Coldsmoking Digital Cookery School

Nitrites Nitrites in the form of either Sodium Nitrite or Potassium Nitrite are a types of salt that are commonly used in meat processing to cure meats such as ham, bacon, and sausages. These curing agents come in many different forms but one popular curing salt is Prague Powder. If you want to know more about these cures and their application there is a blog covering that subject here .   The curing process involves adding nitrites to the meat, which helps preserve it by inhibiting the growth of bacteria that can cause spoilage and food poisoning. Nitrites also give cured meats their characteristic pink colour and distinct flavour. When nitrites are added to meat, they react with certain proteins in the meat to form nitric oxide. This process is known as reducing. Nitric oxide then reacts with myoglobin, a protein in meat that gives it its red colour, to form nitrosomyoglobin. This compound is what gives cured meats their pink colour. In addition to adding colour and flavour to

 Butterflied and smoked lamb This is such a flavoursome piece of cooking and so easy to recreate for yourself at home. All you need is an half leg of lamb, some wild garlic, rosemary, salt pepper and a little oil and you’r almost there.  If you can’t get hold of any wild garlic, you can of course use a clove of shop bought instead but as I’m doing this for easter I thought it would be nice to forage some wild garlic leaves for this one. Remember if you are going to use wild garlic, just take what you need, only take leaves or a few flowers and never dig up the bulbs. Always check that you are actually picking wild garlic and not Lilly of the valley which is poisonous They both look similar to each other but wild garlic does have that unmistakable aroma of garlic.  Take the bone out of the lamb using a small sharp paring knife initially making a cut along the length of the bone and working around with the knife until the bone is released. Lay the meat flat on a board and divide in two.