Well, it sure has been a while! No real news. I continue to make cured meats, always looking to improve. I don't really have the time to update this blog any more, and the basics of everything you need to make pretty much anything (as far as salumi go) is here. From here on out it's just varying recipes, and methods to change the outcomes.
If you want to follow what i've been making I post every so often on Instagram as Cured_meats.
I do still answer questions posted on here, so if you have any ask, or come ask me on Instagram.
Tuesday, June 19, 2018
Friday, August 29, 2014
Prosciutto Crudo
But now, finally, I’ve made something new. A whole, bone in prosciutto crudo. Don’t think prosciutto needs any introduction, but just in case, basically it’s a whole real hog leg salted and then dried. I didn’t have veyr high expectations for my outcome, given it was my first try with a prosciutto. I followed Craig Deihl’s advice on salting time and general process.
In this case I used a rear leg of an American Guinea Hog, a small heritage breed hog from Carolina Heritage Farms. This is a great breed for home curers as they are only about 100lbs fully grown.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
A Facebook group of curers
A while back a friend of mine, Scott from Sausage Debauchery, started a Facebook group for open discussion of sausage making, curing meats and anything else involving deliciousness. It's a good place to ask questions and get advice from a group of folks who know their way around a curing chamber and a grinder!
Come join us. Search for the "Sausage Debauchery" group in Facebook or use this link:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/sausagedebauchery/
See you there!
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Heritage Foods Guanciale Taste-off
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Coppa di Testa
Initially I had intended to photo document the breakdown of the pig, I started out well, but then it just got too complicated and time consuming, it got late, the pig had to be broken down and refrigerated, and basically I didn’t do a good enough job to post it up here. So i’ll go through what I have produced and show as much as I can of the breakdown.
First up: Coppa di testa !
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Pancetta Steccata dei Monti Nebrodi - Tasting
The pancetta I made late last year is ready (well, it was actually ready in February!), and it's FAAAANTASTIC.
The quality of the pork from Mosefund farm is spectacular. The fat has a wonderful low melting point and just disappears on the tongue.
The spicing is great, and evident, but the flavor of the pork stands out beautifully.
Thanks again to Mosefund for the Mangalitza belly. I can't recommend them enough. Their pork is great, go get some right now!
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Mangalitza Culatello
I think by now pretty much everyone who is into pork and heirloom pig breeds has heard of Mangalitza pigs. Long story short; they’re an old world Hungarian lard pig, and when properly raised are about as good as it gets for curing.
I had the opportunity to purchase a leg from a Mangalitza pig, and I immediately thought “culatello time!”
I’ve gone into great detail on my last culatello post, so this one will just be some pictures showing the big differences between that commercial one and this one.
Crema di Lardo
I’m not sure if this is the actual name of this product, but it’s fits! It’s something I made for a party where I wanted to share my lardo d’Arnad, but didn’t feel like dealing with slicing it.
If you have lardo ready, it’s incredible easy, and incredibly delicious!
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Plug and Play Thermohygrostat
When I first made my curing chamber finding the necessary temperature and humidity controllers was a bit of a challenge. They were out there but they were expensive and somewhat specialized. (at least for humidity control, temperature has always been easy)Basically, with this controller, you plug the fridge into one outlet, the humidifier into the other, put the sensor in the fridge, and set it and go. Seems pretty awesome to me!
If anyone has tried one of these, I'd like to hear how it works, but I suspect it's pretty good, as Auber Instruments makes good, inexpensive, controllers.
UPDATE 2/15/14: A friend pointed out that Auber now makes a controller for high humidity environments which has a more robust humidity sensor...i've heard the ones on the standard one go out if they get too wet....it's $20 more but seems to be worth it.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Curing chamber change
My curing chamber has been working very well for a very long time, but just the other day I decided to make a small change. I've had a bulb in the fridge, on a dimmer, which generates heat to force the fridge to cycle more often, lowering the humidity. This is especially useful in winter when the fridge isn't cycling as often and when a new batch of product is added, which is losing a lot of moisture.
The bulb has worked well, but I've read a lot about how light affects fat and speeds up the oxidation. I'm not sure I've experienced this, but I've read it and heard it from so many sources I figured it must be accurate. To address this I replaced the bulb with a non light emitting ceramic heater used in reptile cages. It plugs right into a bulb socket and can be dimmed just like a bulb. It's perfect!
So far I like it. My chamber was running around 83% RH after I put my latest batch of salame in, which is a touch high. I turned the heater on real low, and it's now around 78-80 which is good; and no light!
Friday, February 8, 2013
Equilibrium cure vs. Excess salt cure
There are generally 2 methods to cure meat:
- The older method (I believe) is what I would call "excess salt" curing. This basically involves applying a generous quantity of salt to the piece of meat, together with the spices, and waiting a certain amount of time for the meat to absorb the salt.
- The other method is what I (and others) call "equilibrium curing" in which a calculated quantity of salt is added to the meat, with the spices, and allowing enough time for the meat to absorb all the salt.
While both methods will work, the excess salt method involves guessing, hopefully based on experience, how long the meat should be left in this salt mixture to cure. If it's not left long enough, not enough salt is absorbed to preserve the meat, if it's left too long the end product will be salty. This "guessing" will have to vary based on the percentage of meat to fat in the product (fat absorbs salt less readily), whether the product has skin on it (skin acts as a barrier), the thickness of the product, the temperature of the fridge, and probably many more variables. I've heard people say to leave items for 1 days per kilogram of meat, but that doesn't really make sense as it doesn't account for thickness or fat content. Sounds to me like the old recipes where people were told to cook something in the oven for X number of minutes per pound. It'll work, but most likely you'll end up with overcooked/undercooked food because the variables are not accounted for! Honestly, this type of curing doesn't make much sense to me. I don't see an advantage, but I would be happy to hear from people who do this (and there are many!) to correct me.
I always cure using an equilibrium cure. I use between 2.5% and 3.5% of the meats weight in salt, rub it all over the meat, and put the meat in a sealed bag, flipping it every 3-5 days in the refrigerator to make sure the chunk is always exposed to the brine that is formed by the salt pulling out water from the muscle. After a fairly arbitrary amount of time, but one which is long enough to make sure all the salt i've applied has been absorbed, I consider the meat cured and ready to move to the next phase, into the fermentation box or curing chamber. To me this is much easier than excess salt curing. By applying a known, wanted, quantity of salt, the product will not become over-salted, ever, no matter how long it's left in the fridge. The question is really what the minimum amount of time is for the meat to absorb the salt. I don't really have a good answer, other than "leave it long enough to be SURE it's absorbed the salt". I always leave my items in the fridge curing at least 2 weeks, and for very large things like a culatello, I give it 3. That's the beauty of this system..... you can't overcure! I guess if I'm in a analogy to cooking mood, this method would be the sous vide cooking of the curing world. By cooking a product at it's final temperature, you can't overcook it, and it won't be undercooked if you leave it long enough.
I hope that sheds some light on the different methods, and why I do things the way I do.
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Pancetta Steccata dei Monti Nebrodi
Sicily may not be the first place you think of when you think cured meats, but just like all the other regions, they too have their specialties. In fact, Sicily has an indigenous pig; the black pig of Nebrodi. Nebrodi is a mountain range in the northeast part of Sicily.
Theoretically this recipe would have to be made using one of those pigs, but try as I might, I was unable to find one in Atlanta. What I DID have was a belly from a Mangalitza hog which I was fortunate enough to have been given from Mosefund Farm. Michael at Mosefund clearly knows his stuff as his pigs are sold all over high end New York City restaurants. This stuff really is something special.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Nice salame tying video
Thanks to blog reader Carl for pointing this video out to me. It's a great demonstration on how to tie larger caliber salami (for example in a beef bung).
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Let's talk curing chambers
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Guanciale Affumicato
I’ve done guanciale many times before, so this really isn’t anyhing new. What’s IS new is the cold smoke I applied to it before putting it into the curing chamber.
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Ribeye Roast Bresaola
Thursday, May 3, 2012
La Zia Ferrarese
Emilia Romagna might be the unofficial capital of salumi in Italy. It’s the home of Prosciutto and culatello. The variety of cured meats from this region alone is endless!
Part of what I like about this hobby is the research and study of all the different salumi, finding one that is little known and making it. My latest finding is the Zia Ferrarese. I’m not sure where the name comes from or why it’s “the aunt from Ferrara”, but the fact that it’s a salame that is little know even in Italy, and one that books claim is very challenging to make because of what it’s cased in, meant I had to go for it!
Sunday, April 8, 2012
For those who care....sneak peeks
Just a heads up...for a couple months I've been using Twitter to post quick updates on what I'm making. I have to admit I post a lot more on Twitter (still not much...probably less than 2 tweets a week) than on here. It's much easier and quicker...but it's only a picture of what I've made/eaten.
If you want what might be called a "sneak peek" of what's to come on the blog when I get time, follow me on Twitter as @Cured_meats. https://twitter.com/#!/cured_meats
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Culatello – Tasting Notes
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Capocollo di Calabria
I’ve already gone through the whole coppa making process in a previous post, but this one is slightly different. My buddy Scott at Sausage Debauchery, who’s family is original from Calabria, is a Calabrian FREAK. He’s so obsessed with the place that he opened a store to source and resell Calabrian chili pepper and other goodies. All I hear from him is how Calabrian cured meats are the best, tastiest, blah blah blah. Mostly in an effort to shut him up, I made a capocollo following the Calabrian DOP production methodology.
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