I like hard salami with the pepper around it.... but I buy it already sliced packages to have with swiss and fruit... and you are right a little goes a long way.
I am just seeing packages of different kinds of sausages that say '"No Nitrates" or "Nitrate free" I just wanted to know what the impact is to the shelf life.
for what its worth Here is a recipe for making Corned beef:
http://ruhlman.com/2010/03/corned-beef-how-to-cure-your-own/
towards the bottom in the comments someone said she did it without the pink salt and it tastes the same just doesnt have that color.
Then another commented why stop there why not make Pastrami too..... instead of cooking it in the spices you roll it in pepper and herbs and smoke it.
I know i sound like a broken record because I talk about doing stuff but never do it. the barrier here is this isnt my house. I want to learn as much about this stuff for when I move home. At home I will barely have telephone much less internet. Books are all good but....
When I get up there I will be almost off grid. the nearest grocery store will be sixty miles away. So my best bet is to buy enough beef to last me a year and freeze it or preserve it some how. In order to get frozen foods up there I have to Bring a couple of coolers down
thats why I am also reading up on home preserving..... Veggies meat fish ... and I want to make my own dogfood from trimmings.
Because when i move up there I will be living on social security and what ever online jobs I can get.
deb