CURING

When you cure meat, you’re simply preserving it, using salt and sometimes a few trace chemicals to help prevent the growth of dangerous bacteria (such as botulism) and to introduce other subtle flavours. In the old days they used saltpetre, a salt of potassium nitrate (curiously enough, famed as an oxidiser in gunpowder) because it helped cure food far more efficiently than salt alone. Nowadays, we know that saltpetre is less consistent than some other food additives, so modern foods often use things like sodium nitrite or sodium nitrate in a strictly controlled fashion (they’ve also been shown to be more effective in controlling bacterial growth). Saltpetre is still an approved food additive in much of the world, and some swear it gives a better end result in terrines and salami.

One of the other effects of all three additives is that they cause the meat to stay pink, even when cooked, hence the colour of bacon compared to a piece of cooked pork. We’ve heard of an organic butcher doing nitrate-free ham and having his customers reject it simply because of its grey colour.

There is another effect of the curing agents on the body. The nitrate is converted to nitrite in the process, and both nitrite and nitrate become nitrosamines when digested, and nitrosamines are a suspected carcinogen. Used in minute quantities, and eaten in moderation, there’s little risk to most people, but an increasing number of people like to avoid the additives for health reasons. There are some associations between nitrosamines produced in the body when they’re eaten and diabetes, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, too. Eating foods cured without nitrate or nitrite doesn’t mean you’ll avoid this, however. Some ‘natural’ food additives such as celery powder have the same effect on meat, and on the body, and even salt-cured food can have some quantity of nitrate/nitrite in it. We like to do some nitrate-free curing because it means a slower cure, a truer meat flavour, and we think limiting added nitrates to your diet probably isn’t a bad thing. You can buy sodium nitrate and sodium erythorbate from some butchers or butchers’ supply shops, though for home use a friendly butcher will probably supply a smaller amount than the 1 kg (2 lb 4 oz) tubs often bought by the professionals.

Nitrate-free curing is simpler for the home curer and for that we recommend a simple sea salt, with no anti-caking agent. Most salt sold for the house has a chemical added that stops it clumping, and while it’s debatable whether it has much effect on curing, purists prefer a pure sea salt. For most uses a coarse salt is fine, though a fine table salt cures more quickly. Butchers use a coarse salt, sometimes called ‘flossy salt’ because of its fine threadlike texture.

HANGING YOUR PRODUCTS

They say that if you want to be happy for a week, get married. If you want to be happy for a month, kill a pig, and if you want to be happy for a lifetime, plant a garden. While there’s a lot of truth in that, killing a pig means meat for more than just one month if you cure it. Because this book is all about the preservation of food, you’ll be well advised to have a place in mind to hang things, as meat — even a simple bacon and ham — usually improve with hanging after curing.

The best place to hang food is in a cellar or the equivalent — somewhere about 12°C (54°F), that has some humidity, is airy but isn’t subject to a breeze. In temperate climes, such as Tasmania where we live, we can get away with hanging our meats in a barn or shed in the cooler months. All we need to do is to rodent-proof the top, to protect the meat from wasps and flies — muslin (cheesecloth), shade cloth or even some soft fly mesh work well — and hang things in the cooler, wetter months from May to October.

Hanging outside of these months, particularly when a product is fresh (such as prosciutto) is more difficult and requires a bit more thought. You can humidify a space by hanging wet towels in it. This also helps to cool the room. But if you live in a warm climate with no access to a cellar, you’re better to mature things in a fridge or coolroom, taking care to keep the humidity up. By nature, fridges and coolrooms dry the air, making for dry-cured meats. Because we don’t live in a warmer climate, we haven’t had to come up with novel ways to cure meats, but underneath the house, out of the breeze, in the coolest, moistest spot is going to work best in most places. Use nature to your advantage, and only try to hang products when the weather is going to be on your side.

Once you’ve found a place to hang your salami or speck, the trick is to get a hole through part of the meat and insert a hanging hook. We’ve found the best place to hang things is from a hook that is screwed into the ceiling to avoid rats and mice.