cured meat

[Burnsville]

Any reccomendations on where to get cured meats?

[Spinster]

http://www.scotthams.com/

[Co D-1st FL]

I'll 2'nd the Scott Hams. My unit buys the slab country bacon for events. We divided up and carry it our haversacks.

[Pvt Schnapps]

For a cheap and effective substitute you can take the cheapest cut of beef you can find, and simmer it till done (1-3 hours, depending on the size of the pieces) in a mixture of three parts water to one of apple cider vinegar. Add salt and pepper while cooking. The vinegar will both tenderize and help preserve the meat. Boiled beef is even more under-represented in the hobby than real salt pork, but much easier to make.

[flattop32355]

Double smoked bacon serves as a decent substitute for salt pork. It keeps well over a weekend in the haversack, it can be eaten as-is without cooking, and stands freezing well for bulk storage. It isn't salty like real salt pork, but handles well otherwise.

It can be found at some meat markets.

[Mint Julep]

I guess the search function wasn't working.

[Spinster]

Mint,

I have a whole new set of spoons.

I figure Yankees will steal them soon enough.

[hanktrent]

I thought I bought some cured meat one time, but it was only in remission.

:rolleyes:

You don't often have a chance to use that joke. But now I gotta post something serious so I won't get whacked with a spoon. So here's a cheap and easy way to make salt pork at home.

Buy a cheap cut of pork. Rub it with pickling salt and put it in a salt brine that has as much salt dissolved in it as possible. Add a weight or something to keep it from floating out of the brine. Put the container of meat and brine in the refrigerator. Stir it occasionally. Wait a couple weeks. Take it out, dry it off, and it's salt pork.

If possible, you may want to stew it in a change or two of water before cooking, because it's gonna be salty.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@gmail.com

[Spinster]

Okay Hank, here's both my ignorance showing and my empty purse.

I have on hand an inordinate amount of ice cream salt--food quality rock salt, as oppossed to road grade. Last time I poured it into a labeled bag, intending to pass it off as a widows salt issue from the Confederate Government, well, you know how far we got carrying all that plunder.

In my mind, I should be able to make a pickling brine out of this salt without any real problem, but there may be a logical step I'm missing.

I wish Big ROB or Other Nathan would come along and tell where they got that fine cured ham we hacked on a few weeks ago--it came out of Missouri, but we shucked the wrapper so quickly I forgot to check the name. Held up just fine hanging from a pole in a wagoneers camp in Mississippi in June, so it should keep anywhere. And no messkettles were harmed, as we just peeled the rind and ate it as it hung.

[hanktrent]

In my mind, I should be able to make a pickling brine out of this salt without any real problem, but there may be a logical step I'm missing.

Sounds like it would work to me. The coarseness may make it a little slower to dissolve, but warming the water should fix that if need be.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@gmail.com

[Blair]

Rock salt should be perfect for making brine. The salt should be dissolved in hot (if not boiling) water to make brine. More salt maybe dissolved in boiling water and you should have as much salt as the water can dissolve for starting to salt cure meat.

[Steve Blancard]

For those in the mid atlantic area, Food Lion grocery stores and their cheaper alter ego, Bottom Dollar stores carry good old fashioned pork jowl slab bacon. Last time I bought some at Bottom Dollar it was $0.99 a pound. The price is right and it is very tasty bacon. The boys in my mess love it.

[bob 125th nysvi]

German or Italian Pork Store should have double-smoked bacon ready to go. The nice thing is that you don't need to worry about spoilage over the average event and you can eat it raw if you want to.