Stuffed my first bung tonight

Ok, so actually I had problems with the size of the bung hole, so I improvised and slit it open and cloaked my moneymuscle. Wait . . . that sounded bad.:icon_blush:

I was inspired to make cappicola or gabagoul. I cut and trimmed the money muscle from two pork butts. I used Cure #2 rather than just straight salt, and dried and re-salted for 3 days. Then rinsed with vinegar and then red wine. One I rolled in 50/50 mix of paprika and cayene, the other I rolled in equal paprika/cayene/ground corriander/black pepper (I was just winging it at that point).



I bought the larges Bung (beef middle) that my wisconsin butcher had, and to my horror, it was not close to fitting, so I decided to slit it and cloak the piece like you would bacon.


It actually stuck really well! and the small overlaps stuck well, also. I was about to bust out my sewing machine to sew them together and I thought that might be a bit over the top so away I went.




My kids made off with my butcher twine so Zipties were employed. I put the netting over my hand and forearm, and my wife and I pulled the netting up and over without displacing the casing. Whew

Here is the final product.:clap2:



So an italian on the internet said to age them for 8 weeks or so between 40 and 50 degrees. That may work here in Wisconsin for a few weeks, but what do I do as the temps increase? I have them hanging in a 45 degree garage, currently.


I had not intended to smoke them, but If one had to, what would you recommend? I trust that smoking would simply speed up the drying process of the already cured meat.

Thanks for any feedback. fingers crossed that botulism doesn't strike.

I will duly make not of that. :grin:

Thanks everyone for your input. My basement is hovering around 50 so things are going well. My humidity was only 50, so I am using cardboard box with a water dish and a hygrometer to boost it to 70% . so far so good.

I just found a non-functioning wine fridge for $30 on craigslist that I am hoping am hoping I can repair and use as a aging chamber. 15 inches wide, 25 inches deep and 30 inches tall. Now just hope I can get it running . . .

if not, it will be cheap entertainment for a few days to putter with.

If it dries too fast, the outside gets hard as a rock, and locks all the moisture inside, and can result in spoilage, I have read. I am not fretting, just want the best product I can with no frills, at this point. I also want to keep mice, moths, and spiders away, so I am looking to re-purpose a wine fridge.

Back in the day, they ate it no matter what. I want to ensure quality.