Hi all,
My grandpa let me taste a piece of dry-cured pork loin and I've been hooked since.
I'm trying a home dry-cure myself, and I need some advice from advanced charcuteriers because I don't want to die, and eveywhere I read botulism is lurking to bite your butt. So please let me know if the method I am trying to cure with is ok or not generally speaking. It is the method my grandpa and his family traditionally used.
What I have is a 1kg 4-5cm thick, ovel shaped pork loin cut, that I dredged it in regular salt to the point that no meat was visible from any side, and put it to cure for 24hrs. Then I washed it, patted it dry and place it in water with vinegar for 30 min, after that washed and patted dry again, then spiced up and wrapped in baking paper and put in the refrigirator to dry. It has been drying for 10 days, and the smell is kinda good and I'm eager to try it. My questions are, was my method safe? if the meat smells good, is not slimey and doesn't look discolored, is it safe to try a thin piece of it after drying for 10 days? What should I look out for and what is the probability of botulism in my case?
Thanks in advance!
