Fjölrit RALA - 22.03.1979, Side 127

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Three smoked legs of mutton were provided from two farms.
After some meetings and discussion it was decided to investi-
gate and compare the palatability of the meat from Jökuldalur
and meat from a smokehouse run by the Cooperative Associations
(Samband) in Reykjavík, where the meat is lightly smoked. One
leg of mutton and one leg of lamb were obtained . The commer-
cial process is similar to the traditional process.
The meat is first dry-salted for 24 hours and potassium
nitrate added at the level of 15g/kg salt. Then the meat is
put in a 15% brine solution and kept there for 3 days. The
meat is washed after the brine treatment and hung in the
smoking chamber for drying overnight. The meat is smoked
for 36 hours. The smoke fuel is dried sheep manure and a
(2)
little of birch wood on the floor of the smoke chamber.
Chemical analyses were made in order to compare the two
methods. The diffusion of nitrate, nitrite and chloride ions
and water in the meat was studied. The water activity was meas-
ured to investigate the shelf-life of the meat.