Curing and Smoking Flashcards
Give three reasons why you may choose to cure a piece of meat
To prolong the shelf-life/preserve the food
To impart flavour (inc. seasoning)
To change the texture of the meat
To cook the meat
Besides the food that you are curing, what is the most important ingredient when curing food?
Salt, Sodium Chloride, NaCl
Using 3% salt weight to meat usually makes an appropriate cure - true or false
True
When the meat has lost 20% of its weight after curing it is safe to eat raw - true or false
False
Curing Salts can help the proliferation of Clostridium botulinum - true or false
False
2-4C is an appropriate temperature when air-drying cured meat - true or false
False
It is important that there is no air flow when air-drying cured meat - true or false
False
Give 4 things you might consider best practice to record when curing meat at home
Starting weight of meat/weight when hanging
Provenance of meat (inc use by date)
Cut of meat
Weight (%) of salt used for cure
How many days the meat has been in the cure
Temperature
Humidity
Weight of end product
pH and Water activity (AW)
What are the two methods of smoking food?
Hot and Cold
Give three reasons why you would smoke food?
To preserve the food
Impart flavours
As a method of cooking
To change the texture of the meat
After salting a piece of meat or fish, what is terminology used for the layer created that the smoke
adheres to?
Pellicle
Why is soft wood not used for smoking?
Contains toxins that create harsh acrid notes to the smoke
Give 3 types of hardwood that can be used for smoking
Alder
Beech
Ash
Cherry
Apple
Oak
Hickory
Give 3 examples of other aromatics that can be used to impart flavour when smoking
Juniper branches
Bay leaves
Tea leaves
Rosemary
Hay etc
