Sunday, March 2, 2008

Coppa V2 - Tasting notes

Last week I took the plain coppa that was made a few posts ago. I let coppa A, the plain one almost exactly 1 month, at about 52 deg. F and 72% RH. It lost about 35% of its weight through drying. The 2nd coppa, which was a fennel one stayed about 1 week longer in the chamber and lost about 2.3% more water, for a total of 37.3% weight loss.

You can see in these picture that for whatever reason the mold i sprayed on it did not fully cover the surface like it did for the bresaola.





On the right is the plain one sliced. It is beautiful. The flavor is fantastic, just perfectly salty, the spices come through (maybe still a tiny bit too much clove!), and it is wonderfully tender and soft without being mushy.

I would say this one is definitely the best coppa I've made. Really really good.


The fennel one that was just a touch drier and the flavor was also fantastic. The fennel was very light in the flavoring, and I would probably use a little more next time so it is a little more pronounced.

I don't think i could be more pleased with both of these coppe!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow, it looks great. I've been experimenting with making bread lately. We should eat your coppa with some of my bread

Ted said...

I am making my own prosciutto right now. We are trying soppresetta also. I could use any pointers you may have. I have both of them in my walk-in which I know is too cold but that is all I have. Do you have any recipes. I have been just going by with what I read off the Internet plus my own taste


Ted

Jasonmolinari said...

Ted, i would be more concerned about hte humidity, than about the temperature.
I don't have any prosciutto recipes, i know Len Poli does. I have a link to his site on my sidebar. Take a look there.

Good luck!

jason

Anonymous said...

Ted,

I just ordered/read "Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing" - I think that book will be of great help to you. Also look into the forums on egullet.com. There's a wealth of info in both places.

~EZ

Ted said...

Thanks for the info guys. I have a 60quart mixer with gringer attatchment and stuffer. I was wondering if you like the sausage stuffers better than the mixer. I seem to be getting grease about half way through stuffing each time. I have been keeping the mixture cold, but when I gring and stuff at the same time, it seems to come out better with italian sausage. any ideas

Ted

Jasonmolinari said...

I've found that using the grinders as stuffers is pretty useless. It smears everything. It's the auger that messes it all up.

frankinomaha said...

Jason,
You said it was your best coppa yet. How does it compare to the better or best coppa you have ever tasted?

What and where was the best coppa you have ever tasted? How does your's differ?

BTW: I am going to try to make a coppa sometime soon and I'm going to school on you.

Jasonmolinari said...

Hrm..hard question to answer about the best coppa ever. Mine does not have that aroma of earthyness which i assume comes from using old old curing cellars with bare earth floors. I'm not sure. Mine just doesn't seem as intense and musty.

As far as where the best coppa i ever tasted was, i'd in Italy from a random restaurant owner who cures his own meats in a restaurant outside of milan. Good stuff.