Question about Curing Salt

[rwilli]

I am preparing to make some Tasso Ham today using Chef Tom's recipe from ATBBQ. This recipe does call for 1/2 (15 g) of LEM backwoods cure for 5 pounds of meat which is 3 times what the normal recipe or package instructions call for. This quantity is repeated in both his video and written recipe but seems high to me. Is this amount of quick cure used because this is a short cure time, or do you think it is a mistake? Is it ok to use in this quantity for this purpose.

Your input is appreciated

Bob

 

[DanMcG]

I'd have to see the recipe, but adding more cure will not speed up the curing of the meat. I'd personally go with the normal use of 1 tsp per five pounds or 1.1 grams per pound.

 

[rwilli]

Thanks, that is what I was thinking as well-----But here is the recipe for your info:

Tasso Ham How to Make

Ingredients

• 5 lb Boston butt pork shoulder (preferably boneless)
• 8 oz kosher salt
• 4 oz white sugar
• 1/2 oz (15 g) LEM Backwoods Cure (pink curing salt)
• 1/4 cup white pepper
• 1/4 cup cayenne pepper
• 2 tbsp dried marjoram
• 2 tbsp ground allspice
• 2 tbsp granulated garlic
• 2 tbsp dried thyme

Instructions

Slice the pork butt into 1” thick steaks.

Combine the kosher salt, white sugar, and LEM Cure in a large flat container. Mix well. Dredge the pork steaks in the dry cure, pressing the pork into the cure to coat all surfaces. Shake excess cure off the pork and place in a clean container. Cure the pork in the refrigerator for 4 hours.

Rinse the cure off of the pork with cold water. Pat dry with paper towels.

Combine the remaining seasonings in a bowl and mix well. Season all surfaces of the pork steak with the seasoning mixture.

Preheat your Yoder Smokers YS640 Pellet Grill to 225ºF, set up for indirect grilling/smoking.

Place the pork steaks on the second shelf of the grill and smoke until the internal temperature reaches 150ºF, about 2 hours. Remove from the grill.

The pork can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three weeks, and in the freezer for up to three months.

 

[dernektambura]

if LEM is pink curing salt then you have about 3x more than you need...

 

[daveomak]

That method is a short cut... Not wanting to wait for a proper cure to develop... "Add 3 times the recommended amount and shorten the curing time by days"..... Makes no sense to use that method...
Add the proper amount of cure and spices... let rest in the refer for 1 day per 1/4" of thickness of the meat... then you can rinse and be sure of your finished product being satisfactorily cured...
Original Tasso did not use cure... Don't know why, maybe they didn't want the ham flavor or cure wasn't available...
NOLA Tasso

 

[dernektambura]

I agree with Dave's reasoning....Meat absorbs cure over the period of time...Multiplying amount of cure will not speed up cure proces, it will only absorb multiple amount of 6.25% nitrate needed to cure particular amount of meat as well as it will become very salty....

 

[motocrash]

I'd go daveomak route or indaswamp & foamheart have real,proper "Weezy" recipes on here.

 

[indaswamp]

That method is a short cut... Not wanting to wait for a proper cure to develop... "Add 3 times the recommended amount and shorten the curing time by days"..... Makes no sense to use that method...
Add the proper amount of cure and spices... let rest in the refer for 1 day per 1/4" of thickness of the meat... then you can rinse and be sure of your finished product being satisfactorily cured...
Original Tasso did not use cure... Don't know why, maybe they didn't want the ham flavor or cure wasn't available...
NOLA Tasso

It was salt cured Dave... So much salt was added that you really could not eat tasso alone by itself. This was strictly a seasoning meat that the trappers and hunters brought with them into the swamp along with dried beans. If they caught or killed any meat, they made a one pot meal like jambalaya. But if not, then they made a pot of beans with the tasso. All the seasoning and salt for the beans was dried onto the tasso...made it convenient and light to carry....

 

[foamheart]

I am not sure why the NOLA doesn't list curing salt. Took me a while to be happy with my Tasso. Matter a fact It was just this last year I figured out how to make it how I like it. Butts are on sale again this week for .99/lb and I opened my last pkg of Tasso from the freezer day before yesterday. I seriously thought about it, and then sat down till the notion passed.....LOL I have plenty of andouille and it or ham can season just as well. LOL OK, I am getting old and lazy! Heres the link to my last tasso that I really liked. I figure how good stuff is but how much I have to hide it in the freezer to get any...>LOL This was well liked.

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/cajun-tasso-foamheart.279089/

Bottom line, a brine cure, then dried really well and rubbed down with a cajun sausage seasoning then warm smoked. Tasso is like andouille, bacon pr ham, Its a cured seasoning meat. BUT it is covered externally with rub or spices and smoked.

Hope it helps some. You also must realize that different parts of the state do things differently. I have it figured in 4 parts, east & west of the mississippi and north & south of I-10. Never had tasso as a kid, it was not a commercially sold meat. It was hung with the hams till it molded just right.

I now use it specifically in veggies, mostly green ones, like other folks use bacon.

 

[daveomak]

It was salt cured Dave... So much salt was added that you really could not eat tasso alone by itself. This was strictly a seasoning meat that the trappers and hunters brought with them into the swamp along with dried beans. If they caught or killed any meat, they made a one pot meal like jambalaya. But if not, then they made a pot of beans with the tasso. All the seasoning and salt for the beans was dried onto the tasso...made it convenient and light to carry....

Ahhhh !!! Well if was to be salt cured, and dry stored for a long time with no refrigeration.... May I suggest using cure#2... Probably don't need it if the meat has 10% salt.. but, extra insurance is cheap....