The Original Dry Bag Steak | Make Artisan Dry Age Steak at Home › Forums › Recipes › Other Recipes › Curing, smoking & tenderizing AFTER aging
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Jim.
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February 15, 2013 at 9:30 pm #1545
Ron Pratt
MemberThis is a new topic to segregate the discussion that developed underneath the Jaccard thread. Due to food safety issues we felt it best to make this a thread of its own.
The importance is that any curing, smoking or further processes of tenderizing must be done AFTER aging the meat and NEVER BEFORE.
February 15, 2013 at 9:36 pm #6701Ron Pratt
MemberThe reply that triggered this subsequent discussion began on 2-13 at 6:03PM with this by toasty
…After that — cold-smoked duck breast, pork loin, pork tenderloin, and probably some form of beef if I can fit it into the chamber. Then cure with salt and nitrite, and drybag and age, age, age.
It probably won’t be ready until April.
Toasty
February 15, 2013 at 9:38 pm #6702Ron Pratt
MemberNext at 6:26PM Arthur replied:
Toasty,
You need to age the meat before the cure not the other way around. The process is to tenderize and then cure. As the tenderizing process alters the water content of the meat you may need to back off a bit with the curing salts. As the curing process preserves the mea
February 15, 2013 at 9:40 pm #6703Ron Pratt
MemberNext at 7:14 PM Arthur further posted this:
Any curing,smoking or tenderizing needs to be done after aging as just suggested especially from a food safety prospective. The most tender result comes when it is cooked in the hot tub or sous vide mrthos prior to a quick lick of flames from a very hot BBQ, skillet, grill or a blow touch. I have dry aged a bag full od duck marylands then cold smoked them and then slow cooked them sous vide. A finall quick sear to caramalize on the BBQ for a minute each side and you are in heaven.
February 15, 2013 at 10:32 pm #6704Ron Pratt
MemberOn 2-14 at 7:04 PM Arthur further posted:
Hi Toasty,
This would be an interesting experiment to try. You would need to taste them at the same time though. The theoretical reason you age it first is because you are relying on the bacteria to slowly break down the meat. The change in flavour is due to this breakdown to more simpler proteins and sugars. Smoking usually requires a brining process first to eliminate the bacteria from the meat. This is the reason you can store whole salamis outside of the fridge. Smoking adds flavours which will get more complex with age for sure.If you hot smoke you will kill a lot of the bacteria but at cold smoke temperature you could increase the level dramatically so you will be taking the risk of the meat rotting before it ages. Remember though this is just theory. If you do test it i would love to hear about your resultsFebruary 15, 2013 at 10:34 pm #6705Ron Pratt
MemberTo which Toasty replied at 8:11 PM:
We should probably devote some time to this first claim, considering that every recipe I have for charcuterie and salume involve curing and/or smoking, then rinsing, then dry aging.
I’m willing to run the experiments, and I’m willing to be wrong, but there’s a whole lot of history that says “cure, then age”.
Toasty
March 12, 2013 at 12:29 am #6824Gordon Couey
MemberSo does this mean your pancetta recipe is safe or dangerous? This thread does nothing but reinforce the confusion
March 12, 2013 at 8:09 am #6825Jim
MemberI would like to try to clarify the confusion.
1. The term Dry curing refers to curing the meat with salts, spices and starter culture in the case of sausage and then drying it reducing the moisture level of the entire cut or sausage by 30% which makes it safe and tasty to eat. The salts, starter culture and cure protect the meat from dangerous bacteria while it is drying.
Examples are: Pancetta, Capicola, Proscuitto, various types of salami. Dry curing can be done with whole muscle meat as well as ground meat.2. The term Dry aging refers to aging the meat (most often beef) in a low humidity environment without any special treatment such as curing. The objective is to reduce the moisture content and also allow the meat natural enzymes to break down the connective tissue thereby making the meat more tender and flavorful. Dry aging can only be done safely with whole muscle meat.
These two things have very little to do with one another except for the fact that both are dried to various degrees.
I hope I didn’t add to the confusion. -
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