Charcuterie Thread

[mchar69]

Looks good Dan. Joe - how is it you can cure with just sea salt?

 

[cowgirl]

Well, I guess I need to take advantage of the bump :becky::becky:.

Technically "pancetta tesa" I suppose.........basically I had a chunk of belly left over from squaring off a side for bacon and decided to cure it. Just straight sea salt for a couple of weeks, rinsed, and hung in the chamber until it lost 30% of the raw weight. The thin pieces got a little hard, but that was to be expected.

Now you're talkin', Joe! Looks amazing. :thumb:

I'll play....cured some pork butts a while back. Made some pretty decent ham.....

Hard to beat homemade ham. Looks fantastic!

 

[Fatback Joe]

Looks good Dan. Joe - how is it you can cure with just sea salt?

Not trying to sound like a smart ass, but that is how it was done for years and years. I go with 2.5 % sea salt of the weight of the raw meat. I think this was in the salt for about 10 days if I remember right. Rinsed, pat dry, and hung in my chamber at 55 degrees F and 75 -80% humidity until it lost enough weight.

I usually only use cure #2 if I am making something in a casing. With whole muscle cures, I don't bother with it. Hope that helps.

 

[mchar69]

Not trying to sound like a smart ass, but that is how it was done for years and years. I go with 2.5 % sea salt of the weight of the raw meat. I think this was in the salt for about 10 days if I remember right. Rinsed, pat dry, and hung in my chamber at 55 degrees F and 75 -80% humidity until it lost enough weight.

I usually only use cure #2 if I am making something in a casing. With whole muscle cures, I don't bother with it. Hope that helps.

NOT AT ALL, no smartass, we know Norwegians and Eskimos salt and dry on racks their fish and game - thank you.

The poor feller in Alaska in "Into the Wild" just smoked his food, never salted it, and that's why it went bad, and He with it.
Thanks for the update!!

 

[Fatback Joe]

I had bresaola work its way to the back of my charcuterie and kind of get forgotten about. 2 years and 2 months according to the date that I vac packed it.

Cut it open on Monday. Glad it got lost in the shuffle........the age on it worked wonderfully.

 

[cowgirl]

Looks fantastic, Joe!

 

[EdF]

Beautiful!

 

[Fatback Joe]

Had a dream that my chamber died last night.
Had to take a look before heading out this morning.
Happy to see all was well. :mrgreen:

 

[Norm]

Nice!

 

[cowgirl]

Had a dream that my chamber died last night.
Had to take a look before heading out this morning.
Happy to see all was well. :mrgreen:

I hoped you were going to post a pic here. Looks amazing Joe! Well done! :thumb:

 

[Fatback Joe]

I hoped you were going to post a pic here. Looks amazing Joe! Well done! :thumb:

Thank you! I haven't been too active on here lately. I am happy to see some good mold going again in there again. It sat empty for a while and then I gave it a good cleaning and that seemed to kill the good mojo I had going in the past. All the white on the pepperoni is naturally occuring and makes me happy. :mrgreen:

 

[EdF]

The chamber and its denizens look very well indeed!

 

[V1VRV2]

This thread is incredible. A lot of you guys have serious talent. I'm going to have to try some charcuterie someday!

 

[Fatback Joe]

Had a coppa hit its target number last night. Had to crack it open and see how she looked.

 

[mchar69]

Coppa looking mighty fine - are you using the money muscle, the whole butt, or..?

 

[Fatback Joe]

Coppa looking mighty fine - are you using the money muscle, the whole butt, or..?

Money muscle.

 

[Bill-Chicago]

Money muscle.

Ground up?

 

[Fatback Joe]

Ground up?

Yes, then formed back into whole muscle shape just for appearance.

 

[Yellowhair42]

Finished a batch of chorizo using UMAi casings.

 

[Yellowhair42]

Here's the pic.