Meat Smoking and Curing
Long, long before the inventions of electricity and refrigeration, people used smoke and salt to preserve meat for long-term keeping. Hunting has never been a sure thing so every kill was treated as if it would be the last one; not a morsel went to waste. Later, after the domestication of animals for food production became a way of life, slaughter was an annual or seasonal event where, again, not a morsel was wasted. It was the development of meat curing and smoking processes that preserved the kill from one hunt to the next and the slaughter throughout the year.
The goal of either process was to kill all bacteria in or on the meat as it’s bacterial action that causes all foods to decay. Curing and smoking were common practices long before the discovery of bacteria and other microbes but the end result was the same. These cooking processes are still enjoyed today and have become a staple part of delicious cuisines the world over.
I - CURING
In it’s purest, simplest sense, curing involves immersing a cut of meat in a salty brine solution or nestling the meat into a container filled with dry salt until all bacteria are killed off. Over time, new curing agents were discovered. Saltpetre, sodium nitrate, sodium nitrite, and sugar, all with or without herbs and spices to flavor the curing agent, have earned their place on the butcher shop spice rack.
Why Is Meat Cured?
Safe preservation of the meat has been the historical reason for curing meats. From that universal starting point, different cultures have customized the process using flavoring agents indigenous to their homelands. It’s these differing flavoring agents that help make corned beef taste different from pastrami, pepperoni different from linguisa, and black pudding different from kielbasa.
What Is Osmosis?
From a strictly technical perspective, osmosis occurs when molecules of a less concentrated solvent pass through a semipermeable membrane to intermingle with a concentrated solvent. That means two things when curing meats. Juices from the inside of the meat pass through it and into the salt solution outside it, leaving the meat drier, cured for long-term storage. Also, the liquids sustaining life inside a bacterium pass through its outer membrane and into the salt solution, killing the bacterium. Death by desiccation, if you will.
What Is Meant by “The Danger Zone?”
The Danger Zone is so called because it’s the temperature range in which bacteria thrive, multiplying and colonizing like there’s no tomorrow. This Club Paradise of the bacterial world puts the human diner at increased risk of illness by food poisoning. The Danger Zone is the range between 5 and 57 degrees Celsius (C) (40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit [F]). Refrigeration keeps foods below the Danger Zone, where microbial activity slows to a crawl. Freezing is even better; it kills almost everything. Thorough cooking, at temperatures high enough to elevate the internal temperature of the meat above the Danger Zone, also kills microbes.
It’s impossible to serve and enjoy a good meal when food temperatures are always above or below the Danger Zone. The trick is to serve hot foods hot and cold foods cold and to put away leftovers as soon as possible. Leaving foods at room temperature for more than two hours is a risky practice, even if the two hours at room temperature occur in several, smaller intervals of time instead of one long setting.
What Other Factors Affect the Growth of Bacteria?
One result of smoking meats is that its oxygen content is severely depleted. Oxygen escapes as the natural liquids evaporate. This oxygen-free, or anaerobic, environment is an ideal climate for Clostridium botulinum, the bacterium that causes a form of food poisoning known as botulism.
What Is Botulism?
Botulism is a form of food poisoning caused by ingestion of foods that are infected with the Clostridium botulinum bacterium; C. botulinum does not require oxygen to live and is actually much more prolific in an anaerobic environment. The idea of bacterial infection is never savory but it’s the toxic waste products given off by the bacterium, not the germ itself, that cause the problem in humans.
In the late 19th century, the illness was called Botulismus, or sausage poisoning, from the Latin term botulus sausage. Botulism is also closely related to poorly canned meats and root vegetables, including garlic. In the wild, the bacterium lives in soil so all foods that grow in or close to the ground are most at risk of contamination.
Symptoms usually start about 12 to 36 hours after eating the offending food. Symptoms include cramps, diarrhea, vomiting, sore throat, breathing difficulties, and blurred vision. C. botulinum toxins affect the central nervous system, making paralysis a very real concern. The fatality rate for botulism is about 70%.
What Are the Commonly Used Curing Compounds?
Salt was the first curing compound and is most commonly used even today. Saltpetre, a form of potassium, became popular, too, once discovered, but modern technology can now isolate sodium nitrate from the saltpetre so just that element can be used now. Sodium nitrite and sugar are also commonly used in curing mixes.
Why Use Soy Protein Concentrate?
Fat is needed in sausage to flavor the meat, keep the sausage moist, and to bind together the ground meat particles used to make the sausage. Soy protein concentrate binds to the fat, raising its melt point. Without the soy protein concentrate, the fat from untreated sausages is likely to melt at smoking temperatures and seep out of the sausage, leaving behind a dry, crumbly product held together by nothing more than the casing its packaged in and a greasy mess outside.
Where Can Compounds Be Obtained?
Look for curing compounds suitable for home use in local grocery stores or butcher shops. Mail-order and online retailers specializing in charcuterie carry them, too; charcuterie is the culinary specialty devoted to cured meats. Many home cooks enjoy making their own curing blends, too, lending a signature touch to the finished dish.
What Is Spray Pumping?
Spray pumping means a curing compound has been injected directly into the inside of the meat, to cure it from the inside as well as the outside.
What’s Trichinosis?
Trichinosis (also known as trich, trichiniasis, and trichinellosis) is a food-borne illness caused when meat infested with the Trichinella spiralis bacterium is eaten. Pork is especially prone to cause trichinosis, which is characterized by fever and digestive disturbances. Muscular rigidity, too, is a tell-tale symptom because the bacterium lives in the voluntary muscles of the body, such as those of the arms, legs, and other body parts that can be moved at will, or those body parts most commonly referred to as meat.
If My Cured Pork Doesn’t Reach a Safe Temperature, What About Trichinosis?
Become accustomed to using a meat thermometer whenever smoking meats or cooking large cuts by any method. For safety’s sake, look for an internal temperature of at least 65.5 C (150 F) before ending the cooking process. The meat will be hot enough long enough at this temperature to kill almost all microbes that might be there. To be even safer, buy frozen meats or freeze them before cooking. T. spiralis and most other harmful microbes cannot withstand freezing temperatures.
What About Dry Curing Sausages and Meats?
Dry curing is not at all uncommon nor is it limited to charcuterie. When the meat in question is a steak- or roast-type cut that isn’t treated with curing compounds, the dry curing process is often called dry aging. Dry curing (or aging) relies on bacterial activity to achieve the desired effect. As the meat hangs, natural enzymes and microbial activity break down the meat’s connective tissue, tenderizing the meat as it does so.
Using this method, the meat is hung in an environment where temperature and humidity are rigidly controlled and there is enough room between each cut of meat or sausage so that no two of them touch; freely circulating air is vital to the process. Expect to invest about 36 hours per 454 grams (one pound) of meat, or about three weeks to dry cure the average ham. Prosciutto is perhaps the most highly valued dry cured meat in the world.
II - SMOKING
What Is the Difference Between Smoke Cooking and Curing?
When meat is cured, chemical agents have been applied to destroy the naturally occurring bacteria that reside in the meat and the meat’s natural juices are reduced so as not to promote further bacterial growth. These two factors result in a longer shelf life than would be expected if the meat had not been treated this way; curing is a means of preserving the meat for future use. Curing is done at low temperatures, often under refrigeration now that that technology is available.
Smoking is a preservative method, too, although higher temperatures are required. When meat is smoked, it is placed near a fire that burns slowing enough to smolder for long periods of time. The smoke, which is a flavoring agent, is directed toward the meat so the meat is surrounded by the smoke as it dries but is far enough from the heat source that it doesn’t cook.
What Are the Proper Temperatures for Smoke Cooking Meat?
Smoking is best when the air temperature surrounding the meat is near 93 C (200 F). If the temperature rises much higher than that, the meat cooks instead of becoming cured by smoking. Lower temperatures might promote bacterial growth, which is exactly opposite the goal of smoking.
Smoking equipment with an offset fire box built in is often preferred over equipment that places the meat directly above the fire. The offset arrangement makes it easier to control the ambient temperature in the smoking chamber and is more forgiving when the fire wanes or is stoked during the long periods of time required of this cooking method.
How Important is Temperature Control During Smoke Curing?
Temperature control is very important for smoking and all other cooking methods and is especially so when animal-based products are being cooked. A cooking range of 88 to 99 C (10 degrees above or below 200 F) is perfectly acceptable but problems occur if the range varies too much from that. Higher temperatures will cook the meat instead of smoking it. If this cooking occurs in spots instead of uniformly throughout the meat, the risk of bacterial growth increases. If the temperature drops too low, bacterial growth, again, is invited.
Is Closing Down the Air Inlet Dampers a Good Way to Keep the Temperature Down?
Since the smoker designed for home use mimics the traditional smokehouse but on a smaller scale, the dampers are an excellent way to control air flow through the smoking equipment, just as they are in full-scale smokehouses. It’s important to understand, however, that a subtle smokey flavor is usually preferable to a heavy smoke flavor in the final product. When dampers stay closed too long or are not open enough to allow free airflow, the smoke accumulates around the meat and can leave it tasting sooty and bitter. It’s better to monitor the airflow and control the dampers in such a way that smoke wafts through the smoking chamber and around the meat without lingering long enough to cling and coat the meat’s surface.
What Are the Various Woods Used for Smoking?
When choosing the woods for smoking, it’s a good idea to match up the meat and the wood so that flavors are complementary. Pork, for example, is frequently eaten with fruit or a syrup-based sauce. Use wood from a fruit or maple tree for best results here. Consider cuisines, too. Food flavors of the American Southwest are big and bold, one reason mesquite is the favored wood to cook these foods. The oak is abundant in Europe so it’s a perfect wood to use when preparing traditional European fare. The pecan is native to the southern United States (US) and is the ideal choice for cooking in the style of the Old South.
- Flavor From the Wood
- Use Pruned Branches in the Meat Smoker
- Comparison of Features of Hickories
- The Mesquite Tree
Alder
This member of the birch family is native to both Europe and the US, where it is the favored wood for smoking salmon in the Pacific Northwest. Alder imparts a light delicate flavor, making it ideal for smoking fish of all kinds.
Apple and Cherry
Wood from fruit trees produce a smoke that smells sweet and fruity. Use these woods for pork, poultry, and venison.
Hickory
The hickory tree is a botanical relative to the walnut and pecan. Hickory smoke is strong and brings a robust presence to the meats it cooks. Use it to cook meats with equally strong personalities, such as pork, beef, lamb, and game meats.
Maple
Like the syrup it produces, maple trees burn with a smoky, sweet aroma that is distinctive but mild. It’s especially pleasing with pork and venison but it works well with poultry, too.
Mesquite
Use mesquite sparingly if it’s an unfamiliar wood; its smoke can be overpowering and bitter. Reserve its use for bold flavors such as beef, pork, lamb, and game meats. It may clash with the flavors of highly seasoned sausages and will likely overwhelm fish and poultry.
Oak
Oak trees are everywhere, making them the universal choice for just about everything. The flavor of wood smoke is undeniable but not so assertive that it competes with the flavor of the meat, regardless of the meat being smoked. Use this one with confidence.
Pecan
Pecan smoke is a bit milder than that of its cousin, the hickory, making it an ideal choice for almost all meats. Pecan wood burns easily at low temperatures, another reason it’s an attractive choice for smoking meats.
