Deli Meat Recipe

Today I am sharing how I make sandwich meat, specifically oven roasted chicken breasts, but this method applies well to other meats as well. For example, rabbit breast, other poultry breasts, and also the loins from bork, beef, venison etc.… opt for lean cuts in order to have the cleanest slices but if you like thicker cut deli meat you can certainly experiment with well marbled small roasts in this recipe as well!

Fun Fact- “Deli meat” is a term used to describe precooked, ready to serve, meats, loaves, and sausages. This includes cooked fresh meat and also canned meat products. It really encompasses a wide array of meat stuffs under that umbrella term!

Recipe:

The Cure - 1 part salt, 1 part spice, 2 parts honey

The Meat- Lean Meat (Poultry breast, Rabbit breast, Loin)

quantities here are really flexible, I usually use 1tbsp salt, 1tbsp garlic powder and 2tbsp honey for 3-4 large chicken breasts (about 1.5-2 pounds of meat). You can easily scale this recipe as needed!

Step 1.) Combine all the cure ingredients. Trim any fat or other bits that aren’t meat. Coat your meat with the cure and place in a container with a lid. Let marinate in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Check on it daily and turn the meat over each day if it is not completely submerged in the brine it’s made for itself.

Step 2.) Remove from the fridge, drain off the brine, rinse. Optionally for a more fully hydrated end product, you can now let it soak in cold water, 30 minutes per day it was in the brine. So, if you had it in the fridge curing for 3 days, soak it for an hour and a half. If you don’t want to do that, go ahead and rinse it and move on to step 3!

Step 3.) Pat your meat dry, place on a baking dish (line with parchment paper if you know your pan sticks badly), bake at 250f for 40-60 minutes, or until a safe internal temperature is achieved. For chicken that is 165f (74c) and for beef it is 145f (63c).

Step 4.) Let the meat cool completely before slicing! Then you can slice any way you like; I usually go on the diagonal to get the deli meat style slices, but you can cube this for salads, and it is phenomenal that way as well! You will need a very sharp kitchen knife or a Mandoline to achieve good results.

Enjoy!

Don’t forget to check out Azure Standard, I get most of my bulk and dry goods with them and love their company so much! SHOP AZURE