When most of the world lived in the agricultural age, farmers raised their own stock, and hunted and fished to provide food. All of this meat had to be preserved for lean times, and one of the most popular methods was to smoke or preserve it through salting, curing, or brining. Today, these methods are somewhat less popular, because it is so much easier to buy high-quality meat at a store. However, many people are still passionate about making their own sausages, hams, bacon, and smoked meats. People who want to return to pastoral living, homesteading, or organic lifestyles may choose to preserve their own foods, and have more control over the content of the things they eat.
Meat spoils in several ways, just like other foods. Moisture in the meat will hasten the breakdown of the meat, and the fat attached to the meat will become rancid far quicker than the meat fibers. And just like other foods, meat is susceptible to decay through the growth of mold, bacteria, and other organisms. Meat also contains a greater risk for sickness than any other food. Bacteria are present in all meats, but some of the most dangerous pathogens are Salmonella, Botulism, Campylobacter, and Escherichia coli (E. coli). Unless meat is well prepared, the preservation method will not kill these microorganisms, and people can become gravely ill by eating the food.
Some meat also contains parasites; this is most common in wild game, fish, and home-raised pork. Trichinella is a worm-like parasite that can infest the human body. Some saltwater fish and shellfish can contain various parasites, viruses, and worms. All of these organisms can be destroyed if proper processing techniques are followed. In addition, take special care when field-dressing wild game, especially because the preparation will occur in a fairly unclean environment. If a wound opens the animal’s intestines, the meat can become contaminated with other pathogens.
Because meat can transfer more parasites and bacteria than most other foods, be very careful when processing meat. Keep the cooking area clean, and wash hands, knives, and tools between tasks. Make sure that utensils used to process meat are separated from other foods and utensils. Wipe up spills and meat juices right away.
Curing Meat
Meat is preserved through several ways. Curing refers to all the ways that meat can be preserved — whether it is through soaking in a brine mixture, dry preserved with a rub of salt, sugar, and preserving substances like nitrites, smoking the meat, or pickling or marinating. Most of these methods work through removing moisture from the meat and replacing it with salt and preserving agents that inhibit the growth of bacteria and decay. Smoking also involves the use of salt, sugar, and marinades, but the heat and by-products of the smoke also help the meat to remain edible for longer periods of time. Meat may be cured and then smoked, for additional flavor and shelf life. Adding spices to sausages, and sealing them in casing, also adds to the preservation of those meats. A cook’s job is to remove as much fat and water from the meat as possible, and then to use other ingredients to prolong freshness before packaging the meat for storage.
Salting meat
Although today’s nutritionists tell us that consuming large amounts of nitrites can be harmful to our health, small amounts used in meat preservation are used to prevent food poisoning, improve the color of the meat, and retain the texture of the food. In fact, it is possible to cure meat without using any chemicals at all, if you follow extra precautions when processing the food, and do not store the finished product outside refrigeration or freezing for longer than a few weeks.
When curing meat through salting, there are a few factors that will determine the length of the processing time and the quality of the completed product. Thicker meat will need longer processing times so that the brine or dry rub will fully penetrate the meat. If dry curing the meat, more moisture in the meat will require longer drying times as well. Larger amounts of salt and nitrite in the brine or rub will reduce the curing time, while larger amounts of fat in the meat will take longer to process. However, rather than adjusting recipes designed by experts, it is better for beginners to take the time to follow instructions exactly, even if the meat takes a long time to process. Part of the fun of preserving your own food is an appreciation of the process.
Brining
To brine meat, cut the meat into uniform pieces and immerse them in a solution of salt and water, and perhaps other ingredients such as spices. This will make the meat more tender and flavorful, and will produce a moister cooked meat. Brined meat is usually cooked or smoked before it is eaten.
Any kind of meat can be brined. The process can range from soaking the meat for less than an hour, to being submerged in brine for several weeks in order to begin a fermentation process. In some recipes, such as those for salt pork and fish, the meat can remain in the brine solution until ready to be eaten, preserving it for 9 months to a year.
Dry rub preserving
Another curing method is to use a rub of salt, sugar, nitrites, spices, and herbs to flavor the meat, remove moisture, and begin the preservation process. Salt and sugar are both preservatives that slow the growth of bacteria and replace moisture in the cells of meat with preserving agents. Although any kind of meat can theoretically be dry cured, the process works best on cuts of meat with few bones, skin, fat, or gristle on them — these animal parts will not cure quite so well, and can cause spoilage. The best choices are roasts, pork bellies, briskets, whole breast meat, and the like. However, people have been salting fish, large and small, including the skin and bones, for thousands of years with absolutely no problems. Obviously, the important thing is to pay attention to the details.
To dry cure meat, you start by trimming fat and gristle from the meat. Mix the dry ingredients together to create the dry cure mixture. Then, rub part of the dry cure mixture into the prepared meat, covering all surfaces. The meat can be hung or set in an uncovered container in a dark, cool place to rest for several days. The meat is rubbed again with more of the dry cure mixture, and rests in intervals between rubbings. Depending on the size, type, and cut of the meat, the dry cure process could go on for a couple of weeks to a few months. Very strong dry-cured sausages, such as an artisanal pepperoni, can be cured for up to 6 months in controlled conditions before it is used.
Smoking meat
Smoking is done through the principle of low, slow heating. The smoker surrounds the meat with wood smoke, which permeates the meat and dries it without cooking. The smoke also deposits creosote on the meat, which also helps to preserve it. The simplest and cheapest way to smoke meat is to fire up your gas or charcoal grill at a low heat, add wood chips directly to the coals or flames, and allow the meat to cure slowly with the cover closed while being surrounded by smoke. Check the meat temperature occasionally and remove when the meat reaches the safe minimum internal temperature (see the chart later in this chapter). Any kind of meat can be smoked, and often meat is smoked after it is preserved another way, such as dry-cured ham that is then smoked for added flavor. In addition, some people enjoy smoking other foods, such as nuts (almonds are a favorite), figs, dried apple slices, and eggplant.
If you are going to smoke larger quantities of meat, or try specialized recipes, you will need some specific equipment. Smokers can range in shape and size from small, inexpensive models to deluxe smokers with many features. A basic beginner’s model can cost $50 to $100. Smoking aficionados even build their own smokehouses, in which they can process large amounts of meat at once — and then store them right in the smokehouse.
You will need to buy a good meat thermometer, because accurate testing of the temperature is crucial to proper preservation and will prevent food-borne sickness. Expert smokers have several favorite wood chips that they prefer, and many varieties are easy to find in grocery stores or on the Internet. Generally, hard woods are preferable because they will burn longer and produce more smoke; some common woods are hickory, apple, cherry, alder, mesquite, or maple. Each of these woods will give a characteristic flavor to the meat. Smoking equipment burns wood through one of three fuels — electric, propane, or a simple wood fire. To increase the amount of smoke produced by the low heat, experts usually soak the wood chips for a period of time before adding it to the coals or heater.
Before smoking, meat is commonly rubbed with salt, sugar, and/or spices. Try a mixture of salt, paprika, oregano, and cayenne pepper for poultry and game. For beef brisket or ribs, combine brown sugar, chili powder, dry mustard, salt, and garlic powder. The meat can also be soaked in a brine solution or marinade for several hours or overnight before beginning the smoking process. A good pork marinade can combine honey, pineapple juice, sage, chili powder, and vinegar. More recently, cooks use tools to inject flavorings into the meat. This gives the advantage of a seasoning permeating all the meat, not just the surface.
Smoking safety information
To ensure meat and poultry are smoked safely, you will need two types of thermometers: one for the food and one for the smoker. A thermometer is needed to monitor the air temperature in the smoker or grill to be sure the heat stays between 225 and 300 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the cooking process. Many smokers have built-in thermometers.
Use a food thermometer to determine the temperature of the meat or poultry. Oven-safe thermometers can be inserted in the meat and remain there during smoking. Use an instant-read thermometer after the meat is taken out of the smoker.
Cooking time depends on many factors: the type of meat, its size and shape, the distance of food from the heat, the temperature of the coals, and the weather. It can take anywhere from 4 to 8 hours to smoke meat or poultry, so it is imperative to use thermometers to monitor temperatures.
Smoke food to a safe minimum internal temperature:
• Beef, veal, and lamb steaks, roasts, and chops may be cooked to 145 degrees Fahrenheit.
• All cuts of pork to 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Ground beef, veal, and lamb to 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
• All poultry should reach a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
If using a sauce, apply it during the last 15 to 30 minutes of smoking to prevent excess browning or burning.
Curing Instructions by Type of Meat
Pork
There are several common foods made by preserving pork: ham, bacon, and salt pork. This can be a particularly satisfying meat to preserve, because there are a variety of seasonings and methods to try. Think for a moment of the kinds of bacon you find in the grocery store: hickory smoked, salt cured, maple flavored, thick-sliced, among others. When you make your own, you can make the meat specifically to your taste. In addition, there are many ethnic and regional types of cured pork, from the Italian pancetta to the thick-cut Canadian bacon; because some ethnic foods can be difficult to find, it is worthwhile to make your own.
Ham
Ham is made from the front and rear legs of the hog; each cut has a specific name. A regular ham is made from the hind legs, and is more tender and juicy; meat from the front legs (and shoulders) of the hog are called a picnic shoulder or picnic ham, and this cut is tougher and less flavorful. To prepare the meat, remove the bones unless you prefer a bone-in ham, but remember that the meat will preserve better without any bones. Make sure to remove the skin and as much fat and gristle as possible. Once prepared this way, the meat is a low fat and lean cut of meat.
There are several ways to cure a ham. Dry-cured hams are made by rubbing salt, sugar, nitrites, and spices into the meat and allowing the rub to remove moisture and fat. Nitrites and other preservatives can be found in specialty stores or on the Internet. The rub is applied several times during the curing process. This method takes a few months and will shrink the meat considerably. However, the benefit is that the end product is extremely flavorful; it is also an easy method for beginners, because it does not require special equipment or a great deal of effort. After the meat has cured for about a month, it can be smoked or eaten as-is.
Pork can also be cured in brine, in a process somewhat similar to pickling. Brine curing will produce a ham that is more tender than dry-cured meat. In this method, sugar, salt, and nitrites are combined with water, and the ham is submerged in the brine for 1 to 2 weeks. After the cure is completed, the ham can be boiled, smoked, or eaten as-is.
Bacon
The meat used to make bacon comes from the hog’s belly. This meat tends to be fatty, with veins of meat and fat striped throughout. Canadian bacon is meat from the same area, but cut from a section of the belly with more muscle and less fat. Because pork belly is not commonly sold at a regular grocery store, you may have to seek out a specialty butcher for fresh pork belly. It is generally not an expensive cut of meat. Because of the high fat content, there is a greater risk of the meat turning rancid, so follow curing instructions precisely.
Like ham, bacon can be either dry-cured or brined. Bacon is usually smoked after curing; if you use the brine-curing method on the bacon, it must dry completely before smoking, or the smoke will not penetrate the meat. One benefit to making bacon at home is that it will not contain the preservatives and phosphates added to speed up the curing process. You can also adjust recipes to your own taste.
To make the bacon, cut the pork belly into squares or rectangles about 8” x 11” in size — about the size of a page of notebook or printer paper. After curing the meat, use special bacon hangers with multiple hooks that pierce the meat and allow it to hang within the smoker. Bacon is usually smoked thoroughly within eight hours in a 100 degree Fahrenheit smoker. When the meat is finished smoking, cut the hard rind side off the bacon and slice the bacon into strips of the width you prefer.
Salt pork
Salt pork is salted pork belly fat. It is not usually smoked, but it is preserved in containers without other seasonings. To make salt pork, cut fresh pork belly into 6-inch squares. Rub all surfaces with fine salt and pack tightly into a ceramic, stoneware, or plastic container. Allow to stand overnight. The next day, mix 6 cups of salt with 4 cups of water, and pour over the meat. Make sure the meat is packed down below the liquid, and allow it to cure for at least 3 weeks. Change the brine if it becomes slimy or ropy. The meat can be stored in the container for up to 4 months, in a cool, dark place.
Beef
Beef can be smoked, salted, dry-cured, or brined. Some common products made from smoked or salted beef included corned beef, pastrami, chipped beef, and smoked ribs. Preserved beef is usually made from cheaper, fattier cuts of meat such as the rump roast, brisket, or ribs. If the meat will be dry-cured or smoked, cut off fat and gristle to reduce the risk of the fat turning rancid and spoiling the meat. Fattier cuts of meat are more desirable for salted preservation methods.
To make salted beef or corned beef, cut the meat into six-inch squares. Rub all surfaces with fine salt. Sprinkle a ceramic, stoneware, or plastic container with salt, and then pack a layer of beef into the container. Rub several tablespoons of coarse salt into the meat, and continue layering salt and meat. Allow to stand overnight. The next day, mix 6 cups of water with 1 teaspoon of nitrite and 1/3 cup sugar. Pour over the meat until it is submerged. Make sure the meat is packed down below the liquid, and allow it to cure for at least 6 weeks. Change the brine if it becomes slimy or ropy. The meat can be stored in the container for up to 4 months, in a cool, dark place.
Poultry
Chicken, turkey, goose, duck, or any game bird can be smoked. The white meat is particularly tasty when smoked, and the meat develops a slight pink color in a smoker. The instructions for smoking poultry are the same as for other meats; all poultry should be skinned and cut into pieces, and fatty poultry like duck and goose should be carefully trimmed of excess fat. Poultry is more often rubbed with spices and herbs, or marinated overnight and then smoked immediately. Depending on the size of the poultry pieces, the meat will take 3 to 8 hours to smoke in a 120 degrees smoker. Aspen, hickory, and mesquite woods lend poultry a special flavor. Experiment with the woods to see which you prefer. Try rubbing the meat with a mixture of salt, sage, thyme, and paprika. Another blend is rosemary, salt, sugar, onion powder, and tarragon. You will soon find your own favorite blends for smoking poultry. Smoked poultry can be wrapped and hung in a cool, dark storage area for up to 3 months.
Fish
Any fish can be salted and smoked. To process large fish, like tuna, salmon, and shad, cut off the head, and tail; scale the fish, cut it in half lengthwise, and remove the bones and viscera. Rinse well in cold water before curing. Slash across skin in several places to allow the salt or rub to penetrate the flesh. Alternatively, you can skin the fish and/or cut it into large pieces.
Smaller fish can be processed whole. Cut off the head and tail, scale, and remove the viscera. Very small fish, like sardines, herring, or alewives, can be processed without boning if you prefer. If you pickle these fish, the bones will soften and sometimes dissolve, releasing their nutrients into the fish. You should bone larger fish.
Immerse the fish in a solution of 3 parts salt to 1 part water for two days, layering a weight on top of the fish to keep them under the brine. Drain off the brine. If you plan to smoke the fish, rub them with any mixture of salt, herbs, and spices that you prefer. Hang them on hooks or place in racks in the smoker. Alder wood is a nice choice for smoking most fish, though heavier, oilier fish like salmon or trout may taste better with a heavier smoke, like hickory, cherry, or oak. Depending on the size of the fish pieces, they will take 8 to 12 hours to smoke in a 120 degrees Fahrenheit smoker. Then the fish should be hung to dry for 24 hours before packaging.
To preserve fish by salting, drain off the brine. Rub a layer of coarse salt into the fish, and pack into a ceramic, stoneware, or plastic container. Sprinkle with a small amount of salt, and then continue layering fish and salt. Place a heavy lid or plate onto the fish, and store in a dark, cool place.
Check the fish once a week to be sure the product has not become too slimy or developed an off color or odor. After one month, drain off the oily liquid and replace it with a brine of 2 parts salt to 1 part water. Place the weight on it again, and let it continue to process for 4 to 5 months, checking weekly to be sure the brine is not fermenting. If it does, replace the liquid. Fish will stay preserved in this method for up to 9 months.
Game
In rural areas, wild game is still an essential part of many diets. Some of the most common meats are venison (deer), bear, elk, wild boar, wild turkey, rabbit, squirrel, pheasant, and quail, among others. In fact, most wild animals are good for eating, especially if processed by salting or smoking. Some people who are unused to wild game might find the taste a little strange, but most people come to enjoy the unique flavor.
Care must be taken when obtaining wild game. As mentioned before, the location of a wound could spill intestinal contamination into the flesh. Experienced hunters will recognize the signs of disease in animals and discard that meat; they should also be familiar with field dressing the meat so that the viscera and blood do not cause contamination. If you are given wild game, make sure the meat is fresh and has been processed correctly. Unlike domestic animals, there is no inspection or processing requirements for wild meat.
Wild game can be salted or smoked according to the same directions for similar domestic animals (for example, venison and elk can be processed as beef; pheasant and rabbit can be processed like poultry). Bear meat requires a little extra attention, because it is one of the only wild game animals that has a heavy layer of fat to be trimmed, and because its omnivorous diet may introduce more bacteria and parasites into the food. Process as you would handle fatty pork.
Sausage
Generally, sausage is made from meat ground to different consistencies and heavily flavored with herbs and spices. The mixture may be formed into patties or links, or stuffed into skins. Sausage may be smoked or preserved in other ways.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), there are several categories of sausages:
1. Fresh sausages are a coarse or finely “comminuted” (reduced to minute particles) meat food product prepared from one or more kinds of meat, or meat and meat “byproducts” (heart, kidney, or liver, for example). They may contain water not exceeding 3 percent of the total ingredients in the product. They are usually seasoned, frequently cured, and may contain binders and extenders (for example, wheat flour, and non-fat dry milk). They must be kept refrigerated and thoroughly cooked before eating.
2. Cooked and/or smoked sausages are made of one or more different kinds of chopped or ground meats, which have been seasoned, cooked and/or smoked. Meat byproducts may be used. Included in this category are:
• liverwurst
• hot dogs
• bologna
• knockwurst
• cooked bratwurst
• braunschweiger
• cooked Thuringer
• cooked salami*
*Cooked salami (not dry) is made from fresh meats, which are cured, stuffed into casings and cooked in a smokehouse at high temperature. It may be air dried for a short time. It has a softer texture than dry and semi-dry sausages and must be refrigerated.
3. Meat specialties are ready-to-eat sausage-like products. These are made from comminuted meats that are seasoned and usually cooked or baked rather than smoked. They are usually sliced and served cold. Included in this category are:
• chopped ham loaf
• peppered loaf
• head cheese
• jellied corned beef
• ham and cheese loaf
• honey loaf
• old fashioned loaf
• olive loaf
• pickle and pimento loaf
• scrapple
• souse
• veal loaf
4. Dry and semi-dry sausages are possibly the largest category of dried meats, particularly in the United States. These products can be fermented by bacterial growth for preservation and to produce the typical tangy flavor. Alternatively, they may be cultured with lactic acid — much as cheese, pickle, and yogurt makers do — to eliminate the fermentation phase and shorten the process. They are, with a few exceptions, cooked.
Fermentation is one of the oldest methods of preserving meats. Dry sausages — such as pepperoni, and semi-dry sausages such as Lebanon bologna and summer sausage, have had a good safety record for hundreds of years.
In this procedure, a mixture of curing ingredients, such as salt and sodium nitrite, and a “starter” culture of lactic acid-bacteria, is mixed with chopped and ground meat. The meat is placed in casings, fermented, and then dried by a carefully controlled, long, and continuous air-drying process. The amount of acid produced during fermentation and the lack of moisture in the finished product after drying typically have been shown to cause pathogenic bacteria to die.
Dry sausages require more time to make than other types of sausages and are a more concentrated form of meat. Dried sausages range from 60 percent to 80 percent of their original weight before drying.
Semi-dry sausages are usually heated in the smokehouse to fully cook the meat and partially dry it. Semi-dry sausages are semi-soft with good keeping qualities due to their lactic acid fermentation and heavy application of smoke. Some are mildly seasoned and some are quite spicy and strongly flavored.
Dry sausages include:
• Sopressata (a name of a salami)
• Pepperoni (not cooked, air dried)
• Genoa salami, which is an Italian meat made of pork and may contain a small amount of beef. The meat is seasoned with garlic and moistened with grape juice or wine.
Semi-dry sausages include:
• Summer sausage
• Lebanon bologna
• Cervelat
• Thuringer
Some dry sausages are shelf stable (in other words, they do not need to be refrigerated or frozen to be stored safely). Dry sausages require more production time than other types of sausage and result in a concentrated form of meat.
To make fresh sausage at home, you will need some specific equipment. Unless you are making large batches of sausage, this equipment will not be too expensive. At a minimum, making sausage links requires a funnel, a manual pump stuffer, and sausage casings. This will cost you less than $100 and you will only need to replenish the casings before making a new batch. More advanced techniques require a meat grinder and high-output sausage stuffer, but the results will be the same.
First, you will need to buy or grind pork, beef, lamb, venison, or other meat. If you are grinding your own meat, choose a cheaper cut like a pork shoulder, because the flavorings and processing will improve the flavor and the best cuts of meat are not wasted on sausages. Next, place the meat in a large bowl or mixing container, and add spices and herbs. Sage, fennel seed, garlic, black pepper, and dried red pepper are all traditional seasoning for sausage, but you can experiment with your favorite flavors. Thoroughly mix the meat and flavorings; add some water to make the mix more pliable. If you choose to make sausage patties, you can form patties with your hands, wrap them individually in plastic wrap, and place in a freezer-safe bag. The patties will keep fresh for up to one year.
If making sausage links, put the meat into the funnel or stuffing cylinder, pressing out air pockets as you pack it. Put a sausage casing on the spout end (hog casing for large sausages; sheep casings for thin sausages), and brush the casing with vegetable oil or food-grade lubricating oil so that the casing will not burst. Tie a knot at the end of the casing. Next, begin to crank or press the meat through the funnel and into the casing. This is a two-person job; one person must press the meat through the machine, while another person eases off the filled casing as it is stuffed. Gently squeeze out air bubbles while the casing fills.
Once the casing is filled, it is time to twist the sausage into links. Pinch the casing at the length of the first link, and very gently twist it once in a clockwise direction. At the next link, twist it in the opposite direction. Continue until you have twisted the entire sausage into links. If you will be cutting the links, twist several times and then cut the link.
Fresh sausage can be stored in a refrigerator for a few days, but for longer periods, it must be wrapped and stored in the freezer.