This weekend, my ugly caterpillar is making it's final step in the journey to become a beautiful butterfly (or even uglier moth, only time will tell).
After another week in the fridge, curing in the salt, sugar herbs and spices, the beef yielded another 100ml worth or liquid which was much lighter and clearer than the first lot. I took the meat out, washed the remnants of rosemary, thyme and pepper (which smelled amazing, by the way) off under the tap and left on a plate uncovered to dry/rest/whatever. The colour is a lot grayer than it would have been had I succumbed to the saltpeter propaganda, but the meat is very firm, dense and doesn't smell bad (as if that's any kind of indicator of anything!)
After weeks of searching I finally found a cheap, frost free cooler to use as a 'curing chamber' which will hopefully produce some kind of a controlled environment. I set the fridge's setting to minimum - warmer than the average fridge, but cooler than room temp - and will have to open the door every day to ventilate. And while my kinbaku skills are nothing to be admired, the meat is hung and will hopefully be ok for the next 3 weeks.
After another week in the fridge, curing in the salt, sugar herbs and spices, the beef yielded another 100ml worth or liquid which was much lighter and clearer than the first lot. I took the meat out, washed the remnants of rosemary, thyme and pepper (which smelled amazing, by the way) off under the tap and left on a plate uncovered to dry/rest/whatever. The colour is a lot grayer than it would have been had I succumbed to the saltpeter propaganda, but the meat is very firm, dense and doesn't smell bad (as if that's any kind of indicator of anything!)
After weeks of searching I finally found a cheap, frost free cooler to use as a 'curing chamber' which will hopefully produce some kind of a controlled environment. I set the fridge's setting to minimum - warmer than the average fridge, but cooler than room temp - and will have to open the door every day to ventilate. And while my kinbaku skills are nothing to be admired, the meat is hung and will hopefully be ok for the next 3 weeks.
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