What's your next Meat Project?
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twilliams I have not brined anything more than a simple whole chicken with salt water, but I have this file for what it is worth.
Foul brine and cure
Make approx 40% brine solution to 100% meat
10lbs meat 4lbs brine
When adding ingredients to brine, the basic rule is to add ingredients that readily dissolve in water (phosphates, salt, sugar) first and then those that disperse (starch, carrageenan).- Add phosphates to water and dissolve.
- Add sugars, soy proteins and dissolve.
- Add salt and dissolve.
- Add sodium nitrite and dissolve.
- Add cure accelerator (sodium erythorbate) and dissolve.
- Add starch and carrageenan.
A typical brine solution (with Cure #1) at 21 degrees salometer reading:
1 gal. of cold water
½ cup (146 g) of salt
3 oz. (85 g) of Cure #1 – corresponds to 79 g of pure salt
3 oz. (85 g) sugar (brown or white).
A typical brine solution (no Cure #1 added) at 21 degrees salometer reading:
1 gal. of cold water
¾ cup of salt
3 oz. (85 g) sugar (brown or white)
Curing time depends on the size of the bird:
Cornish Game Hens 1 - 2 hours
Chicken Pieces 2 - 4 hours
Whole Chickens (2 lbs.)1 day
Whole Chickens (4 lbs.) 1 - 2 days
Turkey Breast 4 - 8 hours
Whole Turkeys (up to 10 lbs.) 1 - 2 days
Whole Turkey (over 10 lbs.) 2 - 3 days
A Very Large Turkey 4 - 5 days
To shorten curing time, poultry may be pumped with a brine mixture in an amount equivalent to 10% of the bird’s weight. A 10 lb turkey should receive 1 lb of brine. Birds weighing less than 3 lbs don’t need to be pumped and can be immersed in a brine mixture.
Birds weighing 3 - 10 lb
Each breast – 3 injections 60% of the brine
Thigh – 2 injections 30%
Drumstick – 1 injection 10%
Birds weighing 10 lb or more
Breast - 3 injections 50% of the brine
Thigh - 2 injections 25%
Drumstick - 1 injection 10%
Wings - 1 injection 10%
Back (each side) - 1 injection 5%
After the brine has been pumped in, the bird should be massaged lightly with fingers for better distribution of the brine inside.
The curing times for pumped in poultry are as follows
• Birds 3 - 10 lb (injected) 24 - 36 hours
• Turkeys over 10 lb (injected) 48 - 72 hours
The poultry should now be placed in a stainless steel, clay or food grade plastic container and covered fully with the remaining brine (use weight plate if needed). It should be placed in the refrigerator or in case the container is too large, ice should be added periodically to the brine if the temperature goes over 40° F (4° C). Added ice should be taken under consideration if we want to maintain the proper proportion of ingredients in the brine.
Draining And Drying
After curing, the poultry should be rinsed in cold tap water for 5 minutes to remove any crystalized salt from its surface, then it should be left to drain. Poultry holds its shape after hanging in a smoker for many hours and it will look like a bat with spread wings and legs. To retain its original shape it should be placed in a stockinette bag.
Smoking
When the birds are dry or tacky to touch, they should be placed in a pre-heated smoker. Keep the damper wide open to allow moisture to escape. Once the birds feel dry, leave the damper in ¼ open position and smoke at 130° F (54° C) for about five hours. Then continue smoking slowly raising the temperature to 165-170° F (74-77° C) and hold until the inside temperature in the thickest part of the breast is 160° F (71° C). You could insert a thermometer close to the ball and socket joint of the thigh as this is also the last place the meat becomes fully cooked. If the thermometer is not available, you can check the turkey by twisting the leg slightly. If it moves easily, the cooking is done. Small birds like cornish game hens or small chicken will need shorter smoking and cooking times.
And be careful when making stuffing. Let’s follow a beautifully presented scenario on stuffing a turkey from the 1984 classic “The Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing” by Rytek Kutas:
“The well-intentioned cook decides to make the dressing for the turkey the night before. This gives her more time to do many other important things the next day. She stuffs the turkey the night before, and places it in the refrigerator to be cooked the next day. Unfortunately, she doesn’t know she is creating ideal conditions for food poisoning. Obviously, the stuffing that she put into the turkey is somewhere between 40° and 140° F. Because the various parts of dressing have some liquid in them, the moisture is also there. Lastly, she sews up the turkey to create a lack of oxygen in its cavity.”
It is that simple to create food poisoning. You can make turkey stuffing a day earlier, just make sure it is left in a refrigerator.
Sodium nitrite (Cure #1) in the brine will cause the poultry meat to become pink when it is smoked or cooked. Keep in mind that nitrite cured meats develop a characteristic cured meat flavor and poultry will taste ham-like. To smoke turkey without Cure #1 higher temperatures are needed to eliminate food poisoning (botulism) that Cure #1 prevents. The turkey should be placed in a smoker preheated to 180° F (82° C) for at least one hour. Then the temperature should be increased to 200-225° F (93-108° C) and smoke is introduced. The turkey breast should be smoked/cooked to an internal temperature of 165° F (74° C). We are now smoking/baking the turkey without worrying about food poisoning.
If a chicken is placed down on a screen it will develop pale marks where the meat was in contact with the screen. This bears no influence on the taste of smoked meat but it looks unnatural. To avoid that poultry should be hung or inserted on a roasting rack. Another problem is that birds have a tendency to spread out their legs and wings and that shape is retained after smoking. When a whole bird is smoked it is a good idea to tie wings and legs in order to make the bird look more attractive otherwise it will look like a bat.
mrobisr wow that’s alot of good info. Thanks
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Thanks mrobisr thats well put together.
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We butchered 4 hogs this past summer & saved the bellies for bacon of course. I started with 72 lbs green weight on friday night & wet brined them with maple bacon cure & taste booster. I fit them all in 2 smokers on Saturday & when they were finished I had 64.5 lb left. Sliced them all up with my berkel 909 slicer today. Most was thin sliced & the rest was a little thicker. Turned out great. My wife was impressed which was the most important thing. Took a few pics, sorry they didn’t turn out the best.
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We made 60 lbs of Willies Snack Sticks and Landjaeger this weekend. The snack sticks were 80/20 venison and beef fat. The landjaeger was 60/40 venison and pork butt.
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We butchered 4 hogs this past summer & saved the bellies for bacon of course. I started with 72 lbs green weight on friday night & wet brined them with maple bacon cure & taste booster. I fit them all in 2 smokers on Saturday & when they were finished I had 64.5 lb left. Sliced them all up with my berkel 909 slicer today. Most was thin sliced & the rest was a little thicker. Turned out great. My wife was impressed which was the most important thing. Took a few pics, sorry they didn’t turn out the best.
IVERYAN nice looking bacon
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The screenshots are distorted. I wanted to repost but couldn’t without deleting the whole thing.
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We butchered 4 hogs this past summer & saved the bellies for bacon of course. I started with 72 lbs green weight on friday night & wet brined them with maple bacon cure & taste booster. I fit them all in 2 smokers on Saturday & when they were finished I had 64.5 lb left. Sliced them all up with my berkel 909 slicer today. Most was thin sliced & the rest was a little thicker. Turned out great. My wife was impressed which was the most important thing. Took a few pics, sorry they didn’t turn out the best.
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We butchered 4 hogs this past summer & saved the bellies for bacon of course. I started with 72 lbs green weight on friday night & wet brined them with maple bacon cure & taste booster. I fit them all in 2 smokers on Saturday & when they were finished I had 64.5 lb left. Sliced them all up with my berkel 909 slicer today. Most was thin sliced & the rest was a little thicker. Turned out great. My wife was impressed which was the most important thing. Took a few pics, sorry they didn’t turn out the best.
IVERYAN man that is a lot of great looking bacon
congrats to you. What temp did you smoke your bacon to? -
IVERYAN that is a nice looking slicer you have there.
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This post is deleted!
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twilliams said in What's your next Meat Project?:
Next meat project? Starting the venison sausage processing this weekend. And trying to figure out how to brine and smoke 2 turkeys. Don’t have a clue, I watched the videos but still a little out of my element.
If you have a way to inject the brine in the turkeys, then it is pretty easy.
I have done a lot of boneless wild turkey breast with a simple cure using Morton TenderQuick.processhead i have bought everything as stated in the video and then some. Bucket, liners, cold phosphate, turkey cure and turkey seasoning. The video didnt say anything about the seasoning so im not sure if i am to use it. I bought the injector that was on sale as well.
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IVERYAN man that is a lot of great looking bacon
congrats to you. What temp did you smoke your bacon to?cdavis almost all to 145.
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IVERYAN thanks for the info.
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IVERYAN the pics look good when you click on them individually. There is something going on with the page on how it loads the photos
twilliams yeah, they uploaded as a screenshot gallery. For whatever reason then, they are distorted until you click on them.
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twilliams yeah, they uploaded as a screenshot gallery. For whatever reason then, they are distorted until you click on them.
IVERYAN alot of pictures have been like that lately.
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We butchered 4 hogs this past summer & saved the bellies for bacon of course. I started with 72 lbs green weight on friday night & wet brined them with maple bacon cure & taste booster. I fit them all in 2 smokers on Saturday & when they were finished I had 64.5 lb left. Sliced them all up with my berkel 909 slicer today. Most was thin sliced & the rest was a little thicker. Turned out great. My wife was impressed which was the most important thing. Took a few pics, sorry they didn’t turn out the best.
IVERYAN Nice looking bacon.
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We butchered 4 hogs this past summer & saved the bellies for bacon of course. I started with 72 lbs green weight on friday night & wet brined them with maple bacon cure & taste booster. I fit them all in 2 smokers on Saturday & when they were finished I had 64.5 lb left. Sliced them all up with my berkel 909 slicer today. Most was thin sliced & the rest was a little thicker. Turned out great. My wife was impressed which was the most important thing. Took a few pics, sorry they didn’t turn out the best.
IVERYAN
Great job on the bacon. That ought to last you for a meal or two.
I can see that making nice gifts this time of year as well. -
We butchered 4 hogs this past summer & saved the bellies for bacon of course. I started with 72 lbs green weight on friday night & wet brined them with maple bacon cure & taste booster. I fit them all in 2 smokers on Saturday & when they were finished I had 64.5 lb left. Sliced them all up with my berkel 909 slicer today. Most was thin sliced & the rest was a little thicker. Turned out great. My wife was impressed which was the most important thing. Took a few pics, sorry they didn’t turn out the best.
IVERYAN looks good. Did you home process or take them hogs to the butcher?
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