Meat curing.
Bally002 expressed an interest in meat curing for long term storage beyond 12 months, and this is how we do it around here - those that have been schooled in the old ways, anyhow.
One starts out the cure by salting the meat for varying periods of time. It's not an exact science, so the length of the saltbox period can vary without harm. it becomes a matter of taste, and knowing what one's preference is comes only with experience.
It will work for any kind of meat - pork, beef, venison, or whatever. There is not as much hog or beef raising going on here any more as there used to be when I was younger, but I still see smoke houses in operation in the fall of the year here and there, during the deer season, and I presume venison is being cured in them.
This young lady gives a good overview of the saltbox method, but that is where she stops - she doesn't get into what comes after:
Josh here gets into what comes after in these mountains. His farm is just east of here, closer to the flatlands, but in the same general culture area. Josh's dad, seen in this video, is about my age. You'll notice they are dressed for cooler weather. That's because traditionally, hogs and beeves were slaughtered and butchered in late fall or early winter, on a frosty morning after the weather started turning cold. The cold atmosphere helped in the process of curing at the beginning, using the climate as a huge open-air refrigerator. Helps keep the bugs down in the initial stages of curing, and keeps the meat cooler while it's sweating out moisture to assist in preventing spoilage during that stage.
Linguistic note: You'll hear Josh singing about being raised in "Southwest Virginia". That's the name for this specific culture area of the Appalachians, but most outsiders don't recognize that, and so they think what is being said is "south West Virginia", or the southern part of West Virginia. It's not, although they too are in the same culture area, along with Eastern Kentucky. What Southwest Virginia is is that tail part of Virginia that borders West Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, and Upper East Tennessee. As a result, during my years out in the flatlands, everyone I met, when asked where I was from, thought I was from West Virginia rather than Virginia. Didn't really make much difference until they started cracking hillbilly jokes. That occasionally had a sting since they were misplacing me.
Note on the liquid smoke flavoring: Smoke flavor was, originally, just a happy side result of smoking meat. the main purpose of the smoke was not to flavor the meat, it was just to keep the bugs away while it cured. Folks got used to that smoky flavor, and so liquid smoke was developed solely as a flavoring, with no practical use beyond that.
What comes after even that, one might ask? Well here ya go. Josh takes one of the shoulders to a custom butchery shop in Ohio for processing after 22 months or so of curing:
Note on molds: In the modern day, folks tend to freak out over mold - ANY mold. Fact is, there are "good" molds and "bad" molds, the bad molds being those that will kill you dead via mycotoxins. It's just like mushrooms - some are "good", and some are "bad", and will kill you dead via their own mycotoxins. The mold that grows on cured meats is usually a penicillium, the same sort we get penicillin from. Not something you'd normally want to eat, but it won't hurt you if you do. The salt tends to keep harmful molds at bay and promotes penicillium molds.
I also used to salt-cure things like hawk talons for use as pendants, amulets, or in medicine bundles. After killing a hawk, I'd cut the feet off at the joint where the leg feathers start, then with a pair of tweezers or needle-nose pliers grab the exposed end of the tendons to set the toes where I wanted them - either curled up as they are after a strike, or extended out as they are just before a strike. Then I'd pack salt at the cut end and let them sit for about 4 or 5 weeks. The salt pulled all the moisture out of the leg and dispersed it into the air, and the end result was a hawk talon that was like solid plastic, and would keep forever like that.
.
Bally002 expressed an interest in meat curing for long term storage beyond 12 months, and this is how we do it around here - those that have been schooled in the old ways, anyhow.
One starts out the cure by salting the meat for varying periods of time. It's not an exact science, so the length of the saltbox period can vary without harm. it becomes a matter of taste, and knowing what one's preference is comes only with experience.
It will work for any kind of meat - pork, beef, venison, or whatever. There is not as much hog or beef raising going on here any more as there used to be when I was younger, but I still see smoke houses in operation in the fall of the year here and there, during the deer season, and I presume venison is being cured in them.
This young lady gives a good overview of the saltbox method, but that is where she stops - she doesn't get into what comes after:
Josh here gets into what comes after in these mountains. His farm is just east of here, closer to the flatlands, but in the same general culture area. Josh's dad, seen in this video, is about my age. You'll notice they are dressed for cooler weather. That's because traditionally, hogs and beeves were slaughtered and butchered in late fall or early winter, on a frosty morning after the weather started turning cold. The cold atmosphere helped in the process of curing at the beginning, using the climate as a huge open-air refrigerator. Helps keep the bugs down in the initial stages of curing, and keeps the meat cooler while it's sweating out moisture to assist in preventing spoilage during that stage.
Linguistic note: You'll hear Josh singing about being raised in "Southwest Virginia". That's the name for this specific culture area of the Appalachians, but most outsiders don't recognize that, and so they think what is being said is "south West Virginia", or the southern part of West Virginia. It's not, although they too are in the same culture area, along with Eastern Kentucky. What Southwest Virginia is is that tail part of Virginia that borders West Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, and Upper East Tennessee. As a result, during my years out in the flatlands, everyone I met, when asked where I was from, thought I was from West Virginia rather than Virginia. Didn't really make much difference until they started cracking hillbilly jokes. That occasionally had a sting since they were misplacing me.
Note on the liquid smoke flavoring: Smoke flavor was, originally, just a happy side result of smoking meat. the main purpose of the smoke was not to flavor the meat, it was just to keep the bugs away while it cured. Folks got used to that smoky flavor, and so liquid smoke was developed solely as a flavoring, with no practical use beyond that.
What comes after even that, one might ask? Well here ya go. Josh takes one of the shoulders to a custom butchery shop in Ohio for processing after 22 months or so of curing:
Note on molds: In the modern day, folks tend to freak out over mold - ANY mold. Fact is, there are "good" molds and "bad" molds, the bad molds being those that will kill you dead via mycotoxins. It's just like mushrooms - some are "good", and some are "bad", and will kill you dead via their own mycotoxins. The mold that grows on cured meats is usually a penicillium, the same sort we get penicillin from. Not something you'd normally want to eat, but it won't hurt you if you do. The salt tends to keep harmful molds at bay and promotes penicillium molds.
I also used to salt-cure things like hawk talons for use as pendants, amulets, or in medicine bundles. After killing a hawk, I'd cut the feet off at the joint where the leg feathers start, then with a pair of tweezers or needle-nose pliers grab the exposed end of the tendons to set the toes where I wanted them - either curled up as they are after a strike, or extended out as they are just before a strike. Then I'd pack salt at the cut end and let them sit for about 4 or 5 weeks. The salt pulled all the moisture out of the leg and dispersed it into the air, and the end result was a hawk talon that was like solid plastic, and would keep forever like that.
.