I would really like to try curing meet. A there any books / meat bibles that I should look at? I'm thinking having just a single fridge for meat curing.
Is there a risk of unwanted things in the meat that makes it hard to do on your own?
:-) Danbo
Danbo, there are really only 2 items to deal with.
1) botulism, A small amount of sodium nitrite very effectively inhibits microbes, including botulism bacteria. That is Saltpeter or Instacure #1, or pink salt.
2)Microbes, Salt kills microbes (such as bacteria). When a high concentration of salt is introduced to the outside of the cell membrane, water molecules leave the cell by osmosis. When enough water leaves a bacterial cell, it dies, or at least becomes inactive, and can’t spoil the meat.
http://www.culinate.com/columns/ask_hank/curing_meat