Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Youtube  |  Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.

Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch

slow at work today so made a...

fishlessman
fishlessman Posts: 34,663
in EggHead Forum
salt curing box =) leg of lamb goes in friday packed in salt for prosciutto then hung for 100 days. first time for this, we shall see =) still need a cover and some weight




made a raised bed for any liquid to build up in



fukahwee maine

you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • Biggreenpharmacist
    Biggreenpharmacist Posts: 4,343
    Damn. I get slow at work and buy sh!t on the internet. Your slow days are way more productive than mine. 

    Little Rock, AR

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 34,663
    Biggreenpharmacist said:
    Damn. I get slow at work and buy sh!t on the internet. Your slow days are way more productive than mine. 
    its about 550 for labor and materials so i didnt save anything =) just had that perforated sheet staring at me in my office the last few months
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • dougcrann
    dougcrann Posts: 1,129
    Biggreenpharmacist said:
    Damn. I get slow at work and buy sh!t on the internet. Your slow days are way more productive than mine. 
    And alot less costly....
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • bgebrent
    bgebrent Posts: 19,636
    Where you hanging it brother Fish?
    Sandy Springs & Dawsonville Ga
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Jstroke
    Jstroke Posts: 2,605
    Fish--you have my undivided attention--if I lived closer I would help offset the cost.
    Columbus, Ohio--A Gasser filled with Matchlight and an Ugly Drum.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Darby_Crenshaw
    Darby_Crenshaw Posts: 2,657
    where'd you see the liquid trough idea?

    i would make sure that even the trough is filled with salt.  you don't want air pockets, but rather solid contact all around.

    there may be some back and forth with the liquid that is desirable.  you want to do it under weight, so yes, you are expressing some liquid, but i am not entirely sure you actually want to make it possible for the liquid to not contact the meat. 

    for one thing, the salt needs to get into the meat, and it will due that by drawing out some liquid, then the meat drawing it back in.  you are trying to get this thing salted all the way into the meat.

    i think you really want that liquid.

    you aren't following some "internet improv" method are ya? where someone decides that liquid is icky, and so they tell you to get rid of it?

    for most (all?) curing like this, you want the liquid to be in contact with the meat.


    [social media disclaimer: irony and sarcasm may be used in some or all of user's posts; emoticon usage is intended to indicate moderately jocular social interaction; the comments toward users, their usernames, and the real people (living or dead) that they refer to are not intended to be adversarial in nature; those replying to this user are entering into a tacit agreement that they are real-life or social-media acquaintances and/or have agreed to or tacitly agreed to perpetrate occasional good-natured ribbing between and among themselves and others]

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Darby_Crenshaw
    Darby_Crenshaw Posts: 2,657
    boil a wood board, and use that with weight on top.  brick, cans of broth, water jugs, etc.

    not trying to crush the thing, but you do want to exude moisture and give it a more uniform thickness (when hanging it will dry more evenly for starters, if a uniform thickness)
    [social media disclaimer: irony and sarcasm may be used in some or all of user's posts; emoticon usage is intended to indicate moderately jocular social interaction; the comments toward users, their usernames, and the real people (living or dead) that they refer to are not intended to be adversarial in nature; those replying to this user are entering into a tacit agreement that they are real-life or social-media acquaintances and/or have agreed to or tacitly agreed to perpetrate occasional good-natured ribbing between and among themselves and others]

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 34,663
    Darby_Crenshaw said:
    boil a wood board, and use that with weight on top.  brick, cans of broth, water jugs, etc.

    not trying to crush the thing, but you do want to exude moisture and give it a more uniform thickness (when hanging it will dry more evenly for starters, if a uniform thickness)
    i have some stainless bricks and a stainless cover =)  the link im following uses a tone of salt and no refrigeration, just says cold place. the room in my garage at camp is maybe 45/50, so im going on a limb with the fridge for 4 days then hang it. this is what it says about the salt under it
    "important that there is a lot of salt in the bottom that can absorb these fluids"

    and the link
    http://imgur.com/gallery/3vqUb


    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Darby_Crenshaw
    Darby_Crenshaw Posts: 2,657
    Absord the fluids, but you do NOT want to separate them out. 

    I would ditch the separator myself. Again, it's a case of: no one does it, and it goes against the logic of the process

    you don't need to refrigerate, but that won't hurt

    people need to remember, refrigerators are pretty new. This process was invented specifically because we did bot have refrigerators. You can do this at room temp with a whole hog leg. Yours will be fine. 

    You want a bed of about two inches under the meat then cover completely and pack in

    but don't elevate it so that the fluid is separated away from it. Yes, you will get drying but also you want some back and forth so the liquid can be resorbed a bit. 

    You will find wet salt on top and and sides also, all the salt will be damp


    [social media disclaimer: irony and sarcasm may be used in some or all of user's posts; emoticon usage is intended to indicate moderately jocular social interaction; the comments toward users, their usernames, and the real people (living or dead) that they refer to are not intended to be adversarial in nature; those replying to this user are entering into a tacit agreement that they are real-life or social-media acquaintances and/or have agreed to or tacitly agreed to perpetrate occasional good-natured ribbing between and among themselves and others]

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 34,663
    looking at the majority of directions out there and just about all use a cure2 or saltpeter, pretty much none say just salt. anyways im going to use some fine canning salt in the cut parts and coarse kosher to pack it. if it doesnt fit in the fridge ill just put it in the room. maybe make a spice rack with the screens. the box will be good for making sauerkraut in a week or two
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Darby_Crenshaw
    Darby_Crenshaw Posts: 2,657
    No need for pink salts. Heck, you don't 'need' it for safety in most of these cures. The salt is often enough

    remember that italian prosciutto iis salt-only. My prosciutto was salt only, though my country ham had some nitrite

    nitrite (pink salts) will change the texture and add a little piquancy. You don't want that with prosciutto. You want to use only salt and to allow the texture and color to develop as it would with salt only. It is very different actually. Think the difference between salt pork and bacon cured with nitrite. 

    If you are bound and determined to use that tray thingie, make sure you pack salt under it and that the meat sits on salt too.  This will effectively make it like the try ain't even there. But that's what you want. Surrounded all sides by salt

    buddy of mine did some small leg of boar as prosciutto, salt only, room temp, and he didn't overly bury it. Just poured salt over it in a stainless tray. Then he forgot about it. Hung it up and forgot about it

    i went iver to visit his set up (he hung his stuff in his wine cellar) and we were looking at it sitting on a counter. Looked like hell. 

    Tried it. 

    Was. Fan. Frigging. Tastic

    so don't panic either way re fridge or no fridge. Too much or too little salt, etc. 

    this stuff is simple at the heart of it. Very primitive. Hard to mess up

    make sure you express any blood from the leg. And take out the aitch ('H') bone. 

    Canning salt may be too much for the joint, but you won't be wating much from that area anyway. Gets very dry

    next one, try packing a sh!tload of herb de provence (or just lavender) in with the salt. 

    To be honest, this is more practical than doing a whole hog leg. Looking forward to your results
    [social media disclaimer: irony and sarcasm may be used in some or all of user's posts; emoticon usage is intended to indicate moderately jocular social interaction; the comments toward users, their usernames, and the real people (living or dead) that they refer to are not intended to be adversarial in nature; those replying to this user are entering into a tacit agreement that they are real-life or social-media acquaintances and/or have agreed to or tacitly agreed to perpetrate occasional good-natured ribbing between and among themselves and others]

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 34,663
    Darby_Crenshaw said:
    No need for pink salts. Heck, you don't 'need' it for safety in most of these cures. The salt is often enough

    remember that italian prosciutto iis salt-only. My prosciutto was salt only, though my country ham had some nitrite

    nitrite (pink salts) will change the texture and add a little piquancy. You don't want that with prosciutto. You want to use only salt and to allow the texture and color to develop as it would with salt only. It is very different actually. Think the difference between salt pork and bacon cured with nitrite. 

    If you are bound and determined to use that tray thingie, make sure you pack salt under it and that the meat sits on salt too.  This will effectively make it like the try ain't even there. But that's what you want. Surrounded all sides by salt

    buddy of mine did some small leg of boar as prosciutto, salt only, room temp, and he didn't overly bury it. Just poured salt over it in a stainless tray. Then he forgot about it. Hung it up and forgot about it

    i went iver to visit his set up (he hung his stuff in his wine cellar) and we were looking at it sitting on a counter. Looked like hell. 

    Tried it. 

    Was. Fan. Frigging. Tastic

    so don't panic either way re fridge or no fridge. Too much or too little salt, etc. 

    this stuff is simple at the heart of it. Very primitive. Hard to mess up

    make sure you express any blood from the leg. And take out the aitch ('H') bone. 

    Canning salt may be too much for the joint, but you won't be wating much from that area anyway. Gets very dry

    next one, try packing a sh!tload of herb de provence (or just lavender) in with the salt. 

    To be honest, this is more practical than doing a whole hog leg. Looking forward to your results
    they took out some of the bone at the hip end, after salting the plan is to tie it up tight on the boneless end and hang, thats my reasoning for the finer salt there in the cuts. im seeing alot of these done completely boneless on the web. juniper berries seems to be the choice with lamb, might try some of those if i think to bring it
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Darby_Crenshaw
    Darby_Crenshaw Posts: 2,657
    Juniper is strong. Yeah. I do that with duck

    lavender and spring herbs are good with lamb too.  Fanalaar uses lavender. Nice mild additional flavor with the mild lamb
    [social media disclaimer: irony and sarcasm may be used in some or all of user's posts; emoticon usage is intended to indicate moderately jocular social interaction; the comments toward users, their usernames, and the real people (living or dead) that they refer to are not intended to be adversarial in nature; those replying to this user are entering into a tacit agreement that they are real-life or social-media acquaintances and/or have agreed to or tacitly agreed to perpetrate occasional good-natured ribbing between and among themselves and others]

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 34,663
    cover and ss brick, just need the salt now =)


    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Tspud1
    Tspud1 Posts: 1,514
    What gauge and type of SS
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 34,663
    Tspud1 said:
    What gauge and type of SS
    16 gauge on the box, 11 on the cover, 1.25 inches on the brick. box and cover are 304, 316 on the brick. i looked around for a plastic bin sized right for the leg and couldnt find anything that wouldnt use 50 pounds of salt. i made this 23x12x9 inches deep
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Darby_Crenshaw
    Darby_Crenshaw Posts: 2,657
    do you have a roasting pan? i used an enamel oval roaster.  was a perfect fit.  deep though

    either way, have fun
    [social media disclaimer: irony and sarcasm may be used in some or all of user's posts; emoticon usage is intended to indicate moderately jocular social interaction; the comments toward users, their usernames, and the real people (living or dead) that they refer to are not intended to be adversarial in nature; those replying to this user are entering into a tacit agreement that they are real-life or social-media acquaintances and/or have agreed to or tacitly agreed to perpetrate occasional good-natured ribbing between and among themselves and others]

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Smokin_Trout
    Smokin_Trout Posts: 506
    Looking forward to seeing Aug 28th. I will need your address.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories