Since processed meats are pretty much a frequent part of my family's meals, I thought of wanting to process meats on my own at home. I just think it's much cheaper and I could avoid the coloring which is usually overdone in most commercially processed meat products. I however cannot find some of the processing ingredients in the grocery store though especially the curing salt. Have you ever processed meat on your own? Was it easy for you to find all the necessary ingredients in meat preservation?
My mother used to make processed horse meat. Take note that my father was a race horse trainer so he had access to horse meat. He would buy several kilos for my mother to make into Tapa (preserved meat) which has for ingredients crushed garlic, brown sugar and some herbs and spices. It looked easy to make but it requires time and labor. For me, no, we just buy if necessary. But we are not much for processed meat for we are a bit health conscious when it comes to food.
I've always been interested in curing meats. I've seen a lot of different techniques in curing meat from Italian chefs to American homesteading. I'd try it but I live in a tropical climate where warm weather could botch a huge chunk of meat. Making corned beef, on the other hand, is something I can do. I just need to look where I can get curing salts.
@maxen57 That's really my problem because I can't seem to find curing salt anywhere I look. I've tried almost every grocery store in my area but to no avail. I've read in some blogs though that they can also be bought online but I think you have to buy in bulk. I only need a small amount right now to test first if I can really process meat at home.
We usually don't process meat at home. Last time was done, it was pretty messy and attracted a fly infestation at home. Also, you have to devote some time to cut off all the fat from the edible meat and clean off the blood, for preservation, simply put them inside the freezer, faster than dryin' out exposed to the sun.
