Attempted Lomo!

[farmacy]

Hi

Just curing the middles from my pig which were picked up last Friday.

I bought a Lomo mix from here and decide to try it on the eye from the loin. The meat looked terrific. I started the cure on Friday but cant see how I am going to fit this in casings as its far too wide.

Havn't built a curing chamber yet so looking for suggestions on best thing to do with it when the initial fridge cure is complete. The meat is divided into 2 pieces of 2.5KGS each.
Thanks
Richard

[larry]

If you want to put it in casing but don't want to buy 90mm or 100mm, you can split smaller casings, and tie them around the lomo. I did this with a piece that was about 100mm across, by slitting two 2 60mm casings, and just wrapping the meat up in them and tying them up. It was a little sloppy, and didn't cover the entire loin, but it still came out great.

Others here cure lomo without casing. I had one where I had to take the casing off half way through the curing due to internal mold, and it came out fine also, so you might want to go without casing.

[farmacy]

Hi Larry

Started to reply the other day and computer exploded!

Thanks for the post. I havn't used casings yet but quite fancy doing without to be honest.

I have now bought a bottle chiller whicxh I can use as a curing cabinet
and just need to sort out teh humidity. If today is anything to go by it cvaries from 56% to 72%.

I have seen lots of posts on here about hooking up humidity controllers but you seem to have a better choice in teh US thane here. Shame to ruin that loin as it looks marvellous.

If anyone in UK has any source for a resonable humidity controller that I can switch a himidifier on and off with I would much appreciate.

Kind regards
Richard

[wheels]

Hi Richard

Have you tried a bowl of water, or water with an island of salt in the middle? That can sometimes solve the problem - or a clean damp towel changed (very) regularly is also used by some.

Controllers are available from www.forttex.co.uk (about £30) or some people have bought them from ebay.

HTH

Phil

[farmacy]

Hi Phil

Not seen them I'll give them a go. Thanks for th advice. I love this site!!!
Richard

[farmacy]

Hi Phil

The forttex site has been down for some days now. Anywhere else I could try?

Also I have been monitoring the bottle chiller's humidity and due to the weather I presume its all over th place. Would that controller cope with low and high humidity or would I need to use dehumidifiers in conjucntion?

Sorry this should be in the equipment questions I guess.

[wheels]

Ah, I bought one from an Ebay trader with little problem. However, I looked before I made my last post and most that sell the affordable Chinese product don't seem to have very good feedback.

I'd keep looking on ebay though.

As an aside, it's so much better if you don't have to resort to these devices.

When I find chance, I will write about my own experiences - my set up now is just about fine.

Phil

[farmacy]

Hi again Phil

OK I'll keep looking. TBH the humidity is proving so hard to master. I have a very large Amana fridge freezer and this new - to me anyway - bottle chiller. Now I see why people recommend a frost-free fridge. I can achieve 40% in the fridge but of course opening the door soon bumps it up to 50 or 60 or even more.

The chiller runs up to 99% and can vary anywhere from 50% during the day. On this basis it would seem easier to raise the fridge humidity by7 setting a max with a humidifier rather than humidify and de-humidify the bottle chiller somehow.

I would be interested to see how you have overcome it.