Cured pork shoulder & pork leg

I have been trying to do Pork biltong as well as Beef Biltong. I've just done a6 day cure on both, the pork was quite thick, that is why I left it longer.
I saw this mans video on home curing, and although a long process I'm interested in giving it a try 

 Process 

(14th Jan) I should have weighed the joint when it was being dried in the biltong box so that I could calculate the amount of dehydration. In the video below it mentions losing about 35-40% of its weight. He also attaches a lable to it showing original weight, date and what it is, so it can readily be checked- a good idea.

 

part 1- 5 jan 2020

  I got a pork shoulder with bone in (8.99/kg) and got a $13.50 joint. By the time I take the rind off and bone out it should most probably be around 1kg.
  I ran the pork skin and fat in the air dryer and drained off the fat into a jar, and ate the pork crackling. 

  My piece of meat needed to be folded and I tied it up, not as elegantly as he has done in the video.
  Next I had the brown sugar& salt mix (weighed by eye), his recipe isd 500g of Sal & 250g of brown sugar, and rubbed it into the meat. I had some rock salt pieces that I sat underneath the joint in a tray and put in the fridge.

So it is now curing in the fridge overnight for a 24 hour cure
The next phase is washing off with vinegar and then doing a salt and pepper rub.  Then hanging it at oroom temperature for a further 24 hours. I'll do that in the Biltong box.

part 2- 6th Jan 2020

Out of fridge and all the sugar/salt in the dish, then rinsed with white vinegar.

 Next, salt 1Tblspoon, Brown Sugar 1Tblspoon , Pepper cracked 2 Tblspoons rubbed all over then fine pepper rubbed in over the first rub.

 Next the meat is hung in the biltong box with a drip tray under for 24 hours, then after that it goes into the fridge somewhere. I've got to figure that part out. I wonder if I should try a cold scellar arrangement, such as in the cupboard in the spare room. Thats an internal cupboard so should stay cooler. Or maybe in the room under the stairs?That stays pretty cool.

part 3. Curing 7th Jan 2020

I decided that  I'd try the cool basement method using the tool cupboard under the stairs.
I'm concerned about insects and vermin getting at it so I decided that I needed a suspended box with a good airflow across it.
There didn't seem to be too much dripping into the tray in the biltong box so I just used a bit of polystyrene for the drip tray.
So there is a plank of wood across the space. It is serendipitous that I got the chains out of the Warehouse Skip (they changed the lights from Sodium to LED) and the chain just hangs over the timber.
I have 2 metal coat hangers going diagonally across top of box with all side flaps folded inwards.
The coat hanger hooks loop through the chain, so are robust, and I have a crocodile clip used for a loop inside for the meat.

 There is muslin at the back and the front, the back is fixed with electrical tape (wide) all around, so is fixed. I also have the electrical tape across the diagonals to try and keep the box rectangular in shape. That helps support the muslin (folded two layers thick) in the middle at the back.

The front muslin is taped at the top and has elastic band to other 3 sides that hold the front in place, so there is good through air across the meat.
The box is quite wide so you could put another couple of pieces of meat to cure inside. Currently I only have the one point of suspension, but I could push a dowel or wire through the sides to allow other pieces to hang next to it.
I will check to see hw its doing but plan to take out on about 2nd Feb, 3 1/2 weeks from now if al goes well.

Check Day 1 Curing-(Day 3 total)  - 8th jan 2020

  It looked ok and the meat was still very sof/moist. It was a pain putting the netting back on. I may need to modify the system.

14 jan-checked and moved

 I have been checking daily but mould seems to be growing in the folds. IO got a vinegar spray and sprayed the crevices and that seemed to get rid of the white furry mould. I did this a couple of days ago and have just done it again.
I don't think there is enough air movement in the under floor cupboard so I've decided to bring it up and put it in my biltong box for curing instead. I think air curing may be the better way to go.
 I should have weighed it originally but I weighed it today and it is 882g. I'll leave it in biltong box overnight and tomorrow I'll hang in fridge before I go away.
I used a stocking (garlic cloves sleeve) for the rolled panacetta , I should do it with this next time. Again, important not to have trapped air inside (can hold bacteria).
So assume 5% dehydrated so far, needs to go another 30% (617g) to 35% (573g)

15th Jan

Now hanging in fridge

27th Feb

I was up with Zoe and Karl for about 6 weeks so the meats just hung in the fridge. On return I had to weigh them.

flat	rolled	shoulder
545	533	882
305	388	547
240	145	335
0.559633	0.727955	0.620181
0.440367	0.272045	0.379819
0.440367	0.272045	0.379819
44.0367	27.2045	37.98186

 Pork Shoulder

I found the Pork Shoulder had a bit of white mould on the outside, and sprayed it with vinegar, and when I sliced into it there where pockets of white mould.

If you tasted the Pork Shoulder  slices with the white mould it tasted mouldy, but if you cut out the mould it was a very nice cured meat. Quite delicious. 

It was hard to slice as it was very hard. So you ended up with either shavings or a thicker slice.

The one in the middle in the photo above has some white mould in the nicked edge area, after cutting out the mould it had some really nice flavours. Well worrth doing again. This was a poorer cut of meat but very flavoursome. It went through a few iterations. Hanging in fridge seems to work nicely.

Next time, if I roll a piece of meat I'll make sure it is in a sock and tight, so there are no air pockets, as this is where the mould got to. Also really tighten with string. Lesson for later

  7th March 2020

I saw this on special and decided to get it. I cut the skin off and then cut it into 2.
I have it saled/sugard in the fridge at the moment. The biltong box is running for the bacon, so I'll use it tomorrow for the pork leg.
I found this was the least saltycured meat and I really like it, so I'm trying it again.
This time I'm going to air dry cure one in the biltong box and the other in the fridge. I need to check the weights of them both prior to curing.

9th March

After tying them up, and saltinmg and leeving in fridge overnight, I took out, washed with vinegar and then put the salt/sugar/pepper and fine pepper rub on them and then put in the biltong box for a couple of days.
I weighed them both, one was 538g and I hung this one in the fridge. The 2nd was 480g and I put this back in the biltong box to see if that will dry out quicker.
Both need to dry out by between  35% to 40%.
for 538g this needs to be (35%)  350g (40%) 323g
for 480g this needs to be (35%)  312g (40%) 288g
 I'll monitor them to see how they are doing, and keep a sharp eye on the one in the biltong box for mould. I can use the vinegar sprayer on it if some does show.

11th March

I've been looking at meat slicers to try and cut up the meat. I'll have to go on trademe to get one. They are a little bit expensive as I've blown my budget this month. I wondered if my mandolin slicer would work, and it did. It only cuts smaller slices, but they come out nice and fine. I was very pleased with the result.

The more firm the meat, the thinner you can slice. The rolled panacetta which is pretty soft in the inside I needed to put the mandolin on setting 2. For the flat panacetta and pork shoulder setting 1 was fine. The mandolin did bow in the middle when used. Also the flat panacetta came in shorter strips, I couldn't seem to get long ones, but a nice solution.

6th April

Another run at doinmg the pork shoulder. I already have one still curing in the fridge and I've pretty much finished the other ones. A stump lefot of 3 of them.
I'm doing another cured pork shoulder but its a big one, 860 g , and that is after I left it to leak overnight in salt to get rid of some of the moisture.  So maybe only 30% less in weight, instead of 35-40% so for 30% it needs to go down to 600 g. I have it in the biltong box at the moment.
I found that it cured a lot quicker using the biltong box and the fridge, not as cured in the very middle, but that is fine as long as its not too soft. As this is such a big piece, if it is too soft in the middle I'll look to cut it part of the way through.
The other ones do have a musty taste to them. I may need to spray with vinegar more frequently.