How to Make a Meat Curing Cellar

Cure and store your homemade sausage, bacon and ham in your basement.

Construct your own meat curing center in your home and join other hobbyists who produce aged food products. Building a brick smoke house in the backyard isn't always an option; and constructing a meat curing cellar in the basement is an alternative. Basic carpentry skills and tools are used to transform plywood, polystyrene sheet insulation, lumber and two vents into a climate-controlled curing area safe from marauding animals. Build it a little larger and you can use the extra space to store garden produce through the winter months.

Things You'll Need

• Basement corner with window
• Polystyrene sheet insulation
• Polystyrene construction adhesive
• Exterior plywood
• Saw
• 3" or 4" galvanized vents
• Metal screening
• Metal tape measure
• Carpenter's square
• Carpenter's plumb line
• Marker
• 2" by 4" lumber
• Interior plywood
• Wood screws
• Screwdriver
• Interior door
• Interior paint
• Vent piping
• Shelving and hooks
• Thermometer

Instructions

1. Remove the glass from the window. Measure it and cut one piece of polystyrene sheeting to fit the window opening. Cut two pieces of exterior plywood the same size. Laminate the polystyrene between the pieces of plywood using the polystyrene construction adhesive, forming a sandwich. Use the saw to cut two three- or four-inch holes in the sandwich for the vents. Place these holes as far apart as possible to promote air flow around the cellar. Place one higher than the other. Cover the vent openings with the metal screening to exclude insects and small animals. Place the vents in the openings and put it in the window opening.

2. Measure the dimensions of the finished meat curing cellar. Mark the outline on the basement floor using the marker. Include the door opening in your outline. Frame the walls of the curing cellar by using the screwdriver and screws to attach lengths of 2" by 4" lumber to the ceiling joists. Build the bottom wall plates using the lumber and screws. Fit lengths of 2" by 4" lumber used as studs between the top and bottom boards. The studding can be on centers greater than 24 inches apart because they aren't bearing any load. Use the carpenter's square and plumb line to check the straightness of your work.

3. Build the door frame. Build the outer walls of the curing cellar from the interior plywood by screwing it to the studs and top and bottom plates.Check your work with the square and plumb line. Apply polystyrene construction adhesive to the interior surface of the plywood between the studding. Attach pieces of the polystyrene sheeting to the adhesive-covered surface. Build the inner walls of the meat during cellar from plywood. Install the door.

4. Paint the walls and door. Attach the vent piping to the vents. Install the shelving and hanging hooks. Hang the thermometer in the center of the cellar to monitor the temperature.

Tips & Warnings

• Use composite wood decking for the bottom plates. It resists rotting and won't create musty odors.

• Build wall sections horizontally, making them 1/4 inch shorter than their installed height. Lift the section into position after they're built.

• Install a small fan to help circulate the air in the meat curing shelter.

• Build the cellar larger than you need for curing meats. Store bins of garden vegetables such as potatoes, carrots and onions on the floor and shelves during the winter months.

• The maximum storage temperature for storing cured meats should not rise above 40 degree Fahrenheit to avoid spoilage.

• A humidity of about 90 percent is recommended for storing cured meats and produce in a cellar.

References

• Mother Earth News; "Building a Basement Root Cellar;" Steve Maxwell; Dec. 2004-Jan. 2005
• Old Fashioned Living; "A Root Cellar for Your Homestead;" Victoria Ries; 2001
• Wedliny Domowe; Making Sausage; Curing Temperatures