If dried meat is being prepared for a specific holiday or event, for example, it needs to be prepared for the New Year, you need to take into account that the whole process will take at least 10 days.
Drying at home: how to choose meat
You can dry pork and beef and even chicken at home. It is better to choose pieces from the entrecote part or ham. You can buy both fresh and frozen meat. Considering that pork is much softer and more tender than beef, to prepare your own jerky in a home kitchen, it is better to take a piece of lean or low-fat pork from the lumbar or neck region of the carcass, where the meat has small greasy streaks. The most important condition when choosing meat is freshness. Weathered pieces with expired shelf life are not suitable for making jerky.
Important! You should not choose pieces thicker than four to five cm, otherwise you will need to increase the cooking time at each stage by several days.
Homemade dried pork
For one kg of pork you will need the following amount of products:
- salt 250 g for dry salting + 250 g for brine;
- garlic, 5 - 6 cloves;
- spices (bay leaf, peppercorns, coriander seeds, sweet paprika, hot paprika, ground black pepper, rosemary, sage) 50 - 60 grams.
1. Trim the films and veins from a piece of meat. Wash and dry.
2. Pour salt onto the table or board and dip the meat into it several times, pressing firmly so that the meat is in a dense shell of salt.
3. Place in a saucepan and refrigerate for three days. Inspect the meat daily and drain the liquid from it; if all the salt has dissolved too early, then it needs to be added.
4. After three days, boil a liter of water, add salt, a few bay leaves, five to six peppercorns, and a pinch of coriander seeds.
Cool the brine to 35 - 30 degrees and lower the meat into it.
5. Keep the pork in brine in the refrigerator for another three days.
6. Remove the meat from the brine.
Place it on one board, cover it with the other and place it slightly inclined under the weight to remove excess liquid.
It is better to place the board with meat in the sink or on a tray to collect the draining liquid. Keep the pork in this form for 3 to 5 hours.
7. Prepare a mixture of spices for breading meat. It must include garlic, ground black pepper, hot and sweet red paprika, rosemary and (or) sage and other herbs as desired.
Grind the mixture with a mortar and break the bay leaf with your hands.
Many of the spices not only add flavor and aroma to dried meat, but also have preservative and aseptic properties, acting as natural preservatives, keeping the product fresh.
8. Generously bread the pork in spices.
9. Place the spiced meat in a thick cloth.
A multi-layer gauze napkin will also work, but it is best to use a linen cloth or towel.
10. Wrap the meat in cloth as tightly as possible.
Place it in the refrigerator. After a day, inspect the meat.
If there is not enough breading mixture, then it must be added, and if necessary, replace the damp cloth with a dry one. Refrigerate the jerky for another 48 hours.
11. Store the resulting product in the refrigerator in a dry cloth or in food paper.
The resulting dried pork is an excellent product for slicing meat on a holiday table; you can surprise your loved ones and prepare dried pork for the New Year or any holiday feast. On weekdays, sandwiches with home-dried pork will help you have a snack at work, and will also help you out on a picnic.
