Three or so months ago I had a post about making prosciutto from a pork loin.In short the results were great. The loin was dry cured with Morton's Smoked Sugar Cure according to box directions, for approximately 3 months in my meat refrigerator in the garage, normal temperature 35-40 degrees, unless it was colder outside. It was left open to the air. No mold or anything ever appeared on the meat.
Since I have begun eating it, I wrapped it in plastic and moved it into the house refer. Over time in the plastic mold began to form, so I took it out and washed it with warm soapy water and a very stiff brush. After rinsing it very well I let it dry in the kitchen overnight and again put it in a plastic bad. So far no mold has returned and that little bit of water seems to have improved the slicing texture.
Because it is so dry (a real dry cure) it is not the easiest to slice, but I have found a filet knife seems to work the best to get really thin slices. I would like to have a real meat slicer, just to see if I could get bigger pieces still sliced thin.
Anyway it is just as good as store bought, preserved with nothing but Sugar Cure.
I just bought another loin to do it again. This time I am going to cold smoke part before I add the Sugar Cure, the other part I will cure for a couple of weeks and then cold smoke it.
I like the non-smoked variety just fine, but as I said it as good as store bought for lot lesser price than good prosciutto, but why settle for good when you have an opportunity to make the best
