In Search Of An Authentic Recipe: Wiltshire Cured Bacon

[quietwatersfarm]

a badly maintained tank can also lead to a severe lack of well maintained brine though!!!

[wheels]

[BriCan]

a badly maintained tank can also lead to a severe lack of well maintained brine though!!!

Brine is maintained as per ~~~ if tank needs to be maintained brine is move to another tank so repairs can be carried out on tank

[BriCan]

http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/ ... sguide.pdf

WILTSHIRE BACON/HAM
16. Whilst no definition of Wiltshire cure has been included in the legislation, the manufacturing process for Wiltshire cured ham and bacon is defined in footnote 1.1. The use of ‘live’ immersion brines is the main distinguishing factor between Wiltshire and other cures.

17. Footnote 1.1 states that the immersion brine solution includes microbiological starter cultures. We do not consider it is necessary for a culture to be added prior to each immersion; the culture may well be present, as it traditionally was, from previous use of the immersion solution. The micro-organisms present perform the function of reducing added nitrate to nitrite which then goes on to become the active curing compound.

HIH

[BriCan]

Hey Everyone,

OK, so this'll be my first time posting in a forum for DIY curing (never ventured into such an area before --- in fact, I didn't even realise that there was such a following).

After doing some digging I came across a few things one of them that in a sense scares me as information given by people who (I am assuming) have no idea of the in's and out's of curing.

I am (maybe) one of the last people to take advice from although I do dabble in bacon curing most weeks, please do not use bactoferm CS300 as this is not meant for a brine curing

http://www.jamieoliver.com/forum/viewto ... pid=699507

It also helps is one knows where one hails from

[Dazzlin]

I'm taking from all this that there just doesn't seem to be any info on a recipe for this then, eh?

[kimgary]

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=lks9 ... es&f=false

Heavy going but some interesting reading here about starter cultures etc, more to do with sausages but mentions salt tolerant bacteria.

Regards Gary.

[quietwatersfarm]

http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/nitritesnitratesguide.pdf

WILTSHIRE BACON/HAM
16. Whilst no definition of Wiltshire cure has been included in the legislation, the manufacturing process for Wiltshire cured ham and bacon is defined in footnote 1.1. The use of ‘live’ immersion brines is the main distinguishing factor between Wiltshire and other cures.

17. Footnote 1.1 states that the immersion brine solution includes microbiological starter cultures. We do not consider it is necessary for a culture to be added prior to each immersion; the culture may well be present, as it traditionally was, from previous use of the immersion solution. The micro-organisms present perform the function of reducing added nitrate to nitrite which then goes on to become the active curing compound.

HIH

robert, this is very interesting. i am just a little confused how microbial action in a brine is different in a wiltshire cure than in any other brine tank situation? all brine cures effectively have microbial activity involved so why is the wiltshire cure singled out as having this as 'a distinguishing factor' i wonder?

[quietwatersfarm]

Hey Everyone,

OK, so this'll be my first time posting in a forum for DIY curing (never ventured into such an area before --- in fact, I didn't even realise that there was such a following).

After doing some digging I came across a few things one of them that in a sense scares me as information given by people who (I am assuming) have no idea of the in's and out's of curing.

I am (maybe) one of the last people to take advice from although I do dabble in bacon curing most weeks, please do not use bactoferm CS300 as this is not meant for a brine curing

http://www.jamieoliver.com/forum/viewto ... pid=699507

It also helps is one knows where one hails from

its clearly been a long and wide ranging search

[BriCan]

robert, this is very interesting. i am just a little confused how microbial action in a brine is different in a wiltshire cure than in any other brine tank situation? all brine cures effectively have microbial activity involved so why is the wiltshire cure singled out as having this as 'a distinguishing factor' i wonder?

The Wiltshire cure has I admit been one of my obsessions (along with making a decent vegetarian sausage which is another story ) Back in the very early 60's while going to college for the trade I had the good fortune to have had some very good teachers, the problem is that there are some/a few of my college notes/writings have with all the moves have gone missing.

I spent all day yesterday tolling around the internet looking at a lot of thing as well as book marking a lot of reading stuff. The funny thing is that I have this nagging feeling that I know the answer but for the life of me I cannot put my finger on it

I can immerse boneless pork loins in a brine solution for three days after which remove and rinse off then hang to dry and mature for seven to fifteen days. My buddy Al (CFIA) who like me is UK trained and from the Wiltshire area swears blind that what I produce is Wiltshire bacon even though I keep on telling him it is cured in my gammon cure

[Dazzlin]

Hey BriCan... Thanks for the input there...Well, if you have a recipe to start us off with, don't be shy and if you have a few friends in the trade - maybe with a few heads banged together we can also post a recipe which includes some of the original ingredients

[wheels]

IIRC, what made the Wiltshire cure so famous is that it produced a lower salt product. This was only possible with the advent of refrigeration; prior to that, products had higher salt levels for preservation. In those terms, the Wiltshire cure was the start of curing as we (generally) know it today - it moved things on from curing for preservation, to curing for flavour (or for both flavour and preservation).

The starter culture referred to in the EU regs, and picked up on elsewhere, is almost certainly nothing more than the bacteria in the meat that allows potassium (or sodium) nitrate (saltpetre) to convert to potassium nitrite and subsequently to produce the red colour of cured meat. By maintaining a brine that has already been used, this process is continuous and curing times can be shorter (saltpetre can take a while to react in fresh brines).

The problem for the home/small commercial curer is knowing what quantities of chemicals to replenish the brine with. That is, if we are concerned with curing safely, using the minimum of chemicals. Equilibrium brine curing is a far safer prospect with this in mind, and can be used to produce an identical product.

Phil

[BriCan]

Well two and a arf weeks are up and this is the result

As said I am still searching/looking for the 'authentic' recipe (found some good stuff )

In the meantime ........







please remember I am still trying

[wheels]

That's Bacon!

[BriCan]

I am taking that as a question .......

I think so .....