to two days if the weather is wet, a lot less if you put it in
the sunshine. I like to dry mine for a long time to attain a chewy texture,
but you at least want the excess moisture to evaporate off.
Smoke the pieces, skin side up, alternating the ones on the lower racks with
those on the upper racks between chip loads.
If your smoker is warm, the paprika will cause the meat to darken without
your having to smoke the heck out of it. Too many hobbyists impart a creo-
sote flavor to their meat in the attempt to make it LOOK like it's smoked.
Paprika is a great way to make it look really well-smoked without having to
leave it in too long. If your smoker is cool, the cooking will turn it dark.
Remove the pieces to a cookie sheet and place in an oven that has been heated
to 350 degrees. Put the cookie sheets in the oven, close the door, and turn
off the oven. Leave the smoked meat in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, or
until you can see that it's cooked.
I vacuum pack mine, one to three pieces at a time, right out of the oven
while it's still hot. At the least, use Freezer Bags to store your fish.
I've had success with Freezer bags by closing the ziplock to one end and
sucking out the air to mimic the vacuum sealer. Vacuum packing assures
that the salt/sugar/pickling spice flavors will be diffused through the meat.
I hate to have to freeze mine, but I do anyway out of necessity. My vacuum
packages will stay fresh if I refrigerate, but freezing makes certain.
2 [Alitak Pickled Salmon]
From Brian Bigler :
Alitak is not an incorporated town, although many people can claim it as a
birthplace. It's the location of a salmon cannery on the southern shores of
Kodiak Island (Gulf of Alaska) that was first established around the turn of
the century. The following recipe was actually developed years ago by one
of the many fishermen hired by the cannery to harvest and deliver fish.
This recipe has become the standard for Wards Cove Packing Company, where I
have retained it and pass it to you.
ALITAK PICKLED SALMON RECIPE
Fillet salmon (sockeye works best) and remove skin, cut into bite sized
pieces. For one batch of the pickling mixture listed below, you'll need
three quarts of fish pieces (one fish) and three sliced onions. This will
make 10-12 pints of pickled salmon.
Soak salmon pieces in a stainless steel, plastic, wood, or crockery pot for
8-12 hours in a mixture of half salt and half water. Refrigerate and turn
the mixture with your hands or a soft spatula every few hours. When brining
is complete, gently rinse for one hour, changing the cold water three times.
Air dry about 1 hour to let pieces firm up and a slight glazing will
form.
Pickling Mixture:
8 cups white vinegar
3 cups white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
7 Tbsp pickling spices
Mix all the above ingredients in a large stainless pot and boil for 15-30
minutes, stirring frequently. Let cool to room temperature, placing the pot
in cold water or refrigerating if necessary. Mixture must be cool when
poured over fish.
Slice three medium-large white onions thin and layer fish pieces and onion
slices in pint jars. After each layer or two, add pickling mixture. Stir
the pot of pickling mixture before dipping out a portion to insure spices
are evenly distributed when mixture is spooned into jars. Fill jars and
seal using fresh lids. Refrigerate and turn jars upside down for a day or
two during the first week.
Tastes best about two weeks after pickling, and at Alitak it's gone in one
day!
"Your Lile Ole Sausagemaker, Harvey"
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