Smoked Cured pork loin is it right?

[Mmmm Meat]

I'm cautious on any books considered a bible" for curing.

There is a popular book on "Charcuterie: ..." that (IMHO) has some very questionable recipes.

I understand your skepticism - but a quick review of this book and you would understand that it is not a "how to make" book. It is a food-science based book about meat curing made by a professional as a safety go-by for enthusiasts. The intent of the book is to protect us from producing dangerous or deadly products by questionable methods. It provides a good description of practices and throws in some recipes in the last 1/3 of the book. From the table of contents - chapter names:

- Fermented meats
- Its all about bacteria
- Fermentation step by step
- starter cultures
- additives and ingredients
- Safety hurdles
- smoking
- Fermented sausages
- Slow fermented sausages
- fast fermented sausages
- Cold smoked, cooked, and other fermented sausages
- Equipment
- Guidelines to sausage recipes
- Sausage recipes (none of which I wanted to make, but which are still a great resource)
- Troubleshooting etc.......

Not what you nor I expected, but if you want to be safe making fermented sausages, then this is the best book that I know of for amateur enthusiasts. It is not fun to read, but it is important to read if you don't completely understand the fermentation processes and use of various inoculating bacterial cultures into your grind. If you have a desire to produce high quality and safe fermented sausages/salami to share with your family and friends, then I highly recommend it.

 

[kvn]

are you talking internally or external? Not sure just what you are asking. Basically it’s all dry, but not in the sense of drying the meat for 2 months. What exactly are you expecting?

Thats a great question, i am wanting to have good sliceable pork loin, that has been cured and smoked.

 

[indaswamp]

Ok, so can i just keep cold smoking it? Or better to put in fridge?

Depends on what conditions are inside your smokehouse....

To dry properly, you need an environment that is between 53-58*F and 75-85% relative humidity.

Or you can use umia bags and put them in the fridge.

These parameters are for slowing the drying of the outer part of the meat so that the inside can diffuse water to the outside and the whole product will dry somewhat equally. If you don't follow these parameter then the outside will dry faster than this inside of the meat and that will seal in the moisture as it can not escape....the meat will rot from the inside out.

 

[indaswamp]

I'm cautious on any books considered a bible" for curing.

There is a popular book on "Charcuterie: ..." that (IMHO) has some very questionable recipes.

Ruhlman? Yeah, some of his recipes use way too much dextrose....

 

[kvn]

Ok,

I used tenderquick that has both nitrates and nitrites is it best to continue or put on hot smoker to finish then let rest and eat?

obviously i am very unsure, any ideas?

 

[indaswamp]

Ok,

I used tenderquick that has both nitrates and nitrites is it best to continue or put on hot smoker to finish then let rest and eat?

obviously i am very unsure, any ideas?

If you are just trying to make a cured smoked loin like Canadian bacon, then yes, hot smoke it and eat it. But if you want to make a dry cured product where the loin is dried and loses 35-40% of it's weight, then you need to find an environment with the parameters I mentioned above. OR......you can use umia dry bags which are made to dry cure products in a normal refrigerator at low temps. and low RH%.

I'd suggest cooking this one, buy some umia dry bags, and start over if you want a dried product. Meanwhile continue reading and furthering your education.

meatsandsausages.com is a great resource....

 

[kvn]

Ok, so the tenderquick isn't for long term curing? just want to make sure

 

[indaswamp]

I do not use tenderquick. I know it has both nitrite and nitrate in it, but I do not know the percentages. It is an older product, but many people in the NE still use it for old family recipes. I use cure #2 and adjust the salt and sugar to my tastes.

Point of note- not all cure #2 is standard. You need to check it and figure out how much you need to add to give you the right ppm of nitrate.

 

[Mmmm Meat]

If you are just trying to make a cured smoked loin like Canadian bacon, then yes, hot smoke it and eat it. But if you want to make a dry cured product where the loin is dried and loses 35-40% of it's weight, then you need to find an environment with the parameters I mentioned above. OR......you can use umia dry bags which are made to dry cure products in a normal refrigerator at low temps. and low RH%.

I'd suggest cooking this one, buy some umia dry bags, and start over if you want a dried product. Meanwhile continue reading and furthering your education.

meatsandsausages.com is a great resource....

I agree. The price of the pork loin is pretty low and you can still enjoy the cure you put on the meat safely by cooking it before eating. If you smoke it as you cook, it might end up a bit like bacon. Next time, read up and have a plan for a 6 - 8 (or more) week dry cure using Instacure #2. You'll need a temperature and humidity controlled environment to cure it unless you live in conditions similar to Italy - (California).

 

[daveomak]

OK - I gotta ask. I thought that 30% weight loss was the target on dry cured meats. Is it 30 - 40 %? Too much information too fast.

I'm taking a SWAG here.... I have read where each muscle group holds differing amounts of moisture... and will absorb differing amounts as well... So, I think the folks that make the recipes, measure the Aw, water activity, and determine when a particular muscle group is safe... Water is necessary for bacterial growth... Below a certain level, it dies...
That being said....
NEVER take part of one recipe and assume it's ok to use in another recipe...

 

[daveomak]

Ok, so can i just keep cold smoking it? Or better to put in fridge?

Not necessarily... Follow the steps in the method....

 

[daveomak]

I'm cautious on any books considered a bible" for curing.

There is a popular book on "Charcuterie: ..." that (IMHO) has some very questionable recipes.

I agree... I don't believe much written by Rhulman...
He is an author.... He follows some knowledgeable folks, about meat processing, around and takes crappy notes.. Then hands stuff off to apprentices to formalize into a book... that he couldn't possible proof read OR he forgot what the story was about...
All of this to try and capitalize on the meat smoking, etc. boom.....

 

[SmokinEdge]

I'm cautious on any books considered a bible" for curing.

There is a popular book on "Charcuterie: ..." that (IMHO) has some very questionable recipes.

Agree
However, any book written by Stanley or Adam Marianski about meat curing/preservation, is golden. Straight up no B.S on subjects ranging from canning meats and vegetables to cheese making, curing meat to fermentation and salami.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Thats a great question, i am wanting to have good sliceable pork loin, that has been cured and smoked.

For now I recommend you hot smoke this one and enjoy it.
Then I recommend you purchase a book “Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages” by Stanley and Adam Marianski. This is a tremendous recourse for any who want to understand the process of curing, smoking and preserving meats. This will get a little more knowledge under your belt before you try this again.

 

[daveomak]

I do not use tenderquick. I know it has both nitrite and nitrate in it, but I do not know the percentages. It is an older product, but many people in the NE still use it for old family recipes. I use cure #2 and adjust the salt and sugar to my tastes.

Point of note- not all cure #2 is standard. You need to check it and figure out how much you need to add to give you the right ppm of nitrate.

Hey Inda... morning... TQ is 0.5% nitrite and 0.5% nitrate.....

Cure #1 and Cure#2 are used at the same rate.... They both have 6.25% nitrite mixed in...
That rate is 0.25% (0.0025) weight of the meat or... I weigh out 1.1 grams per pound of meat...
Or, using a method I'm not in tune with, 1 level tsp per 5#'s of meat... (Not all measuing spoons are equivalent)

25% volume difference in these tsp. measuring devices...

The nitrate can have a different amount... I have seen that from different manufacturers... Since it is a "time release" chemical, based on microbe activity in the meat, I'm not smart enough to know what's going on...

 

[daveomak]

Ok, so the tenderquick isn't for long term curing? just want to make sure

Cure #2 is for long term curing... 3 months to 2 years, give or take....

TQ... I would not use it... In order to get to the amount of nitrite needed to cure a given product, you must add 13X's the amount of TQ which adds 13X's the salt....
TQ, in my opinion, was developed to allow folks to kill animals for food and preserve the meat, without refrigeration...
I make Old World Bacon... I have altered the recipes to use cure#1...

 

[chopsaw]

Ruhlman? Yeah, some of his recipes use way too much dextrose....

And salt . His book makes a good door stop .
O.P. originally said he used cure 1 . Then he said cure 2 . I didn't read thru all of this , just curious if it was established what he used ?

 

[bregent]

I used tenderquick that has both nitrates and nitrites is it best to continue or put on hot smoker to finish then let rest and eat?

If you used Tenderquick at the rates you specified in the recipe you posted, then your pork is not cured. An uncured cold smoked pork loin is probably not safe to eat - I would toss it.

If you used TQ at the rates recommended by Morton, then you are probably ok.

 

[kvn]

That's a good recipe... Hang it to dry out at 53-56F and lose the 40% weight... THEN it's safe to eat... The nitrate in the cure#2 and the 2.8% salt will bring the salt content up to 3% + then it will go up more with the weight loss to about 4.2% () I think I got that correct) which will kill any bacteria and the nitrite will convert to nitrate to kill any botulism bacteria...
When using cure#2, any meat is designed to not be cooked...
The 53-56F range is necessary BECAUSE, bacteria grows really slow and allows the meat to dry safely... Higher temps encourage bacterial growth until the meat has lost the 40% weight and the salt content takes over along with the nitrate converting to nitrite...

Do you need a cure chamber for that?

 

[Mmmm Meat]

Do you need a cure chamber for that?

That, or a suitable environment (slightly drafty basement or similar) where the temps stay around the ranges suggested. 75% - 80% humidity is desirable too. These are the guidelines. Old world charcuterie was made without curing chambers so one would expect that a bit of variability still gets the job done.

Whole muscle curing is pretty safe if you dry cure or brine under refrigeration with recommended salt and cure percentages for the appropriate amount of time. Then hang the meat in a space close to suggested parameters till you loose 35 -40 % of the original weight, then eat it up. You can find calculators online that can tell you how long to cure the meat based on size and weight.