Prosciutto di Luna

[IndyRob]

I read a discussion on another site discussing the potential prospect of human habitation in lava tunnels on the moon,  I was wondering what possible enjoyable endeavor one might get up to in a lunar lava tunnel when I thought of curing ham in an oxygen free environment..  Then I thought, well, why not just cure ham in a vacuum?

 

Well, why not?

 

My first thought was that without air flow, the moisture content wouldn't change.  Does evaporation happen in a vacuum?  Well, yes, apparently.  Quite well, in fact.

 

The Wikipedia article on Vacuum Evaporation states: "When the process is applied to food and the water is evaporated and removed, the food can be stored for long periods of time without spoiling."  That sounds a bit like curing, no?

 

I imagine that there would be no bacterial/fermentation action that I gather gives Italian Prosciutto it's unique characteristics, but I wouldn't consider that a fatal flaw.  My utility prosciutto - Del Duca - has a very simple flavor but a texture I really like.  It was given a Best Buy recommendation by Cooks Illustrated.

 

So I'm thinking, after the initial salting period, could it (any cured meat really, I'm thinking duck prosciutto might be a good guinea pig) simply be hung in a vacuum canister at room temp.

 

Well, why not?

 

[Martin Fisher]

They call it jerky.

[btbyrd]

If you care about texture, you're going to be upset at the damage done to the cell walls of the flesh when the water inside them boils violently and converts to gas.

[Lisa Shock]

An atmosphere surrounds the moon. This atmosphere has far fewer molecules than Earth's, but significantly more than present in, say, the near vacuum of space between galaxies. NASA Link

[IndyRob]

An atmosphere surrounds the moon. This atmosphere has far fewer molecules than Earth's, but significantly more than present in, say, the near vacuum of space between galaxies. NASA Link

 

I think ya'll might've mistaken my fanciful hook/inspiration, for what followed.  As I count it, I wrote two sentences on curing outside the planet, and eleven on curing within it.

 

So far, I have predictions of jerky and violent boiling.  I do believe that the truth is somewhere in between.

[gfweb]

I read a discussion on another site discussing the potential prospect of human habitation in lava tunnels on the moon,  I was wondering what possible enjoyable endeavor one might get up to in a lunar lava tunnel when I thought of curing ham in an oxygen free environment..  Then I thought, well, why not just cure ham in a vacuum?

 

Well, why not?

 

My first thought was that without air flow, the moisture content wouldn't change.  Does evaporation happen in a vacuum?  Well, yes, apparently.  Quite well, in fact.

 

The Wikipedia article on Vacuum Evaporation states: "When the process is applied to food and the water is evaporated and removed, the food can be stored for long periods of time without spoiling."  That sounds a bit like curing, no?

 

I imagine that there would be no bacterial/fermentation action that I gather gives Italian Prosciutto it's unique characteristics, but I wouldn't consider that a fatal flaw.  My utility prosciutto - Del Duca - has a very simple flavor but a texture I really like.  It was given a Best Buy recommendation by Cooks Illustrated.

 

So I'm thinking, after the initial salting period, could it (any cured meat really, I'm thinking duck prosciutto might be a good guinea pig) simply be hung in a vacuum canister at room temp.

 

Well, why not?

 

I'm thinking that it would be eventually dessicated in a vacuum, but if you leave it in the fridge long enough it would do that too.  So I bet that if drying is the only factor in making duck prosciutto then its just a matter of timing.Vacuum would speed the process.

[IndyRob]

Vacuum would speed the process.

\

 Precisely.  I don't know if it would work like that, but that's why I brought it up.

[dcarch]

The thinking of curing meat on the moon (or in vacuum) is a little lunatic. :-)

 

Unless you like crispy crunchy Prosciutto.

 

​Oxygen free does not mean vacuum.

 

dcarch

[IndyRob]

The thinking of curing meat on the moon (or in vacuum) is a little lunatic. :-)

 

 

True, but curing meat in a FoodSaver canister does not strike me as that crazy.  It may not work, or, it may be a way to eliminate an expensive and bulky curing chamber while also speeding up the curing process.

[btbyrd]

True, but curing meat in a FoodSaver canister does not strike me as that crazy.  It may not work, or, it may be a way to eliminate an expensive and bulky curing chamber while also speeding up the curing process.

 

The problem is that whatever moisture evaporates from the surface of your product remains inside the canister. Unless you have something in place to capture the surplus moisture, the meat is going to be curing in a humid environment and won't lose enough moisture to properly dry out.

Edited March 23, 2015 by btbyrd (log)

[IndyRob]

The problem is that whatever moisture evaporates from the surface of your product remains inside the canister. Unless you have something in place to capture the surplus moisture, the meat is going to be curing in a humid environment and won't lose enough moisture to properly dry out.

 

As understand it, a curing chamber needs a pretty high level of humidity (around 80%?).in order to avoid case hardening/  The DIY chambers I've seen use humidifiers in the chamber.  The low tech ones use a pan of wet salt.

 

But as suggested by the Wikipedia quote, the vacuum itself will draw moisture out.  I'm thinking that as long as we could get the desired 30% weight loss, we should be good.

[AlaMoi]

when h20 changes from liquid to gas, the volume increases by some 600x - so you will need to "maintain the vacuum" - i.e. keep pumping water vapor out - otherwise it will reach equilibrium somewhere in the "slight vacuum" range.

 

there is a similar theory called "freeze drying" - ice sublimates to gas without becoming / going thru the liquid state.