Keeping Meat for months - Lomo de Orza

[maijipo]

This is another way of keeping pork meat for months without any problem. Depending on the latitude you are sailing you don't even need a fridge (just keep it under 15C.

The recipe is called lomo de orza. An orza is a large earthenware, jarlike container with a round opening at the top. Traditionally, it has been used to preserve foods in lard, especially pork after the yearly matanza, or "slaughtering". The advent of refrigeration has made orzas nearly obsolete, but the wonderful flavor of this dish will make you want to return to the past.

I am pretty sure Colombus had some when he sailed to the new world


https://youtu.be/fT7xRWRU0mE?fbclid=...eature=related

[JPA Cate]

Maijipo: what is the longest time you have kept the pork loin prepared this way? Also, how hot is the olive oil, and for how long?

It looks like a tasty recipe, a modern take on a very old way of preserving meat.

Ann

[maijipo]

Hello Ann.

We usually do a big batch and keep it 2 months without any problem. But you can keep it much more time. People in Spain used to keep it for months. We use a fridge in our case because we have it, but if you can keep the temperature cool you can even keep it outside. The fridge is not mandatory at all. Even in Florida, we kept it for 2 months (we are now in the Nort West Pacific)

I don't really know the temperature of the oil (never measure it), but keep it at low heat since it will cook for 2 hours or so (and maybe depending on how much you do). It is really a slow cooking recipe. The oil needs to be warm enough to cook slowly.

Also, if you want to keep the meat more a long time, you can strain the marinade before covering the meat.

Don't hesitate to contact me if you need help when you do it. I am happy to help. If it helps I can write down the recipe!

[JPA Cate]

Thank you, Maijipo. Good to know to slow cook it in the oil.

It IS an ancient storage method. In days gone by, the meat was left raw, and simply put in the container (often a barrel or "hogshead"), layer by layer, and covered with lard heated to just below the smoking point. It's more convenient to have it ready to eat.

Ann

[fxykty]

Can this technique be used with other types of meat, such as lamb or beef?

Also, I’ve seen several recipes that fully cook the meat in slices over high heat, then use additional melted lard to cover the meat for storage. I assume the slow cook method is for larger cuts? But bottom line, the meat is fully cooked, then cooled in a lard bath such that it is fully encased and becomes solid. This is not for storing raw meat. Correct?

[GordMay]

“Curing and Smoking Meats for Home Food Preservation”
“Curing is the addition to meats of some combination of salt, sugar, nitrite and/or nitrate for the purposes of preservation, flavor and color. Some publications distinguish the use of salt alone as salting, corning or salt curing and reserve the word curing for the use of salt with nitrates/nitrites. The cure ingredients can be rubbed on to the food surface, mixed into foods dry (dry curing), or dissolved in water (brine, wet, or pickle curing). In the latter processes, the food is submerged in the brine until completely covered. With large cuts of meat, brine may also be injected into the muscle. The term pickle in curing has been used to mean any brine solution or a brine cure solution that has sugar added...”
More ➥ https://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/n...moke_cure.html

“How to Cure Meat at Home – Complete Illustrated Guide”
➥ https://eatcuredmeat.com/how-to-cure...strated-guide/

[maijipo]

Originally Posted by fxykty

Can this technique be used with other types of meat, such as lamb or beef?

Also, I’ve seen several recipes that fully cook the meat in slices over high heat, then use additional melted lard to cover the meat for storage. I assume the slow cook method is for larger cuts? But bottom line, the meat is fully cooked, then cooled in a lard bath such that it is fully encased and becomes solid. This is not for storing raw meat. Correct?

This recipe is for pork. Will not work that well with beef. We will publish some for beef very soon.

This is one technique for preserving meat, based in this case on oil and vinegar. We are publishing different techniques. A few weeks ago, we published one based on salt (https://youtu.be/hqZ9VaE05zM).

We will share soon a third recipe to conserve meat this time with the fat.
Also, these recipes are just not for preservation, but they are more elaborate in the sense that they are traditional recipes

This is one of the interesting if you start looking at older recipes, you realize how many different ways of preserving food and still have very good food.

[dannc]

In the US, "Modern" food preservation in glass jars cooks the food and then the lids are sealed air tight. One is not supposed to reuse the lids because the sealing material might not work after the first use.

Having said that, I make ice tea in a one quart mason jar, and after steeping the tea bags, I put the ring and old lid on the jar. I put the jar outside to cool off faster and eventually the jar goes into the fridge. I have to pry open the lid so the sealant does work many times. The old lid is most certainly allowing a vacuum to exist in the jar. It has occurred to me that I could "can" many a quart of ice tea and preserve it for quite a long time. That might be useful to do on a passage....

Any who, back to food preservation.

Before the "modern" lids existed, pouring melted fat over the cooked meat was a used. At some point, paraffin was used to seal the top of the jar. Those techniques, along with the modern "lid," are simply keeping air, and bugs, literal or microscopic, from getting to the food.

Later,
Dan

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by maijipo

This is another way of keeping pork meat for months without any problem. Depending on the latitude you are sailing you don't even need a fridge (just keep it under 15C.

The recipe is called lomo de orza. An orza is a large earthenware, jarlike container with a round opening at the top. Traditionally, it has been used to preserve foods in lard, especially pork after the yearly matanza, or "slaughtering".

Such techniques are susceptible to the development of botulism, which is deadly. The risk of botulism is greater when a thoroughly airtight container is used, such as one of plastic, glass, or glazed ceramic. Wood and unglazed pottery are thought to reduce the risk somewhat and are a partial explanation why botulism was not more prevalent earlier in history.

Nitrate or nitrite cure, or lengthy processing in a pressure canner, are the only reliable ways of preventing botulism in meat stored at room temperature. Either of these changes the character of the stored product.


There are fatalities from botulism every year among people replicating 18th century and earlier smoking and storage techniques.

[Shrew]

Originally Posted by dannc

In the US, "Modern" food preservation in glass jars cooks the food and then the lids are sealed air tight. One is not supposed to reuse the lids because the sealing material might not work after the first use.

Are you implying that "modern" food preservation is limited to within the borders of the US? OR that all other countries are using antiquated methods of food preservation??