Cured smoked pork belly
Tried two chunks of pork-belly this way - worked well.
- Dry the meat and put it in salt in a box overnight, 12-15h in the fridge.
- Keep the meat in salt with a gap under to allow the water to drip and stay under without touching the bottom of the meat.
- After the night the meat is dryer and darker. Remove the salt by hand
- Rinse it properly with running cold water
- Dry it as much as you can with a clean tea towel
- Prepare the cold-smoker, get it cranking
- Move the meat regularly (every hour) to get an homogeneous smoking.
- When the meat get a nice gold colour, remove it from the smoker - 5/6 hours?
- If you still have smoking time (cartridge partially full), use it to smoke cheese or butter.
- Put the meat in a bag (vacuum is better) and leave it in the fridge for 4-5 days minimum, more if you prefer stronger smoke taste (max 7 days)
- Put the meat in a clean tea towel, wrapped around.
- Leave it in the fridge (must be frost free) for 8 days or more. At 8 days, the meat still soft and clear. You can leave it for 2-3 weeks, it will go darker and harder like prosciutto.
- Enjoy ! Leave it in a closed box if you don’t want it to be dryer. Must be eaten within 2 month as there’s no preservative but the process makes it very safe.
could try some duck breast next?