How did they smoke meat in the old days?

Smoking Meat and Fish

Meat would be cut into relatively thin, lean strips, immersed briefly in a salt solution and hung over a fire to absorb the smoke flavoring as it dried — slowly. Occasionally meat might be smoked without a salt solution, especially if the type of wood burned had a distinctive flavoring of its own.

How was meat smoked in the old days?

In the past, smokers would consist of a room made of stone where meat would hang from the ceiling. A fire would be used to provide smoke in the room which would dry out the meat and preserve it for some time. Today, smoked meat is done with a smoker, which can be small or large in size.

How did a smokehouse work?

From earliest times, a smokehouse was a small enclosed shelter, a place in which a fire could be kept smoldering for a few weeks, which would only slowly release its smoke, and in which the smoked meat could hang safe from vermin and thieves. Just about any sort of vernacular shed could serve.

What kind of wood do you use for a smokehouse?

The smokehouse cabinet can be made out of any type of wood, including softwood plywood. Nevertheless, cedar is one of the more popular woods to build a smokehouse out of, because the natural oils contained in cedar repel wood-destroying fungi that cause rot.

How did smokehouses preserve meat?

Food preservation occurred by salt curing and extended cold smoking for two weeks or longer. Smokehouses were always secured to prevent animals and thieves from accessing the food. The meat is hung to keep it from the reach of varmints and vermin.

History of Curing Meat

How long does meat last in a smokehouse?

The meat or cheese is stored in a cool spot (40 to 50 degrees, a refrigerator works well), allowing three days for each pound of meat. The salt gradually draws the moisture from the food tissues. Large hams and bulky cuts often take longer than a month to cure.

How did they preserve meat in the 1800's?

Another process used to preserve meet was known as salting. The meat was rubbed with salt, placed it in wooden barrels and topped off with water, making a brine. The brine kept the meat moister and more palatable than drying, and it prohibited the growth of harmful organisms.

How long does it take to cure meat in a smokehouse?

Keep it in a cool place – less than 40 degrees Fahrenheit – for 18 days. If the meat is firm, it's ready to smoke. If the meat is not firm, you'll need to cure it more, unless you are going to freeze it or cut it up and eat it right away. You may use a dry salt rub or a brine to soak the meat.

What is the temperature of the hot smokehouse?

Hot smoking usually occurs within the range of 52 to 80 °C (126 to 176 °F). When food is smoked within this temperature range, foods are fully cooked, moist, and flavorful. If the smoker is allowed to get hotter than 85 °C (185 °F), the foods can shrink excessively, buckle, or even split.

How did cowboys preserve meat?

They placed the meat on a layer of salt and covered it with more salt, sometimes mixed with pepper and brown sugar. Salt draws moisture out of meat and thus stops the process of rotting.

How did they refrigerate food in the old days?

For centuries, people preserved and stored their food � especially milk and butter � in cellars, outdoor window boxes or even underwater in nearby lakes, streams or wells. Or perhaps they stored food in a springhouse, where cool running water from a stream trickled under or between shelved pans and crocks.

How did they preserve food in the old days?

The most common and familiar include drying, salting, smoking, pickling, fermenting and chilling in natural refrigerators, like streams and underground pits.

How did they cure bacon in the 1800s?

To make dry-cured bacon the old- fashioned way, the curing ingredients, salt, sugar and sodium nitrate (saltpeter) were rubbed into the meat, which is left to cure for a couple of weeks before smoking with hickory or oak, apple wood or corn cobs, depending on the packer and what natural fuel was available.

How did they cure meat before refrigeration?

During the Middle Ages, people preserved meat by salting or smoking it. They would also dry many foods, including grains. Vegetables were often salted or pickled. Many fruits were dried or turned in preserves.

Is smoking meat healthy for you?

Smoked meats are associated with an increased risk for certain cancers due to the presence of cancer-causing substances -- carcinogens. For example, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzopyrenes from wood smoke are toxic.

Why does smoked meat make me sick?

Smoked meat is linked to several bacteria. For instance, it might be contaminated with Listeria or Clostridium botulinum, resulting in a foodborne illness. Clostridium botulinum can also cause extreme vomiting, slurred speech, muscle weakness, and double vision.

Does smoke cure meat?

The drying action of the smoke tends to preserve the meat, though many of the chemicals present in wood smoke (e.g., formaldehyde and certain alcohols) are natural preservatives as well. Smoking is one of the oldest of food preservation methods, probably having arisen shortly after the development of cooking with fire.

Do people still use smokehouses?

While smokehouses aren't as prevalent in the United States as they used to be, smoking remains a popular way to flavor and preserve food. Thousands of smokehouses—from small backyard sheds to large commercial facilities—dot the nation, producing tons of smoked cheese, pork, poultry, sausage, seafood and wild game.

How does cold smoke cure meat?

All cold-smoked products can last for extended periods of time. To cold smoke meat, the process is simple. First, the meat is cured to inhibit bacteria growth, but also to remove moisture. The meat is then exposed to smoke, which adds the flavor and locks-in the cure.

What type of salt is best for curing meat?

1 pink salt is used to cure all meats that require cooking, brining, smoking, or canning. This includes poultry, fish, ham, bacon, luncheon meats, corned beef, pates, and other products. It is 93.75 percent table salt and 6.25 percent sodium nitrite. It is used at a rate of 1 teaspoon per 5 pounds of ground meat.

What wood should you not smoke with?

Never, under any circumstances, use EASTERN CEDAR, CYPRESS, ELM, EUCALYPTUS, SASSAFRAS, LIQUID AMBER, PINE, REDWOOD, FIR, SPRUCE, or SYCAMORE for smoking meats or other types of food.