Curing Pork for the South
Ingredients
Directions
Cure the pork
Rub the sides, hams, and shoulders of pork thoroughly with salt and saltpeter, applying saltpeter around the ends of the bones.
Layer the pieces with salt in between and allow them to sit.
Repeat the rubbing process weekly until the meat is thoroughly salted.
Smoke and store
Smoke the meat after salting.
Store the smoked meat in a smokehouse, or wrap it in canvas or bury it in a box of ashes to protect it from flies.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Pork (in the method)
- Is the meat being preserved, so salt and saltpeter are rubbed into its surface and bones.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws moisture out of the meat and makes it inhospitable to spoilage microbes during curing.
- Saltpeter
- Supplies nitrate that helps preserve the meat's color and inhibits bacterial growth during curing.
The step that matters
Repeat the rubbing process weekly until the meat is thoroughly salted. Salt must penetrate evenly through thick cuts; uneven or too-brief salting leaves interior areas unprotected, so the meat can spoil before it is fully preserved.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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