Can anyone suggest a good book on the old ways of long term meat preservation? I'm in that generation of folks who's grandad still raised hogs and his own vegetables, but he was completely dependant on refrigeration as far as the meat part of that equation. Probably because he grew up without much electricity and wasn't at all interested in going back to hanging meat in an old smokehouse just for the hell of it. At any rate, I AM interested in salt/sugar curing meat that will keep without refrigeration. Not something to be done half heartedly, so I'd like to find some older literature on the subject.
Biltong seems the best off grid red meat preservation style I've seen so far. Pork can be fried in lard until the water is out of it and smothered in the lard to keep from spoiling for a long time. Those are my two favorite methods. Several books on charcuterie are out there that can explain the more technical versions.
Check out what this old man has to say. Amazing to me. Just Morton's sugar cure, cold smoke if you want, and then just let it hang. If you watch it you'll hear him say he just ate off of a ham that's been hanging for 7 years.
I've been looking for info on this same subject . I'm wanting to build a smokehouse for cold smoking , but haven't found the exact details and process I need for the project . I found something once for smoke curing , it said , If I remember right , it said the optimum temps for cold smoking was 58 degrees . I will definetly be looking at the video posted .
I've salt cured pigtails before , would just use Mortons salt , pour a good amount on a plate or big enough bowl , put in pig tail , rub in salt, just leave it on the counter and check on it every couple hours , and rub in the salt , keep it covered good, keep doing it for about a week till you have no more wet spots in the salt . The salt will pull out all the moisture and seal it . Then I would put them in the freezer , not sure if that was needed or not .That's the way grandma would do it . I used regular table salt ,not sure what grandma used , but the fella in the video said he used a curing salt . I'll research that . Thanks for the video .
Smokehouse we had as a kid at home, built in 1880's my grandfather said, had two sections. a dozen different rods going across it, and a fire place inside and one outside. Hot smoked fish, chickens, etc inside stove and cold smoked hams etc with outside fire, sometimes did one to smoke and one to cook as final step so used both inside and outside. Used a lot of cure, salt peter etc, to keep color of meat and help preserve. Always used canning salt with no iodine added. Been so long ago that I forgot most of it. Proper cured hams, bacon, some sausages would keep all summer, others would not. Old style bacon was a lot dryer and smokier than the stuff we eat today and salt pork. etc were a lot salter than today. Used to soak hams in water before eating them, had salt pork, meat in fat, etc down in basement where it was cool in large crocks. Once we got electricity, in 5 years most of the food changed we didn't do it any more. Had canned beef, hamburger, fish, chicken, pork, in pressure cooker and stored jars in basement, once we got a freezer, I don't think another thing was ever canned.
A lot of what y'all do up north scares the crap out of me for our hotter winters and summers. Gawd I wish I had a cave available!
As a boat bum, We converge on a local cannery with meats, stews, all sort of stuff, and have then can for us at a very reasonable cost. Easy bilge storage, and it's great to just heat something up that you put away months ago.
Manual on simple methods of meat preservation Manual on simple methods of meat preservation Meat-Preservation Methods Of The 1800s, 4 Forgotten 012517 Fat cap, Salt cure and hang, Rillette, Confit 4 Forgotten Meat-Preservation Methods Of The 1800s - Off The Grid News Click on www.grandpappy.info/indexhar.htm for more Hard Times Survival jerky is preferable. (Less weight and bulk, and no risk of breaking containers.) Detailed “do it yourself” instructions (including jerky making, pemmican making, and canning options) can be found in the book “The Encyclopedia of Country Living” by Carla Emery. Get a Ninth Edition copy. If you can’t find this book locally, YOU CAN FIND ON WEB FOR FREE http://www.housegate.net/woodvival/manualistica/The Encyclopedia of Country Living.pdf Sustainable Food Preservation, by Jen W. - SurvivalBlog.com
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