Cured Meat Products
Practical Action
In particular, spices should be bought from a reputable supplier because these are often a source
of food poisoning bacteria. The main process control points are 1) the size of the strips, which
should be uniform to give similar drying times, 2) the drying rate which affects the product
quality and moisture content. This depends mostly on the temperature and air speed of the
drying air and size of the strips, and 3) the amount of salt/spices that are rubbed into the meat
which prevents surface bacterial growth during the initial stages of drying.
3) Curing and smoking
A traditional West African smoked pork product is made from shoulders, feet, head or offal. It is
hot-smoked to produce a well-developed smoky flavour. It is only partially cooked and then added
to soups or stews. It may be slightly salted (e.g. salt at 3-5% of the weight of meat is rubbed into
surface) or unsalted, and usually has a spice mix applied. Smoking is done on a grill mounted
above a smoky fire, made from good quality fuelwood, and sugarcane bagasse may also be used to
generate smoke. This material imparts a finer smoked flavour and an attractive golden colour to
the meat. The meat is turned regularly for 6 - 10 hours to ensure uniform heating and smoking.
Hot smoking must be carefully done to avoid over-cooking and charring the product. The cooled
product is packaged in sealed polythene bags. Under normal ambient temperatures, smoked pork
can be stored for about 4 days when packaged in polythene. If it is refrigerated it has a shelf-life
of about 2 weeks at 5 - 10 oC
Equipment for smoking bacon, hams and other meat products can be made locally, or smoking
kilns can be purchased. There are two basic types of smoker: those that produce smoke directly
in the base of a smoking chamber; and those that have an external smoke generator that supplies
smoke to a smoking chamber. Each type can operate as cold smokers (20 - 32oC) or hot smokers
(70 - 80oC). Hardwoods are normally used to generate smoke because they produce the required
flavours and colour in the smoked food. Resinous woods, such as fir or spruce, should not be
used because they impart an acrid unpleasant flavour.
Direct smokers can be constructed from bricks (similar to a
baking oven - see Technical Brief: Bread baking ovens) or
from steel boxes (Fig. 6). A simple indirect smoker can be
constructed from an old refrigerator by removing the
compressor, cutting a vent in the top of the cabinet and
fitting an adjustable air vent in the bottom of one side. The
smoke generator is a brick or metal cabinet that contains
the fire, which has a vent to control the amount of air
entering the cabinet and thus restrict the fire to produce
smoke. A pipe is connected from the smoke generator to the
hole in the side of the refrigerator.
More sophisticated smokers have fans to control the amount
of smoke from the generator and to evenly distribute smoke
in the smoking chamber.
Figure 6: Meat Smoker.
Photo from Brougham Hall
Foods
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