Corned Beef

[BedouinBob]

Hey Brian, I read your corned beef recipe and really am considering doing that and pastrami for a special occasion. But what is Dry cured Pork Lanza (loin) with Garlic and thyme? I have never heard of it before, do you have a recipe?

 

[Pork Belly]

Sorry I never saw this post until today Bob.

Use a 3 pound hunk of pork loin, if you can find one with the fat cap attached it is better.
Roll the loin in kosher salt and shake off the excess.
Smash 6 cloves of garlic.
Bruise and roughly chop a 1/4 cup of fresh thyme.

Place thyme, garlic and salted loin in zip lock bag. Cure in fridge for at least 7 days. Rinse pat dry and tie with butchers twine so that it holds its shape and can be hung.

Weigh before hanging in a cool dry place, I use my basement near the sump pump. You need a 30% weight loss.

 

[BedouinBob]

Hey Brian, no worries! So no need for pink salt in this one? Is that because it is a whole piece of meat?

 

[Pork Belly]

Correct, you can add a bit if you prefer, however it is not necessary on a whole muscle cut of meat and it will change the finished taste towards a ham or bacon like product.

 

[BedouinBob]

So living in Colorado, the humidity is pretty low. Even though my basement temp this time of year is in the 60s. I was considering trying this in a small refrigerator I have and thought I would set the temperature to about 40 deg. Do you think that would work? Would the airflow be enough? I am trying to figure out a way to do salumi at home but don't want to buy a big refrigerator to do it.

 

[Pork Belly]

Corned beef is a wet brine procedure, you seem to be describing dry curing.
This is the link for corned beef:

http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=1808.0

 

[BedouinBob]

Brian, sorry I totally jumped topics on you. I was asking about the pork lanza you mentioned earlier on this post. That's what I want to try.

 

[Pork Belly]

Michael Ruhlman the author of Charcuterie, http://ruhlman.com/ has written about curing in a small dorm size fridge. He controls humidity with a pan of salt water.

When dealing with less than ideal humidity you might consider stuffing the loin in a beef bung.