I deboned a leg of lamb that I cured and then hung to dry on the 6th of January, checked the weight today and it was at 34% weight loss. I just cut it and it looks and feels pretty raw, It does have some case hardening which is weird since I increased the humidity in my fridge when I hung this and it’s been hovering around 78-82% humidity.
Any tips? Should I vac seal it and let it equalize or is it a toss?
by elquil
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Looks like the cure didn’t take all the way through. What were your weights for the leg and cure percentages and cure time?
It would also benefit to look into equilibrium curing. There are several calculators online that you plug in the weight of protein with the percentage of salt you are going to use and it will display info on exact measurements to obtain a proper cure. Most will even give you how long to cure the protein before it is ready to move to the hanging stage.
Can you cook something like this if it didnt cure properly? Is it possible to salvage a case hardened piece of meat and just cook it as if its dry aged?
I usually dry large whole muscles to closer to 40% personally. Vac seal and let it equalize for 2-3 weeks and see what it’s like then. I wouldn’t bin it if it doesn’t smell bad. It won’t hurt anything to eq it and check again later.
How long did you cure for?