Out of Pod Experience

Did you know: You can cure about any kind of meat with a mix brown sugar and salt? About a 6:1 ratio of sugar to salt. (Bigger portion of sugar if you're a Food Network chef-y guy). Give it 8-24 hours in the fridge, it don't matter much. Pull it out and the liquid has been extracted. It has magically transformed into cured meat. Bacteria killed, it's cured.

After that, you just rinse the curing salt and sugar off and let it sit in the open air for a while. Cold weather sun seems to be good. Let it firm up and develop a little dry skin on it. Then, you can smoke that meat, barbecue it, fry it in a skillet, or just eat it on a cracker. Whatever is appropriate for that kind of meat (fish, beef, pork) is good.

Pro tips thanks to a certain well-known member of these forums. Thanks DF, step up and give more good tips if you feel like it. Highly recommended guys-- turn your grocery store meat into your own home-cured goodness. Your ladies or kids will appreciate even more than you do.

"Smorking, buggages, sheeting" -Title of Japanese office lady's essay about the worst hassles of air travel. Right on.