Cured / Smoked Fresh Pork, Pork Belly and Hocks For The Holidays!


On December 7th I went to the Athens Meet Market to buy a slab of fresh bacon, 3 hocks, and two boneless halves of  fresh pork leg which I intended to cure for an average of 10 days, then to smoke them for the holidays...

December 18th 2011
A)  The hocks were cured in a Maple liquid cure mix for about 9 days, smoked with wet Hickory chips  then will be boiled to fully tenderize just before serving with sauerkraut and juniper berries cooked in Riesling wine, steamed potatoes and hot Dijon or Coleman's English hot mustard.

B)  The slab of pork belly was cut into two equal pieces for easier handling and dry cured with two cups of famous Greek honey also for 9 days and smoked with wet Hickory chips.
C)  The two half legs of fresh pork were Maple cured for 10 days and smoked with wet Mesquit and Apple chips for 7 hours. The smoking operation was done on December 19th 2011.
The hocks and fresh legs of pork were  pumped with a meat syringe with the liquid cure as shown in the pictures which are self explanatory.
Photo Courtesy Of Wikipedia On Google


Pumping The Hocks With Cure Along The Bone And Into Meat Using The Special Syringe.
Pumping Fresh lLegs Of Pork With Cure Using The Special Syringe.

Various Spices And Aromatic Herbs Put During The Curing Operation.

Upper Platter Contains Pork Belly Slabs And Bucket Contains The Fresh Pork Legs In Fridge At Max. 4 degrees C.
Various Smoking Woods Wrapped In Aluminum Foil WithHoles In Them.
Pork Belly Ready For Smoking After Good Washing The Extra Salt Off And Drying.
Hocks After Good Washing Off Extra Salt And Drying Ready For Smoking.
Ongoing Smoking Operation
Fully Cooked And Smoked Bacon Internal Temp. 65 degrees C / 149degrees F

Hocks fully cooked and smoked. Internal Temp. 65-67 degrees C
December 19th 2011

Today started at 0900 hrs by putting the two cured fresh legs of pork to smoke and cook, although it was raining all day. Put 5 batches of Mesquite and Cherry wood chips in small intervals till an inside temperature of the meet was 64 - 67 degrees C ( between 147.2 degrees F and 152.6 degrees F :  Note: USDA has revised its recommended internal temperature for all whole cuts of meat, including pork. All fact sheets are being reviewed and revised to reflect the new recommendations. Fact sheets dated earlier than May 2011 may not yet reflect this recent change. 
The internal temperature should be a minimum of 145 degrees F (62.777 degrees C).

Before Smoking (09:00 Hrs.)
Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil Holding Smoking Wood Chips.

Bowl Holding Water, Fat And Dripping From Smoking Meats.
Already Sliced At 17:00 Hrs. Delicious
Very Appetizing!!
This is not a recipe but a demonstration of the procedure I followed to cure and smoke, pork belly, hocks, and fresh legs of pork.
For any details please contact me.
All the best
Stelio

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