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Cody_Mack

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
SMF Premier Member
Feb 8, 2021
361
255
Fulshear, TX
I first joined this Forum looking for ideas for built-in smokers, for the new outdoor kitchen, to go with the new outdoor pool! Well all the pool builders pissed us off, plus it was in the middle of pool-build mania (otherwise known as COVID Pandemic!), so we lost interest…$hit!

And I sort of lost interest in the Forum. But then a few weeks ago I get this strange feeling that I want to learn more about advanced meat prep and smoking. Not sure where that came from. I’ve always been a pretty good backyard smoker; even famous in the family ranks! Heck, the best brisket I ever ate was one I also cooked!, on a 55-gallon converted drum, while staying at a multi-family beach house rental at Crystal Beach, TX! I made two briskets and a buddy made two racks of spares, and it was all gone in minutes!

And now here I am, hanging out sometimes hours per day, reading and learning. I absolutely love cured, smoked, exotic (method) meats, but I never realized with just a little know-how and tools that it really is easily achieved!

So here’s my first product. I am very pleased with the 8 lb Pork Loin I scored for $1.67/lb and ended up packaging 4 lb sliced and into the freezer. (the rest I have kinda munched on shared, etc…). It was wet-cured for 10 days and has a nice sweet and smoky hint from the brown sugar. Simple, by the book, tasty result!

And then there’s the top half of a butt roast I dry-cured in a bag for 10 days, and wasn’t at all impressed with the results. It was too salty, and I admit I rushed the soaking process when it came out of cure. But the texture and the early slices I got were just not appealing. More on that later…and looking for tips…

All was not lost on the butt roast, however. For most of the bottom half I rolled and tied into a small roast and smoked for several hours and it was very yummy. Plus I had about 1.5 lb of scrap and made some breakfast sausage, from a recipe I found here, for sure!

The last pic is my finished product. The new-found hobby also inspired me to open the Food Saver vacuum sealer my late mother-in-law gave us for Christmas several years back. I know, I know…should’ve been using it already! God rest her soul….

Rick
 

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Yep you've found an amazing place, welcome to the club!

With big or thick cuts of meat I prefer cure them in an equilibrium cure/brine so the meat never gets to salty. ALSO, once I mix up the liquid cure/brine I inject it all over into the big/thick cuts of meat so it cures from both the inside and out fully penetrating and curing much much faster.

Using a little math, having the available fridge space (garage fridge), and a little planning anyone can absolutely nail curing and brining this way and never be too salty.

I just did 25 pounds of pork shoulders to be Thanksgiving and Christmas "hams" this year and WOW the taste is outstanding!

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Fully cured in a 6 day period :D

Keep at this thing and you can make all kinds of wonderful goodness! :)
 
Welcome from PA. Too Salty can be Soaked to get the desired result. Change the Water every few hours and Test Fry to know where you are at. If you got impatient and the meat is too Salty, you can add small amounts to Beans, Greens, Soups, anything where Bacon is an ingredient...JJ
 
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Welcome from PA. Too Salty can be Soaked to get the desired result. Change the Water every few hours and Test Fry to know where you are at. If you got impatient and the meat is too Salty, you can add small amounts to Beans, Greens, Soups, anything where Bacon is an ingredient...JJ

Thanks, I did exactly that, cut into 2" chunks!
 
Looks good to me! It takes a bit but keep trying and pretty soon you'll nail it!

Ryan
 
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