How to get salt pork in Germany.

In going about getting the translation for this recipe, I have to say I began to wonder if it was really needed, but that would really depend on your facility with German. If your German is good, just ask your butcher to make you the desired amount of gepökeltes Schweinebauch. Be clear that you don't want smoked meat.

If you don't speak German well enough to feel comfortable ordering something out of the ordinary, or you have tried to get the butcher to sell you something like it and it didn't work, the translation below may be just the thing you need.

Regardless of how good your German is, you may well want to print out the photo of salt pork at "The Cook's Thesaurus" at foodsubs.com because so far, the salt pork I've had made has not been the fatty piece of meat I was expecting. Visual aids are helpful anyway, but particularly when explaining something that may be a cultural leap for the other party, like you really do want more fat than meat.

The materials I used to compile this recipe called for an entire "slab of side" (or 100 lbs. of pork) and 4 oz. of Prague powder #1. If you're looking to get this sort of quantity, use the ingredients list at the end of this page. I scaled the recipe down to a mere 2.5 kilos because it was very easy to figure out how to measure the cure.

What made me start all this was a sudden burning desire for Boston baked beans, which calls for way less salt pork than even my reduced salt pork recipe. The quantity called for in the baked beans recipe is a small fraction of this, 150 grams, as opposed to the 2500 grams of the recipe below.

My local German butcher says you can no longer just buy nitrite in Germany, that you buy "Nitritpökelsalz" (cure) already mixed. The reason for this is that the proportion of nitrite in German Nitritpökelsalz is mandated by law. (Yes, you read that right.) This law mandates a maximum of .5%, quite a bit less than the proportion in Prague powder #1, which is 5.88% nitrite. On the other hand, the original English recipe calls for salt added to the cure, so it's probably about the same in the end.

Most likely, your butcher will be unwilling or unable to get Prague powder #1, so I've adjusted the German version of this recipe to use their pre-mixed cure. Not having a lot of experience with salt pork, I can't tell you what this difference means in terms of taste, but it's probably minimal, considering you add a good deal of salt to the Prague powder to begin with.

Schweinepökelfleisch

2.5 kg frisches, sehr fettes Schweinebauchfleisch
25 g Nitritpökelsalz

Das Pökelsalz gründlich ins Fleisch einmassieren. Den Boden einer Kunststoffschachtel oder einer Edelstahlform (mit Deckel) mit einer dünnen Schicht Pökelsalz bedecken. Darauf das Fleisch legen und wiederum mit einer Schicht Pökelsalz bedecken. Bei Bedarf ruhig etwas mehr Pökelsalz nehmen. Für eine Woche unten in den Kühlschrank stellen. Nach einer Woche rausholen und Fleisch erneut gut einmassieren.

Das Fleisch für eine weitere Woche in den Kühlschrank stellen. Nach einer Woche das Fleisch rausholen und mit lauwarmes Wasser abwaschen. Das Fleisch in Salz einpacken.

Bemerkung:
Im original Rezept steht 1Teel."Prague powder #1" (Prag-Pulver Nr. 1) und 11 g Salz statt 25 g Nitritpökelsalz. Prag-Pulver und Nitritpökelsalz sind eine Mischung aus Natriumnitrit und Kochsalz. Der Unterschied ist, daß nach dem Gesetz der Nitritgehalt von deutschem Nitritpökelsalz höchstens 0,5 Prozent Nitrit betragen darf wohingegen amerikanisches Prag-Pulver Nr. 1 6 Prozent Nitrit enthaelt.

Ingredients to cure a side of pork

1 Bauch (Schlachtkšrper Schwein)
115 g Prag-Pulver #1
1135 g Salz