Homemade Sausage Making

Ok. I use the meat calc. for amount of cure. What a great tool. However i keep reading where some write cure does nothing for fat so why do we include the fat in the wt. of the meat???????

That is not true. Lardo is cured back fat.

DLFL wrote:That is not true. Lardo is cured back fat.

Thank you for the reply. This statement regarding the fat not curing comes from someone i have respect for but i just dont think that it is true myself as i have never read any sausage book that commented on it.
Always trying to learn.
Thanx again

Well, it depends on what you are referring to when you mention "cure". If you mean nitrite, then it does not have any need or play any role in the curing process of fat. The reason it is factored into recipes is because cure 1 & 2 are predominantly comprised of salt (90 & 96%), which goes toward the total salt content of the product.

The reason you see nitrite in recipes such as salt pork is because sometimes these parts contain scraps of meat and in that case the nitrites can play their true role.

On pg. 482 of Stanley Marianski's book Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages he says "Back fat does not contain myoglobin and there is no need to add nitrites."

Thank you. I use the Marianski's book like a bible for sausage making.
I just dont recall reading that. That has been my problem with the statement i never read or recalled that from his book.
Tnx

Great point Story28.

Thanks and no problem. I am about to start on some lardo tomorrow, so the topic caught my notice. I wish I had a nice marble basin, like they did in the old days to keep the fat away from oxygen and light. Maybe I will take a trip to Home Depot and see if I can find anything food grade to cure the back fat in. The traditional rosemary in lardo served a purpose as a strong antioxidant to prevent the fat from becoming rancid. No wonder it appears in almost every lardo recipe.

I bet you could get a kitchen counter man to to make one fairly reasonable.

I sure hope you do a step X step with picts. I would like to knwo how to do the Lardo.