Laboratory Activity

Curing and Salting

OBJECTIVES:
-

To understand the principles behind curing of meats

To know the functions of the different curing agents
To conduct sensory evaluation on the finished product using descriptive and hedonic
scaling method
To determine the cost of the finished product

Raw Materials:

Equipments/Utensils:

Pork pigue
Coarse salt

3
1

kg
kg

Refined salt
Prague powder

0.5

kg

Phosphate blend
Ascorbic acid, 500mg

3
1.5

tsp
tablet

Cloves oil
Anise oil
Maplein
Smoke flavor

1
1
2
0.5

drop
drop
drops
tsp

Accord

tbsp

Weighing scale
Chopping board
Kitchen knife
Strainer
Liquid Measuring cup (1000 ml)
Dry Measuring cup
Measuring spoon
Food tray
Spoon and Fork
Ladle
Mixing bowl
Syringe, big
Food net
Plastic wrap

PROCEDURE

Chill meat. Remove skin and trim off excess portion weigh.
Prepare 40 degrees S brine solution. Check solution with a salinometer.
Boil the brine solution. Strain using cheese cloth.
Add to the brine: Prague powder, maplein, cloves, anise, sugar, smoke flavor, phosphate
blend and ascorbic acid. Mix well
Inject the pumping pickle to the lean meat. Use cup pumping pickle per kilo of meat.
Distribute the solution to all lean parts of the meat. Massage after applying the pumping
solution
Prepare the dry cure mixture as follows : (For every kilo of meat)
3 tbsp refined sugar
2 tbsp coarse salt (rock salt)
1/8 tsp Prague Powder
Mix the above ingredients thoroughly. Rub onto lean portions and fatty tissues of the
meat.
Cure meat at the room temperature for 3-15 hrs. or overnight; or at refrigeration
temperature for 3-15 days. However, if longer cure is desired, re-salt meat on the 7th day
using half ratio of the dry cure mixture used initially.
Wash with tap water at least twice. Drain.
Mould in the ham molder.
For meat less than 3 kg, bind meat together using a binder and wrap meat with muslin
cloth. Tie with string.
Cook meat in tap water for at least 2 hours at simmering temperature ( 84 deg. Celcius).
Cool meat thoroughly. Remove from molder.
Caramelize with refine sugar on top, bottom, and sides. Cool.
Wrap with PE or resinite film.
Store at freezing temperature for longer shelf-life.
Heat in oven prior to sewing, after prolonged storage at freezing temperature.

SUBJECTIVE EVALUATION:
Evaluate the finished product using the 9-pt Hedonic Scale Rating.
Hedonic Scale
9 Like Extremely
8 Like Very Much
7 Like Moderately
6 Like Slightly
5 Neither Like Nor Dislike
4 Dislike Slightly
3 Dislike Moderately
2 Dislike Very Much
1 Dislike Extremely

Cured meat

GUIDE QUESTIONS:
1. What is curing?
Curing is the addition to meats of some combination of salt, sugar, nitrite and/or
nitrate for the purposes of preservation, flavor and color.
2. Can you cure meat at room temperature longer than the standard 10-hr curing?
Yes, with the right temperature and humidity range to cure meat in.
3. Can you increase the amount of curing ingredients like nitrites in meat? Why?
No, because it may be toxic to humans already.
4. Define the roles of each curing ingredient in ham making: ascorbic acid, nitrite, salt
and sugar?
Ascorbic acid accelerates the conversion of nitric acid to nitrite
Nitrite inhibit growth of microorganism
Salt inhibit microbial growth by plasmolysis
Sugar due to high amount of salt added to the meat, sugar was used to reduce
the harshness of the salt in the cured meat. It also serves as a nutrient source for
the flavor-producing bacteria of meat during long curing processes.
REFERENCES:
http://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/nchfp/lit_rev/cure_smoke_cure.html
http://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/nchfp/lit_rev/cure_smoke_pres.html
http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/ai407e/ai407e14.htm