SC - Lord's Salt experiment. upcoming trial with venison

[ChannonM at aol.com]

I am going to try out this recipe this weekend. I have some basic questions 
before I start out. 

1.Strong vinegar- someone posted that you need to use 7% versus the ordinary 
5% acid level, where could I obtain such a vinegar, or is there a name for it 
that would be universal

2. The spices are pretty standard and I will need twice as much cinnamon as 
the rest. Is there a suggested starting amount? I might start out by using 2 
tsp of each and 4 tsp of cinnamon to say 4 cups vinegar? Is that 
unreasonable? 

3. This may sound like an amateurish question (oh yeah, I am an amateur), but 
how will I know the difference between cinnamons(zeylanicum vs camphora) in 
the shop? I usually buy the whole bark vs ground because I like the punch 
that you get out of it when grinding it fresh, but how do I know what I am 
buying is one vs the other?  Will it make a significant difference in the end 
result?

4.The recipe calls for meat that has been fried. I will be removing as much 
fat from the venison as possible( it is very strong) and will fry it in lard 
(white greese) does that sound like it will fit? 

5. Is there a test that I can perform to determine the level of bacteria 
before eating it? Is there something that I can obtain to scientifically 
demonstrate that it is safe before I condemn my fellow cooks to a day of 
vomiting and other nasties, if that is the least of the problems to result 
from bad food. I just want to be very careful in what I serve to others, so 
please forgive the anal retentiveness on this. 

Any input would be appreciated

Hauviette
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