Air-cured meat
Air-Cured Meat
Air-curing is an ancient process of preserving meat, that concentrates and transforms the meat's flavors.
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When air-curing meat, the composition of the fat in the meat is critical. Polyunsaturated fats go rancid, turning yellow and creating off flavors. That is unsuitable for cured products. Polyunsaturated fat goes rancid even when cold or frozen.
In contrast, monounsaturated fat doesn't spoil quickly, and tends to produce pleasant aromas as it cures. The Mangalitsa and similar unimproved lard-type breeds tend to produce more monounsaturated fat than modern breeds, and when fed a special diet, can produce even more.
The difference in fat composition explains why duck cures so much better than chicken: duck has more monounsaturated fat, while chicken has too much polyunsaturated fat.
Because of the Mangalitsa's first-class marbling and special fat composition, it is very suited for long curing. Hungarian, Spanish and American companies make very high-quality air-cured products like salami from Mangalitsa.
In the USA, restaurants like The French Laundry and The Herbfarm buy and process Mangalitsa into cured products.
Brine-Injected and Hot Smoked
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These days, people normally do a quick wet cure and hot smoke with our modern lean pork. One injects the pork with brine and smokes it at a high temperature it, producing our modern versions of ham and bacon - which are very different from the original products.
Getting technical, the modern ham is called "city ham", while the traditional product, described below, is "country ham."
The modern products aren't shelf-stable - they won't keep at room temperature. Refrigeration makes shelf-stability unnecessary, explaining why salt pork and country ham aren't staples anymore.
Traditional Curing
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Traditional curing is a different process. Essentially, salts of various kinds (perhaps including nitrites or nitrates) enter the meat (via a rub or a soak), killing bacteria. The meat is optionally cold-smoked. Then the meat dehydrates for months.
When the meat is rubbed with salt and left to sit, that's dry-curing. When the meat is submerged in a brine, that's wet-curing. There's also a combination technique: mixed curing.
The key innovation of the modern method over the older methods is that the meat is injected with the brine - a step that radically speeds things up.
After the meat is cured, it is hung to dry it out. The dehydration and other chemical reactions that happen during that time develop the flavor and inhibit bacteria growth, resulting in a product that keeps at room temperature and has intense flavors.
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Americans may be surprised to know that Austrians air-cure many cuts of pork: fatback, loin, belly, shoulder, ham. In some regions, they traditionally air-cure entire half-hogs.
Austrian Mangalitsa producers typically wet-cure their meat and then hang it to dry a few months. Wet-curing is generally simpler, less labor-intensive and less failure-prone than dry-curing.
To make the best air-cured products, the Austrian farmers and food scientists advise considering the breed, feed and raising, slaughter, hygiene and aging, as they impact the quality of the meat and resulting products.
One comprehensive Austrian book is Dr. Franz S. Wagner's (in German), shown on the right. An expert in food science and traditional Austrian specialties, he covers the history, theory and practice of making cured products.
Next: Austrian Approach to Meat Quality
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