I was thinking back to my thin sliced butt steak and I think I used 5 teaspoons <font color="red">too little</font id="red"> cure when I did it on Thursday night. From what I remember, (company and Bacardi while I was doing it) I used 1 tablespoon per pound of meat instead of 1 tablespoon and 1&1/2 teaspoon per pound of meat. I used 4 pounds 5 ounces of meat. I took a little piece out and rinsed it and fried it in a pan to test it. It turned pink while cooking but did not have a lot of flavor. Should I add more cure and give it another day or two or just keep it as is?
edit to add...now I'm second guessing myself and I think I may have used the right amount of cure. Would there be anything wrong with leaving it as is? What about the rinse/soak?
KDX,
If you are not sure how much cure you used I would not add more. I would rather have to little than to much. Since you have already taste a sample and it is not to salty, I would give it just a rinse and not soak it. These are thin pieces of meat and when you smoke them you will add a lot of flavor.
In all honesty I'm not sure what you are trying to make. Usually when you cure a pork butt you would cure it whole,smoke/cook and then slice as needed.
Hope this helps! Good luck with you project!!
Doug
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jaeger...in all honesty I'm not sure what I'm trying to do either. I bought a warehouse pack of the steaks on sale so I figured I would make some Buckboard bacon out of them. I sliced them thin (about 1/4") before adding the cure because I figured it would be easier than after smoking the meat. I started it Thursday night so it's only been 3&1/2 days. I spread out the meat and sprinkled the cure on and placed it in a plastic tub about 4 or 5 layers high. There is no liquid pooling in the bottom at this time. Is than any type of indication as to how far along the process is?
KDX,
I would say with the thickness that you are using, it is cured through. If you were making jerky, you would slice it about 1/8" and it is cured in 24 hours. With jerky, you don't wash off the cure, that is why I suggested just a quick rinse (since you have already tried some). As far as juice at the bottom of the container, this will vary with each batch of meat. With this type of dry cure I would not expect much if any juice.
When you decide to smoke it, let it dry a bit before putting it in the smoker. These won't take long.
One other option is to cold smoke and then cook on the grill.[;)]
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<font size="4"><b>Doug</b></font id="size4">
I rinsed it, patted it dry and let it sit out for 45-60 minutes and smoked it @ 150 (door temp) for 3 maple pucks and 1 apple. Approx 1 hour and 30 minutes. It looks really good. I didn't even try it. I just blotted off the moisture, let it sit for a while and vacuum sealed it.
KDX,
Let us know how it turned out. Post a picture if possible.
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<font size="4"><b>Doug</b></font id="size4">
I'll post a pic when I defrost some. Here's a link to the story of my life if you are interested in the interm.[:D] http://www.big-boys.com/articles/everyonesex.html
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by KDX</i>
<br />http://www.big-boys.com/articles/everyonesex.html
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">Skin that poor bugger & smoke him![;)]
http://www.chezbubba.com
Ya think next time I check into a hotel & they ask "Smoking or Non?" they would mind?
I heard that stupid song today when I clicked on that link and can't get it out of my head. It's driving me koo-koo.[:p]
jaeger
I like your sig-pic!
Olds
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http://rminor.com
Thanks Olds!
Congrats on the millenium posts!
I will have a new recipe and pics for you before the week is out!
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<font size="4"><b>Doug</b></font id="size4">