WILD BOAR LONZA CURED WITH MEYER LEMON & TOASTED FENNEL
Salting Time: 1 day per every pound of meat.Dry Hanging Time: 2 to 4 weeks or until the meat has lost 30 percent of its original raw weight.
Servings: 1 Loin
Ingredients
- 1 boneless wild boar or farm raised pork loin silver skin removed. (see notes for safety)
- kosher salt as needed
- 3 tbsp fennel seeds, toasted and crushed or cracked (for the cure)
- 1 Meyer lemon sliced thin
- juice of 1 Meyer lemon
- 5 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 2 sprigs of rosemary finely chopped
- 1 tbsp Fennel seeds toasted and finely ground (for the rub after after the salting is rinsed)
Instructions
- Weigh the pork loin and write down the starting weight. (Don’t skip this step—it’s critical for tracking weight loss during curing).
- Place the loin on a large sheet pan and coat it evenly with kosher salt, making sure every surface is well covered.
- Transfer the loin to a large food-safe plastic bag. Add the rosemary, garlic, Meyer lemon juice, and lemon slices, distributing the seasonings evenly around the meat.
- Roll the bag tightly so the salt and aromatics stay pressed against the loin.
- Set the bagged loin on a clean baking sheet. Place another pan of similar size on top, then add a weight (2–3 pounds) to press the loin evenly.
- Refrigerate for 1 day per 2 pounds of meat.
- Halfway through curing, flip the loin over. Rub the cure and seasonings back into the meat, roll it tight again, and return it to the press.
- When the curing time is complete, remove the loin from the bag. Rinse thoroughly under cold running water and pat completely dry.
- Rub the entire loin with ground fennel for a uniform, light coating.
- Tie the loin with butcher’s twine (as you would for a roast) so it can hang securely in your curing space.
- Hang the loin until it has lost 30% of its original raw weight that you recorded in step 1.
NOTES
Trichinosis: To make this pork as safe as possible to eat, the CDC highly recommends that the meat be frozen at or below 5 degrees F for a minimum of 20 days to render most of the larvae inert. And that means the center of the pork must be at or below 5 degrees F for at least 20 days.
- Here is a link to the CDC webpage regarding trichinosis.
- Curing (salting), drying, smoking, or microwaving meat alone does not consistently kill infective worms.
- Freezing wild game meats, unlike freezing pork products, may not effectively kill all worms because some worm species that infect wild game animals are freeze-resistant.
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