Salt Curing Pork Shanks

[Bennypapa]

I've got 3 pork shanks curing now with a salt, pepper, brown sugar mix in the fridge.

How do you tell when they are ready to move to the next step?

Thank you,
Ben

 

[jdot6]

Depends on what your trying to do. If you're gonna braise them after, 1 full day in the fridge uncovered will be fine. Make sure you rinse them tho!

 

[Bennypapa]

I'm wanting them to turn out like "Country ham".
I hope to cold smoke a couple.

 

[adiochiro3]

Are you curing, or brining? There is a HUGE difference between the two -- in time, process, and food safety. If you are not using curing salts, then you are only brining and can move to the next step of cooking any time you wish within a few hours to a few days (as long as it is refrigerated the whole time).

Curing meats is another thing entirely and not done willy-nilly. This process is much more precise and should only be attempted with close supervision/advice from someone who is experienced. It's not difficult; it's just SUPER important to get it right.

 

[adiochiro3]

DO NOT cold smoke unless properly cured. You can make people sick or worse. You can hot smoke (cook) it any time you want.

 

[jdot6]

If the only method of cooking is the curing that your doing then a good rule is a day and half per pound of meat. Ur salt to sugar should be 4:1. Also reapply the salt mix every 7 days.

 

[satph]

Are you curing, or brining? There is a HUGE difference between the two -- in time, process, and food safety. If you are not using curing salts, then you are only brining and can move to the next step of cooking any time you wish within a few hours to a few days (as long as it is refrigerated the whole time).

Curing meats is another thing entirely and not done willy-nilly. This process is much more precise and should only be attempted with close supervision/advice from someone who is experienced. It's not difficult; it's just SUPER important to get it right.

DO NOT cold smoke unless properly cured. You can make people sick or worse. You can hot smoke (cook) it any time you want.

+1

These shanks need to go from 40°F to 140°F in under 4 hours.

Anything you want to cold smoke for hours needs to have been cured with #1, #2 or Morton's TenderQuick or SugarCure. All of these products contain Sodium Nitrites and some of them also contain Sodium Nitrates.

By the way, those "uncured hotdogs" all contain celery juice, which contains... nitrates... which is why the hot dogs are pink. They are cured.

 

[TNGabe]

Don't listen to the alarmists here Ben, they're misinformed. If you're using factory raised pork that hasn't been frozen, trichinosis may be an extremely unlikey concern, but with farm raised pork, salt curing ham is safe and easy. The meat is preserved through dehydration.

I haven't made country ham, but I did make a prosciutto style ham last time I butchered hogs. Ideally, you want a draining board to set it on, but lacking that, I kept it on a sheet pan in the fridge, with some weight on top. Every few days, I would drain the liquid, turn the ham over, and add more salt as needed. After about a month of that, it was no longer losing water and was ready to hang. After rinsing the salt off the ham, I covered it in lard and black pepper. Not wanting to spend a bunch on that much cheesecloth, I wrapped the ham in brown paper and hung it in my cellar for about a year. It got moldy and had a few bugs on the outside. I was a little nervous when I finally decided to cut it down, but after cutting away the outer layer, I found delicious perfectly cured prosciutto.

Making country ham is similar, except as you know, you use brown sugar in the cure and smoke it at some point. There is quite a bit of information on it online if you look around a little bit.

In answer to your question, you're ready to move to the next step when the hams are longer losing liquid.

 

[satph]

Nitrites are used to kill bacteria, especially botulism. It has nothing to do with trichinosis.

 

[TNGabe]

Nitrites are used to kill bacteria, especially botulism. It has nothing to do with trichinosis.

Have you really never heard of dry cured hams? The world's finest hams are made with no curing agents other than salt. The water activity is reduced below the point at which mircroorganisms can reproduce. I'm not going to argue about it with you anymore, but spend 5 minutes wth google and you'll see that you're mistaken abdout the need for nitrites to cure ham'

 

[Bennypapa]

Allright,
I've done some research.
Country ham
http://extension.missouri.edu/p/G2526

http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/458/458-223/458-223.html

Their recipe is 8lb salt : 2lb sugar : 2OZ saltpeter or sodium nitrite per 100# of meat.

I don't have any nitrites nor do I want them. I used this same basic recipe for my ham shanks and added some black and red pepper (both paprika and cayenne)

I have had them in the fridge at or below 40F on raised platform in a larger container to catch the liquid to be discarded. I salted them, rested a week, then salted them again. I've got about 3.5 lbs total weight.
According to the Virginia article it is time to move to the next step. Give it a read. I found it very informative.
Ben

 

[LakesideBrewing]

I cook something called Le Jambonneau, a dish I had in Belgium. Basically it's brined pork shanks that are smoked. I know it's not really what you're looking for advice on, but it's a similar process. I brine (cure) for 6 days, then rinse and soak in water for 1 day. Then smoke at 250* over apple wood for about 6-8 hours, until the shanks reach 190* internal temp. They taste ridiculously good!

 

[Bennypapa]

That does sound ridiculously good.

 

[adiochiro3]

Don't listen to the alarmists here Ben, they're misinformed. If you're using factory raised pork that hasn't been frozen, trichinosis may be an extremely unlikey concern, but with farm raised pork, salt curing ham is safe and easy. The meat is preserved through dehydration.

I haven't made country ham, but I did make a prosciutto style ham last time I butchered hogs. Ideally, you want a draining board to set it on, but lacking that, I kept it on a sheet pan in the fridge, with some weight on top. Every few days, I would drain the liquid, turn the ham over, and add more salt as needed. After about a month of that, it was no longer losing water and was ready to hang. After rinsing the salt off the ham, I covered it in lard and black pepper. Not wanting to spend a bunch on that much cheesecloth, I wrapped the ham in brown paper and hung it in my cellar for about a year. It got moldy and had a few bugs on the outside. I was a little nervous when I finally decided to cut it down, but after cutting away the outer layer, I found delicious perfectly cured prosciutto.

Making country ham is similar, except as you know, you use brown sugar in the cure and smoke it at some point. There is quite a bit of information on it online if you look around a little bit.

In answer to your question, you're ready to move to the next step when the hams are longer losing liquid.

You are the misinformed amateur who will get someone sick or dead with your advice. Your focus on trichinosis shows your ignorance. Satph has is right: botulism and other bacterial contamination is the key concern. Methods you describe are incredibly dangerous in the hands of an amateur. One attempt at making something does not make you an expert. Just because you got lucky doesn't mean you should put someone else at risk. Your advice flies in the face of meat curing wisdom and safety.

OP, if you don't want nitrates/nitrites, fine. Just follow satph's advice and hot smoke and get the meat through the 40-140F in 4 hours or less, and your family and friends will be safe.

If you are still unsure about who to believe, please do some more homework and get some solid advice from some place other than a brewing forum -- preferrably from someone who has a lot of experience curing meats. Books and butchers and chefs are a good places to start.

 

[TNGabe]

You are the misinformed amateur who will get someone sick or dead with your advice. Your focus on trichinosis shows your ignorance. Satph has is right: botulism and other bacterial contamination is the key concern. Methods you describe are incredibly dangerous in the hands of an amateur. One attempt at making something does not make you an expert. Just because you got lucky doesn't mean you should put someone else at risk. Your advice flies in the face of meat curing wisdom and safety.

OP, if you don't want nitrates/nitrites, fine. Just follow satph's advice and hot smoke and get the meat through the 40-140F in 4 hours or less, and your family and friends will be safe.

If you are still unsure about who to believe, please do some more homework and get some solid advice from some place other than a brewing forum -- preferrably from someone who has a lot of experience curing meats. Books and butchers and chefs are a good places to start.

I didn't claim to be an expert. Speaking of books and experts, Michael Ruhlman's Charcuterie is where I got the 'recipe' I used for prosciutto.

 

[Bennypapa]

If you are still unsure about who to believe, please do some more homework and get some solid advice from some place other than a brewing forum -- preferrably from someone who has a lot of experience curing meats. Books and butchers and chefs are a good places to start.

I'm not looking for someone to believe in. I'm looking for facts. Hard data.

Second, this is a meat curing forum.

I am concerned about safety, that's why I came here. I do not take food safety lightly. That is why I'm seeking info about the proper (read safe) way to make good use of these pork shanks.

3rd, If you've never run across "country ham" before you should check out the links I provided. Hams have been preserved this way since American colonial times. I'm just trying to use this method to preserve the pieces that normally get discarded, the shank end.

They go taste so good in a pot of soup beans.

Thanks all for the input.

 

[satph]

Here's an article about the history of preserving food. They define curing as drying with the addition of salt. They further claim that when this is done with salt without nitrites/nitrates the meat is grey. They say addition of nitrites gives the red color, and inhibits botulism.

As TNGabe points out, there are people curing without the addition of nitrites. The laws regarding Prosciutto di Parma allow only the addition of salt (sodium chloride). Some people would argue that the sea salt they use contains nitrates and nitrates. But See page 141 of this PDF: "While sea salt has been suggested as a likely source of nitrate, limited analytical information suggested that nitrate content of sea salt is relatively low. Herrador, Sayago, Rosales, and Asuero (2005) reported that Mediterranean sea salt contained 1.1 ppm of nitrate and 1.2 ppm of nitrite. Cantoni, Berretta, and Bianchi (1978) analyzed 10 samples each of 3 grades of sea salt and found nitrate and nitrite concentrations of 0.3–1.7 ppm and 0–0.45 ppm, respectively." If I'm doing the math correctly, Cure #2 has 30,000 times more nitrites and nitrates than sea salt.

So, how is Prosciutto di Parma red, and how does it keep botulism at bay? I don't know. Personally, I would not cure meat without the addition of sodium nitrite. For something that would cure over a long time, I'd use nitrates as well, and make sure I had a temperature and humidity controlled curing chamber. I have made some tasty Canadian Bacon with Morton's Tenderquick, but I'm no expert on the subject either.