Berkshire Pork, Cold Smoking, "Le Smoker"

[paul o' vendange]

Hello all.

I use Berkshire Pork in my restaurant, currently a spec of the blade end, 8 ribs, blade excised so I present a double rack. Extraordinarily flavorful, juicy - "old line pork," before it was bred for lean and flavorless character.

Hence my problem. My normal treatment is nil - S & P, pan-roast with thyme, sage and butter-basting, and it is wonderful. However, as we move into the fall, I am interested in doing some cold-smoking on the racks prior to cooking them. For things like salmon, I use the "Le Smoker" cold smoker, and a relatively short cycle of 90 minutes. For the pork, I am not a big fan of brine/hammy taste on the loin, and would like to leave the flavor profile alone, save for a bit of smoke pickup.

Any with any thoughts on methods of cold smoking for this window of 90 minutes without brine curing, I'd appreciate it.

Paul

[paul o' vendange]

*bump*

[paul o' vendange]

Bueller -

Bueller-

No one with any thoughts?

[intraining]

hi,

i found this which may enable you to take things a bit further

smoked pork

maybe you can get in touch with them??

i'd like to smoke my own shoulder bacon, which seems to be unavailable in the U.S. but is delicious

[jmcgrath]

Hello all.

I use Berkshire Pork in my restaurant, currently a spec of the blade end, 8 ribs, blade excised so I present a double rack.  Extraordinarily flavorful, juicy - "old line pork," before it was bred for lean and flavorless character.

Any with any thoughts on methods of cold smoking for this window of 90 minutes without brine curing, I'd appreciate it. 

Paul

←

The issue with cold smoking is food safety. Food targeted for cold smoking is normally cured first to prevent bacterial growth during the smoking process. If the meat starts out cold, e.g. 34F, smoking for 90 minutes should be safe. You need to experiment with a temperature probe to determine how long the meat spends above 40F, in the danger zone. I assume you will want to chill it again quickly for roasting in the future. You should be able to find guidelines on how long it is safe to hold meat above 40F. Include rechilling time.

Jim

[paul o' vendange]

Hi Jim:

Thanks. I should have specified I am aware of the food safety issue and bacterial window - in terms of the cold smoke plan, they would be tossed in the freezer for 1/2 hour then the walk-in cooler, then cooked off that night. The window above 40 would likely then be less than 2 hours. However, for comfort's sake I would like to hear from the community about other effective methods of control besides a salt/sugar brine cure. I suppose a very light brine for a limited time would be doable, particularly in tandem with another liquid - Just yesterday I was speaking with Steven Loppnow (VenisonAmerica on our boards), who uses an apple juice soak for 2 hours prior to cold smoking, though I don't believe he salts. With such a low acid content, I wonder how efficacious this would be, but, still, he got me curious, particularly since I will be doing an applewood smoke and serving the racks with caramelized shallots and apples (and parsnip puree and a rosemary Sauce Robert). However, these racks are double racks, quite thick, and penetration would be low, esp. on a light brine and limited soak. I am also considering a bit of "dry aging." The fat and blood content on the pork is high comparably speaking, again, it is most decidedly not "the other white meat," esp. in this blade area that I have spec'd.

Any and all thoughts greatly appreciated. Thanks, Jim and intraining, and others, keep 'em coming!

P.S. - Intraining, I should have mentioned that I initially was not able to get the article by the link above, but, going to the paper and searching for the topic, it came up just fine. Thanks very much for the heads up.

Paul

Edited September 14, 2004 by paul o' vendange (log)

[culinary bear]

Grab a very large syringe, and inject with liquid smoke.

Please, put down the firearm, I'm joking... :)

Have you considered a dry salt rub prior to cold smoking? I've used a dry pickle containing sel rose and a small amount of pimenton dulce, which has accentuated the smokiness subtly. An hour at 35F should be sufficient for blade.

[paul o' vendange]

No, Alan, I hadn't thought about a dry rub, but thanks, interesting idea. I think my dilemma comes because the flavor of this meat is so extraordinary that I don't want to mess with it too much at all, save, at least as an experiment for now, for a bit of smoke pickup.