I sincerely apologize for not finishing this thread last week.
thoseguys26, the brine is pops recipe from this site.
real simple curing brine:
for every 1 gallon of water, add:
1/3 - 1 cup sea salt (depending if you're on a lo-salt diet)
1 cup granulated sugar or Splenda[emoji]174[/emoji]
1 cup brown sugar or Splenda[emoji]174[/emoji] brown sugar mix
1 tbsp cure no. 1 pink salt
stir thoroughly until clear amber color, pour over meat, inject if necessary to cure from inside-out as well as outside-in
weight down with a partially filled 1 qt or 1 gal. ziploc bag or bags to keep meat immersed
Curing times vary with meat, but generally overnight to 2-3 days for chickens and turkeys, 8-10 days buckboard bacon, 10-14 days belly bacon, pork shoulder, whole butts, 3-4 weeks whole hams, 10-20 days corned beef (fresh beef roasts, briskets, rolled rib roasts, etc.) If whole muscle is more than 2" thick, then inject so it can cure i/o as well as o/i, and/or in and around bone structures, etc.
You can add any other flavorings you'd like, this is just the basic curing brine. 1 heaping tablespoon of cure is about 1 ounce. The maximum concentration allowed safely is 3.84 ounces per 1 gallon of brine (24 lbs.per 100 gallons: 16 oz. x 24 = 384 ounces, 1/100th is 3.84 ounces). You can experiment with different concentrations as long as you keep it between those parameters:
The lard was rendered from two hogs I butchered two weeks ago. I rubbed the entire ham with it to keep the venison ham moist. I like to use bacon also, but the lard was right there so I used it. It worked out perfect. Also I had a water pan in the smoker to add humidity.
Here it is after 6 hours.
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View media item 184357
