FAILURE! Well, you have to imagine it happens! Trying new things, new methods or formulas will inevitable lead to some less than ideal results. Oh well.
A while back, in my 1st coppa post, I cured 2 pieces of meat using different curing methods. One,that worked, was my usual 9-15 day cure in salt and spices, the other was to soak the meat in a brine for 48 hours.
Now, at the time, I thought this was not nearly enough curing time, but I double checked with the gentleman who gave it to me, and he confirmed that it would work, and that he's done it.
Well, I tried. I soaked the meat for 48 hours, rubbed it in chili pepper and put it in the curing chamber. Lo and behold, the meat wasn't cured enough to dry properly. Even after 60 days the center stayed soft, like raw meat. I'm not sure of the chemistry behind it, but I believe this is due to the meat not being fully cured.
So there you have it. Pure, unadulterated FAILURE!
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Coppa V0.5 - FAIL!
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8 comments:
At work, we tend to brine proteins for weeks. Our lardo is brined for about a month. I guess osmosis occurs slowly when brining especially when the salt content is low. Awesome blog by the way.
James, thanks.
When i make lardo i brine it for 90 days, which is why this seemed so odd.
Oh well..live and learn:)
Did the meat smell rotten at all?
I've seen people test coppa (done with the traditional salt cure), and even if it wasn't completely dried (we're talking a month or so away from being 'there') they were still able to slice and eat it raw, or cook and eat it without any problems at all.
In fact, I've done this myself numerous times without any problems.
No, the meat didn't smell rotten at all. It was just really soft, like raw meat.
It might have been fine to eat, but i figured, better safe than sorry.
I grew up working in an Italian restaurant and decided I want to make my own prosciutto. I found your blog while researching for this and... wow! Great work/ideas/documenting! Please keep it up! :-)
My coppa has mold all over it in the curing chamber. It has been in there for about a month with various salamis at the proper humidity and temp. I noticed that your coppa does not have mold. Is it bad for mold to grow on the collagen casing?
Lucky you Mike! As i said in my bresaola post, i've never been able to get mold growing on my salumi, until i sprayed them with a mold culture. If you have it naturally, and it is nice and while (not green or black or slimy), then awesome!
I did spray an initial batch with culture and it has seemingly taken over the drying space nicely. We do get a little green mold that we wipe off with a rag soaked in a vinegar and water mix.
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