Brine Cured Pork Food

BASIC PORK BRINE

Steps:

• Mix water, brown sugar, and salt in a bowl until sugar is dissolved. Stir in garlic and ginger.

GERMAN KASSELER: A CURED AND SMOKED PORK LOIN

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Stir together the ingredients for the brine and heat to a simmer to dissolve all the salt and sugar. Refrigerate until completely cold.
• Prepare the loin by removing all but a thin layer of fat. We recommend a loin , not a rib roast (back ribs attached - common in commercial "Kasseler") for home processing.
• Place the loin in the brine and weight it down with a plate or other object to keep it submerged.
• Refrigerate for 48 hours.
• Remove the loin from the brine. Discard brine.
• Wash off the pork with cold water and pat dry. You may dry it in the refrigerator for up to a day (do not cover with any wrap).
• Prepare your smoker: Start your charcoal fire in the bottom of the smoker an hour before you want to smoke the meat.
• Soak 2 cups (or so) wood chips (preferably alder for this project) in some water.
• Place your smoking tray (or aluminum foil tray) on top of the charcoal and add 1/2 cup wet wood chips. Place the grill about a foot above that.
• Place the meat on the grill, cover and smoke 2 to 3 hours, until the internal temperature is 150 F or above. Add more wet chips as needed to keep the smoke up.
• You may choose to roast the brined meat instead, or if you are having trouble with the smoker just bring it inside and finish the cooking process in the oven. Heat the oven to 450 F and cook the meat for 10 minutes. Lower the temperature to 250 F and roast the meat for 2 to 3 hours, until the internal temperature reaches 150 F.
• Eat warm or cut and wrap. Refrigerate to 4 days or freeze for 2 to 3 months.

BRINE-CURED PORK

Steps:

• Put 2 1/2 gallons cold water in a large, nonreactive container that will hold the meat and brine. Stir in the salt and sugar. Slightly crush and add the bay leaves, peppercorns, clove, allspice, and chili peppers. Add the garlic and thyme. Add the pork and put a plate on top to keep the meat submerged. Refrigerate for 5 days or more.
• Remove the pork from the brine and pat dry. Roast pork loin for about 1 hour, grill over a medium fire, or slice into very thin chops and brown them in a cast-iron pan. They will cook very quickly, about 1 minute per side. Finish with a good fistful of chopped parsley and garlic if you wish. A brined shoulder is good boiled or braised, and is delicious to add to cooked beans.

BRINE-CURED PORK KABOBS WITH JALAPEñOS AND PINEAPPLE

Steps:

• Combine the water, sugar, salt, bay leaves, peppercorns, allspice, and garlic in a nonreactive bowl. Add the pork, cover, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. Drain, and set aside.
• Thread 4 cubes of pork, alternating with pineapple chunks and pepper halves, onto 8 skewers. Brush with glaze, and season with salt and pepper.
• Arrange the skewers, off direct heat, on a hot grill. Grill, rotating the skewers and brushing with remaining glaze and olive oil to prevent sticking as necessary, until the pork is cooked through but juicy in the center, about 12 minutes, depending on the heat of the grill. The pineapples and peppers should be soft and charred.
• Spicy Molasses Glaze
• Whisk the molasses, garlic, chiles, ginger, red pepper flakes, and oil in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Keep sealed at room temperature up to 1 week.

HOW TO CURE PORK

Steps:

• Mix the salts, pepper, bay, nutmeg, sugar, garlic, and juniper. Pour ¼ cup (75 g) of coarse kosher salt into a bowl and stir in 2 teaspoons (11 g) of pink curing salt, 4 tablespoons (27.5 g) of coarsely ground black pepper, 4 crumbled bay leaves, 1 teaspoon (2 g) of freshly grated nutmeg, 1/4 cup (50 g) of brown sugar, 5 cloves of crushed garlic, 2 tablespoons (9 g) of lightly crushed juniper berries, and 10 sprigs of fresh thyme. If you prefer, substitute honey or maple syrup for the brown sugar.
• Place a ramekin in a storage container. Get out a non-reactive container that's large enough to hold the pork belly. Set a small ramekin upside down in the bottom of the container. Use a plastic, glass, or enamel container, but avoid metal containers since these will affect the flavor of the pork. When you place the pork on the ramekin and the pork gives off liquid, the ramekin will keep the pork from curing in its juice.
• Coat the 5 pounds (2.3 kg) pork belly with the dry rub. Place the belly on a cutting board or platter and cover it with the dry rub mixture. Use your hands to firmly rub the mixture into all sides of the pork.
• Place the pork belly in the container and cover it. Arrange the pork belly in your storage container so it's propped up on the overturned ramekin. Put the lid on the storage container.
• Refrigerate and turn the pork every 2 days for 1 week. Place the container with the pork belly into a refrigerator and leave it to cure. Remove the pork from the refrigerator and flip it over once every 2 days. Return it to the refrigerator and keep flipping it every 2 days for 1 week.
• Remove and rinse the cure off of the pork belly. After a week, take the pork belly out of the refrigerator. Rinse it with cool water so the dry rub washes away. Use paper towels to pat the cured pork belly completely dry.
• Place the pork belly in muslin and hang it for at least 1 week. Put the dry pork belly into a muslin bag and tie a knot at the end. Insert a hook into the knot and hang the pork belly in a cool, dry place for at least 1 week. If you're pressed for time, you can skip this step but the flavor of the pork will be more intense the longer it cures.
• Slice and heat the pork belly. Cut the pork belly into slices as thick as you like and then fry, roast, broil, or grill the meat until it's completely cooked. For example, slice the pork belly into 1/4 in (0.6 cm) slices and then fry for 7 to 8 minutes to get crispy bacon. Refrigerate the cured pork belly that you haven't cooked. Store it in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

BRINE-CURED PORK CHOPS

Steps:

• To make the brine, dissolve the salt and sugar in 1 gallon of warm water in a large bowl. In a mortar, slightly crush juniper and allspice berries and the peppercorns along with the bay leaves and herbs; add to the brine. When the brine is cool, add pork chops and completely submerge, putting weights on top of a plate if necessary. Refrigerate for at least 2 days and up to 3 days.
• To prepare the chops, remove from the brine about 2 hours before cooking and dry with paper towels. Rub them with a bit of olive oil and pepper. (You may also perfume the meat at this point with a few sprigs of fresh rosemary, placed on top of and beneath the chops). Allow the chops to come to room temperature.
• Grill the chops (partly covered if possible to control flaming) over medium-hot coals about 5 to 7 minutes a side, or fry 3 at a time in 2 preheated heavy-bottomed skillets over medium-high heat. Place them on a warm platter and cover loosely with foil. Allow them to rest about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt if needed.

HOW TO MAKE EQUILIBRIUM BRINE CURE BACON || GLEN & FRIENDS COOKING

Steps:

• Weigh your piece of pork belly.
• Weigh the rest of the cure components:
• Water is 42% of the weight of the pork belly.
• Salt is 3.5% of the weight of the pork belly.
• Sugar is 1.5% of the weight of the pork belly.
• Pink Cure #1 is 0.35% of the weight of the pork belly.
• Mix together the water, salt, sugar, and pink cure #1.
• The above constitutes the 'cure'.
• If you wish to 'flavour' the bacon you can layer on as much as you want of almost whatever you want.