Hi, don't know if you have time to answer a question but here goes. I have seen similar smoke generators to the Smokai that have a glass jar or stainless container for collecting creosote, is this strictly necessary, and if not being removed does this end up on the food. I think they are called condensate trap smoke generators
Heya, I've researched them a bit in Germany, where they are popular. It does build up in these smokers - so its an idea. I've got to a get a few to test out for sure. Tom
Hi Josephsharp700 - the link is in the description click the 'click here' button here is another link to it - courses.eatcuredmeat.com/ultimate-homemade-bacon-online-course
Equilibrium curing is a stellar method but it has one fatal flaw(I mean that literally)..... And I say this as a person with industrial vacuum packaging machines at my disposal...... We need to find a way to do it without the use of plastics.... Plastics are a real problem. I'm still a slave to them but trying to rid them from my life.
I would appreciate some help if possible. I have a rec tex pellet smoker. I've been trying bacon with no good results. I think it's the pellets. I tried adding a smoke tube but still with no Hickory smoke taste added. I'm using Hickory pellets. Would you have any idea what I would need to do to have a hickory flaver added to my food.
Is the smoke source very close or directly under the pork belly? With a smoke tube you should absolutely be getting enough smoke flavor. Maybe change pellets.
Dry cure meat has been arojnd forever without all that tech stuff. Do it in spring Autum and winter and save your money. At these times of the year i can just hang mine up in my wooden smoke box and if its getting over 15 deg i just chuck in a couple of 2 litre frozen ice bottles. They will last 2 days. Humidity is good in there as well .
👍 great ! Good to have a climate that suits. For doing large diameter soppresatta salami, and big chunks. I like to have a controlled environment for consistent outcomes so I don't waste the effort. Even the 80,000 prosciutto factory I visited in itsly lost 2 or 3 % fron hanging in the open. Cheer T
@EatCuredMeat - I just noticed that I have the same Hanna PH meter that you do. I'm pretty old school and haven't used it a lot. Perhaps the subject of a video but if you have the opportunity, I'd like to know your experience with it... how accurate you feel it is and how you calibrate etc....
Hey Joe, that one lost its accuracy after about 18 months. The spearhead probe isnt' replaceable either, it 'was' acccuate. Good idea will do a video at some point :-) Tom
@EatCuredMeat - I have no issue with mold 600. It's good, clean stuff.... I would only suggest that it's "the standard". Not a bad standard, just the standard. If in the old country... from region to region... from cantina to cantina...... accepting the natural molds in the environment can bring about some amazing flavours. I understand that a business selling salami needs to deliver a consistent product as that's what customers expect.... I've carved out a little culture local to me based on the notion that it's "craft" and will not be the same each and every time. Salumi with different quality of vintage from year to year. The result has been that I have made a salumi that I have not liked at all... but others considered the best I've ever produced... and Some that I thought completely knee-buckling that others though.... "good" I realize this is no business model.... but perhaps nothing "good" is ;) Keep it coming.... and please keep your open approach. Too many have been stifled by regulation, prescribed by dirty mass production Good work
Agreed! Yeah for most of the converted fridges I've used over 20 years - all have actually mean naturally 'innoculated' just from the meat/environment. Funny actually, in the last 4 years, I've been collaborating and teaching a friend who bought a 'Stagionella' commercial double door drying fridge. It's been quite a challenge, since it has too many settings! Hundreds of years ago in the caves of Umbria, don't think they had any buttons to push. Kindest regards, Tom
I think what stops most people is that they're conditioned to think they can't do it.... Simple people have been doing it for thousands of years...... the best information (in english usually) is that they have to carefully add carcinogen preservatives to the process in some draconian threat. It was not done this way historically. Simple people did this, safely.... and without the pseudo science. I challenge anyone to find an Italian language salumi maker who uses nitrates/nitrites. In the homeland of salumi.... it just doesn't exist from anyone credible..... It immediately drops the category of meat from "craft" to "oscar meyer weiner" In North America, I challenge anyone to find a single case of botulism (what I'm told we're trying to prevent with curing salt) on the CDC database. They track botulism very closely. There are certainly documented cased from factory producers who used curing salts..... not one from a home producer using traditional, salt-only methods. Period..... People keep telling me I haven't done the research... but I'm pretty sure they're just parrots I feel as though someone says something on RU-vid or whatever... then someone regurgitates it... then a bunch of others repeat it.... and before you know it... that's the "right way". My best advise is to go talk to a really old person who is doing what you want to do. Unlike say, two Guys and their cooler who are skilled in marketing themselves and adhering to basically the same standards as Tyson Meats. I'm hoping most of you have higher aspirations... Don't sterilize your meat..... You need to build relationships with local butchers and farmers.
Thanks for taking the time. Opinions always welcome, after writing the equivalent of 5 novels on my meat curing website. I've tried to take facts, check them and look at any topic with that crazy thing called common sense. The history of the nitrate/nitrite is quite fascinating with the meat industry pushing hard for it, since it speed up production process and of course pink ham is a lot easier to sell then grey (like red tomatoes and orange carrots!). Regurgitation is very common both on youtube and websites thats for sure. I've tried to study the subject for 20 years and that's what I share. Not commercial super risk adverse, just home production that had about a 99% success rate. I've taken every opportunitiy to visit quality producers in Calabria, Around Parma, USA/Indianpolis (Smoking Goose - Awesome place), Australia, Germany, Slovakia, Austria, New Zealand and UK. Cheers Tom (I agree quality butcher, harvesting yourself or growing a pig is ideal - sadly not ideal for most folks)
@@eatcuredmeat I appreciate the way you're rolling this out. I'm not here to judge... I'll leave that to the no-nothings who are selling something. And, I'm not against selling something.... I only get ticked when some guy and his cooler are accepted as legitimate because he deletes comments that point out his lack competence. So far, I'm liking your approach...
Expat southern italian here... been preserving meat for generations. Always keeping a cautious eye on what others are publishing. First video of yours I've watched.... I look forward to seeing what you're about... I hope you're not like those Two Hacks And A Cooler. They just delete comments that illustrate their incompetence so they look like they know what they're doing. I like this start with you being transparent about the realty of the craft process. Thank you for that
Ciao Joe, I agree! looking forward to 4 month in Italy later this year! Castagne (Chestnut -500yr old trees) Flour and Porcini business venture with a friend maybe. If there is someone I should visit over there, happy to take recommendations - love a good Nona! Challenges of commercial farming practices in the Western world, alot of terrible poor quality meat. I've always said its up to the individual to decide what they put inside them. I've done a lot of research on botulism cases historically in USA. Mainly meat canning and indigenous fermentation of meat (under 30 cases a year last time I looked). Kindest regards, Tom
@@eatcuredmeat I may be of assistance if you're going to be in Sicilia (north coast), Calabria (Cosenza region) or Campagnia. I'll be there myself much of the summer. I may also head to Puglia to connect with a friend who moved back this past year to start a B&B
@@eatcuredmeat Bravo! I look forward to your videos. E pazzo perche... OK,English... Everything gets twisted in English language text, millennia of wisdom is thrown out the door to accommodate "dirty meat" by sanitizing it. So many people buying their meat at big box and grocery stores to try and get in on the practice of curing meat are duped into killing the life within it. .... I doubt many have ever killed and broken down a pig. I think this is part of the process of understanding and respecting the meat/animals we harvest. Respect for being responsive.
I loved my Smokai 1 L to start with and still do. . . . but I admit that it is a PITA to clean. I have used alder; apple; and maple so far. The alder chips did not work out as the pieces were too big. They would jamb sidewaus and not fall down to the burn area. The apple and maple are wood "bits" and the perfect size. They stay lit. But even using the Simple Green that is recommended, I still fight to get all the gummed up creosote off. A steel brush on a drill if the only thing that can get atthe thick stuff especially in the smoke tube.
Yes I agree doesn need a clean out. I've found it really varies the creasote build up, depending on the wood. I've had less maintenance with lighter / fruit woods. I often just use a piece of thin wire and clear out the air hole and horizontal tube around the air pipe. Then it's all go! Cheers Tom
Awesome, if you haven't seen it - here is a page from what I've learned converted about x5 so far. You'll also find a ebook pdf download on that pag - best of luck Tom - eatcuredmeat.com/dry-curing/how-to-build-a-curing-chamber-for-dry-cured-meat/
Dude, great info. I'm researching up while getting ready to start this project. Its years in the making, but I've got a lot of life prep to do to be ready for this.
All is good but yellow red and black molds.. I know that yellow tells you that there's PH alterations in negative way in the salame, others are probably related to either contamination or not properly initiated fermentation.. Green means there's not enough air flow or high humidity or combined.. worst Green can do is alterate the taste if left unattended for long periods of time.. you will know because products start getting mushroom smell.. either way you can brush off and wipe with vinegar/water solution any type of mold off your salame.. note that salame making is not easy.. It is time consuming with very long learning curve, and I'd suggest to start with something easier other then salame and see how it goes on.
@@hammertiming8423 Thanks for taking the time, you sound like you study mold! After 10 years of making salami and studying it. Vinegar is definitely you friend, as well as cold smoke to knock back the growth with its anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. Agree with nearly everything you said. Advanced Good white mold, can often be green - I've seen this in both convert fridges, Stagionella Drying Fridge I use and across commercial operators in Italy. In the video are some Italian Pancetta from Calabria covered in dark green/white mold- Lavasi, Calabria - Cheers Tom
Learning that cold smoked meat doesn't need the color of hot smoked was hard for me but I've learned cold smoke gives the best and cleanest flavor to bacon kudos to you for your channel very informative
Nice! Thanks for the encouragement. Actually I just thought of a cool vid about calling out many of the folks teaching how to make bacon, when they are just making smoked ham basically. I'll be working on that video next few weeks. Cheers Tom
Hey, I did some research - I can see it's a traditional Japanese product, some basic ver. liquid smoke adding would be a shortcut... I've had success cold smoking cow/milk cream, in a bowel for 1 hour. I'll try doing some cold smoking soy sauce next time the cold smoker is going I think. Thanks for the idea! Tom
@@eatcuredmeat Hey Tom... I actually did some Smoked Soy Sauce this weekend... I had a batch of Char Siu Pork that I Smoked and decided to give it a try... Put it in a ceramic bowl, kept my temp right around 225° and smoked it for about 4 hours... I will DEFINITELY be doing this again!!🤙🏾🤙🏾🤙🏾
@@jesselaa9397 I see awesome, you were actually hot smoking, anything about about 86F progresses to warming smoking (another topic Eastern European are specialists at, then from 200F it's hot smoking or low and low depending on your technique! All the best, Tom
I'm a details guy, rather cover a topic well. Here is a video on cold smoking tips also that might suit you. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-oOZQS5fRFqE.htmlsi=X2ykpQKuN6-ILjQ5
If you get an opportunity, visit Serbia and it's food festivals.. it's a cold smoked meat lovers paradise. They even have an event dedicated to bacon only, called "slaninijada". Huge tradition of smoking meat, and meat in general in that country. Saluti.
Heya, I spent some time nearby in Montenegro/Croatia; they loved the heavy smoke! The National Prosciutto was very salty for my liking from one of the top producers. Definitely will check it out. I googled that, slaninijada - arm wrestling bacon festival - I'm in!
Very interesting points you made. Temperature control and humidity level is the key. If I was to cold smoke outdoor at night in a place where temperatures range from 45 to 50°F throughout the year. Would it be convenient ? From what I learned so far is that smoking or drying food is a long process. It had to be done since ages in order to preserve it between hunting journeys and for others to survive winter. However the pronounced taste of preserved food smoked or dried by age somehow seems to resurface. Maybe it's a forgotten science written deep inside our DNA and we're just slowly rediscovering it !
Absolutely! We are probably hard-wired in some ways, since thousands of years is embedded. I would be very happy with temperature consistently in that range. Thanks for watching, Tom
I’m so excited to learn that I can make my own cured meats in my fridge. I want to live on my own homestead one day but live in an apartment right now. We want to raise cows so learning this skill now will definitely help me later.
Thanks, I've got a ton of videos coming, just need to record them. Remember for thousands of years, they didnt even have fridges to do it! Do it, savor the struggle! :-) Tom
Hey thanks! encouraging! smoker box could be many things. I've used a heavy metal ver. on a gas grill, to try and add smoke when hot smoking. Didnt work very well, wasnt much airflow. If I still had it, I would drill lots more holes in it. For Cold Smoking, guess it could if you had enough airflow. Pellet Tube or maze or just a large round sieve push in the middle to make a donut.... Tom
I am dry curing pancetta and a large ribeye. My dry aging chamber consistently stays at 36 degrees Fahrenheit with great air circulation. I am using insta cure #2 and drying aging the meat for 42 days. Will the low temperature of my chamber prevent the convection of nitrate to nitrite? Will my meats be safe to eat using insta cure #2 with my chamber conditions?
Great videos. Do you have videos on how to cure in justva refrigerator step by step process start to finish. I really enjoy your videos . I don't have a drying chamber for a humidity control environment. i have an extra refrigerator in my metal shop. So, all the meat in this video was cured and aged in a regular refrigerator . After they were cured and the 35% to 40% weight was lost. How did you keep them in there for a long period of time without tgem getting so hard. And whats the max they can be done like that in a refrigerator . And can you tell me about some starter culture for sausage, salami, pepperoni, and some whole muscle starter culture. Which do i need, and for them. Which is the best and which to order. Thank you so much for any help. And if you don't have any video on process doing meats from saltingvto hanging process for a regular refrigerator. Can do some for whole muscle and salami and sausage. Thank you so much
Woah! Thanks lots of questions 😄 Under about 250 grams for regular fridge dry curing I've found. All this months or years stuff is dried in controllled desire conditions. Once target weight loss, vacpacked , with removal of good mold with vinegar before packing. I am planning out a regular fridge curing video! Watching this space, it should be within the next 3 weeks !
Got one on the way, went with the 3 litre magnum because its medium size. Not sure what i will use for a smoke house yet. Thinking about one of them old barrels. Will be watching lots of videos on it now
Can these meats be dry cured outside of a refrigerator, like by salting then hanging as was done by our ancestors forever? I have seen folks do it successfully on RU-vid. Just asking .
Yeah of course, leaves more to luck, since you can't control environment much. But If you have conditions for sure, I'm pretty sure I said something in this video about that
a rub? like low and slow seasoning, sure. or any spices, if they stick. after cold smoking often I find the surface a bit drier. And before the cold smoking, pellicle means drier on outside of the meat
4 to 6 cold is about right for me. I rest mine for up to a week before slicing and packaging. If there was any bitterness from being oversmoked, the week long rest seems to help. A brief rinse also helps to remove any ash or soot, or bitterness.
Hi ! Smokai suggest warm water, detergent and a bottle brush or for DEEP clean citrus based cleaners -was thorough afterwards. They say oven cleaner also, but I wouldnt use that. All the best, Tom
Hi! Is your whole muscle course still available? Asking because I signed up for your free cold smoking guide and never received it via email. And the dry cured bacon recipe in the course, is it to be eaten raw after drying? Or only after cooking (want the ability to eat it raw after drying). Thanks!
Hey! I had a tech 'issue' with the email automation for the guide, its working now if you resubmit for it, or just flick me an email and I'll send it! For all bacon, cook. For whole muscle when curing is done, and drying is done (at least 30%) then can eat or cook! All the best Tom (check your spam, looks like I sent it to you :-) )
Thanks for all the effort you have put into this, excellent info and a great place to start. I make biltong slightly differently but the principles are the same , making my first foray into larger pieces. Bought a couple of roasting joints tonight, one pork, one beef. I'll be trying your equilibrium cure method while I set up the drying fridge.
Hey thanks,no it doesn't (skin is a barrier for salt binding), but when done in bag all good. If my pork belly has skin, I prefer to cure it, because I like to air fry it up. It's still uncovered drying out in fridge, 6 to 8 days until rock hard. Then only takes 4 mins in air fryer. All the best Tom
You gave me an idea. I make American style bacon in my fridge then smoke. Since smoke is protective I could cool smoke it for 30 minutes, then dry rub and put in fridge for a week. Then pull it out and smoke the rest of the way.
