Best Charcuterie Book?

[jham0077]

Im putting together a Christmas list, cause the wife wants one. With my bacon making turning out pretty good I want to expand my horizons. What is the best charcuterie and/or sausage book to have?

 

[Stlsportster]

I've seen this one mentioned a lot on this site.

Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking and Curing
Book by Brian Polcyn and Michael Ruhlman


https://g.co/kgs/xq2Spk

 

[IamMadMan]

There are many great books and guides on curing meat and sausage making. I am sure almost everyone who posts may have a few recommendations for books on sausage making. These are by far the best books for basic and advanced sausage making. They start with the basics and move forward to help you master the craft of sausage making. Contains true recipes before the use of chemical enhancers/additives, and fillers were added to stretch the amount of commercial production.

While there are many books out there that all contain enough information to get you off to a good start, there are a few books that I would highly recommend.


First Recommendation..

Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages by Stanley Marianski and Adam Marianski

This is a book that covers everything from making a smokehouse, to curing meats, and making sausage. Very easy to read with a great collection of recipes and techniques for the beginner. This book is actually two other books ("Meat Smoking And Smokehouse Design" and "Polish Sausages, Authentic Recipes And Instructions") combined into one single book plus more on making sausage and curing meats. Most are simple one Kilogram recipes, so you can make a small batch of the product before deciding to make a large batch. This also makes it easier to make a larger batches with easy multiples. The use of a metric scale in sausage making and curing makes the process much more accurate and provides a consistent product time after time.


Second Recommendation..

Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing by Rytek Kutas and Ben Kutas

This is often called the definitive book on sausage making. The explanation of how cures work, and what they are for, just this understanding to a beginner is worth the price of the book. However the smallest quantity the recipes is for ten pounds, so a beginner will have to properly calculate and scale down the recipes. The book is equally helpful to the beginner or the advanced. Some of the recipes are a little too salty for my taste, but I just make a note and reduce the salt in the next batch. The book also contains a some stories that are entertaining. *** DO NOT BUY THE BOOK / DVD COMBO, in my opinion the DVD is worthless even to a beginner, but that's just my personal opinion.


Third Recommendation..

Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn

This is a great book, although it lightly touches the basics, I feel the book is more for an intermediate or advanced sausage maker. Most recipes are in five pound batches, but I suggest you scale them down to try them before making a large batch. You'll find that you will have to tweak a lot of the recipes to your individual liking / tastes. This book takes sausage to the next level with using some top shelf ingredients as well as some hard to find ingredients to make sausages that could be considered in the "gourmet" classification. Michael Ruhlman has many proven recipes, but you must have an understanding of the basics before you try to get into the gourmet type recipes contained herein.



Also keep in mind that there are many great resources on the World-Wide-Web (Internet), but reference books are always good for checking factual information when in doubt.

I would stress to all beginners to use only a tested and proven recipe from a reliable source, there are many recipes I have found on the Internet that I would have concerns about. Just because it's out there doesn't mean it is correct. Also the use of an electronic scale that also has a metric mode is an invaluable must have. The weighing of the cure is critical to food safety, so if everything is properly weighed and not measured, you will have a great product in the end.

Here is a brief guide to what basics are needed to make your own sausage.
http://www.lets-make-sausage.com/Sausage-making-equipment.html


Resources for tested recipes:

The Marianskis have a website which is another great resource:
http://www.meatsandsausages.com/

Len Paoli's Recipe site
http://lpoli.50webs.com/Sausage recipes.htm

The Spicy Sausage
http://thespicysausage.com/sausagemakingrecipes.htm

Sausage Mania
http://www.sausagemania.com/tutorial.html

Lets Make Sausage
http://www.lets-make-sausage.com/Sausage-making-equipment.html

Sausage Making Org
http://forum.sausagemaking.org/

Northwest Smoking
http://web.archive.org/web/20010214020112/http:/home.att.net/~g.m.fowler/frame/Sausage1.htm

Wendliny Domowe - Meats and Sausage
http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-making

and so many more....

.

 

[Jraiona]

I second the recommendations from MadMan.

 

[NY Pork Junkie]

Subscribed. 3 books just added to my Amazon wishlist. Thanks for OP for the great question and Madman for the great reply. I'm looking forward to hearing some more book ideas!

 

[legendaryhog]

As madman said.

Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages by Stanley Marianski and Adam Marianski

This is the best book by far. It reads like a college text book on curing and technique. The Ruhlman book is ok. Like an intro book. If you get that one, get the second edition. They got feedback on the first addition that everything was coming out too salty, so they adjusted the recipes. Not a bad book, but the Marianski is the best. Marianski also has other books on smokehouse design, curing, etc. I have three of his books. Worth it and I think they are under 15 bucks.

 

[toys4dlr]

Mad Man has awesome info right there. I have several of the books and I would also recommend The Complete Sausage Book from Bruce Aidells.

Honestly, if you are just getting into Sausage, the web has great recipes to get started. My wife says I drive her insane with all the random recipes I have lying around that I print off the web. The best tip I have is test fry a small sample before stuffing, so you can adjust the seasoning.

My wife surprised me on my 50th b day with a 10lb Lem stuffer (big upgrade from the 5lb I had) and I just upgraded my grinder to Cabelas #12 Carnivore 3/4 hp grinder. It was in the Bargain Cave and rung up for 230 buck, down from the 399.00 normal price. It's a beast.

Currently, I have 5 Tuscan Salami and 6 Soppressata hanging and drying in my Homemade Curing Chamber. Would have 6 Tuscan, but the dog stole one when I was not looking. Bad Dog :mad2:

I turned my kegerator into a curing chamber, using a Johnson Control, computer fan, humidifier and humidity control module. All plug and play. It is holding a temp of 55-58 degrees with 70-80% humidity.

I also have two Coppa (Basically the money muscle) in a dry brine for another 6 days, then it will tied and hung in the curing chamber until it loses 30% of it's starting weight.

Have fun

 

[Cook]

Ruhlman

 

[EdF]

IamMadMan recommended the same three I would have. My favorite of them is Ruhlman because he goes into a lot of background info.

 

[Joshw]

I am not a fan of Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing by Rytek Kutas and Ben Kutas. It has a ton of recipes and you can make some good sausage, but it leans toward commercial grade sausage. I love Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn. I would put this at the top of the list, it is good hand crafted sausage recipes that use fresh ingredients and a lot of flavor. I haven't got Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages, but I'm sure I will have to buy it now. Thanks guys.

 

[Stlsportster]

By the way, I also recently got this book. I was looking for more jerky recipes and found that Ruhlman was much more about curing and sausage.

Ive only done one recipe from here but it turned out good.

Sausage And Jerky Handbook https://www.amazon.com/dp/0964492210/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_q81pFsETeGd3C

I looked at this one too

Sausage And Jerky Makers' Bible: The Home Processor's Complete Guide To Charcuterie https://www.amazon.com/dp/0964492229/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_l893zbMFXTQXS

 

[toys4dlr]

Brian Polcyn was a guest chef at the Sysco Food show here in Phoenix a couple months ago. He had a 125 lb hog, split in half and he showed two different ways they can process the hog. The typical USDA way for consumers and how you would break it down for Charcuterie. It was interesting, for me at least.

 

[jham0077]

Thanks, thanks, and thanks.
I'm not sure what I'm getting into. I here of smokehouses, which I am willing to build (probably similar to Cowgirl's). I know there's hardly an end to the possibilities once I get started.

 

[Bacchus2b]

Once you get into this crazy rabbit hole you will find yourself looking for various items like powdered Dextrose that the grocery store or Amazon might not have, so check out this shop out of Houston that specializes in your new hobby complete with online catalog: http://www.alliedkenco.com/

Enjoy!

 

[Badjak]

I would definitely also recommend Marianski's "home production...."

Not a big fan of the Ruhlman book. I probably have the 1st edition... I found it necessary to double check the nitrite ppm and salt percentage and adjust at times.

I would add 2 books to the list:
Jeffrey Weiss: Charcuteria, the soul of Spain. Beautiful book, lots of detail and recipes.
And
Paul Bertoli: Cooking by hand. It has a strong section about sausage making, curing etc, but is not a sausage/curing pook per se

 

[newtwoq]

I have the Ruhlman book, but I'm not a fan as nothing is done per percentages, you can convert everything, but that takes effort haha.

One that I didn't see mentioned that I really like a lot is Dry-Cured Pork by Hector Kent.

https://www.amazon.com/Dry-Curing-Pork-Pancetta-Prosciutto-Countryman/dp/1581572433

It really breaks things down very simply, gives you the back-ground you need to get started with out overwhelming you with being in the weeds too much.

 

[toys4dlr]

I have the Ruhlman book, but I'm not a fan as nothing is done per percentages, you can convert everything, but that takes effort haha.

This is a true statement. I have made my own down and dirty excel spread sheet for each recipe I am trying. This allows me to scale the recipe quanities to the actual weight of the meat I am using. It takes some effort, but not too much. :becky:

 

[EdF]

Brian Polcyn was a guest chef at the Sysco Food show here in Phoenix a couple months ago. He had a 125 lb hog, split in half and he showed two different ways they can process the hog. The typical USDA way for consumers and how you would break it down for Charcuterie. It was interesting, for me at least.

I'd have loved to see that demo!

 

[jham0077]

Once you get into this crazy rabbit hole you will find yourself looking for various items like powdered Dextrose that the grocery store or Amazon might not have, so check out this shop out of Houston that specializes in your new hobby complete with online catalog: http://www.alliedkenco.com/

Enjoy!

I have an allied catalog. I don't remember what I ordered from them originally, but they send me one.

 

[jham0077]

This is a true statement. I have made my own down and dirty excel spread sheet for each recipe I am trying. This allows me to scale the recipe quanities to the actual weight of the meat I am using. It takes some effort, but not too much. :becky:

That's why I want a book, so I can scribble the conversions or down-sizing measurements right with the recipe and not loose it.
I didn't make it too far in college math...I don't have to go back do I? :twitch: