Lonzino Affumicato

[airedale]

OK, well ... : Fancy name for cured, smoked, and dried pork loin.

New thing for me. Cold smoked for about 33 hours. The recipe said to smoke for two days. Hung to dry in old fridge controlled to 55deg. Humidity ran about 50% and they dried to 70% weight in 28 days.

Smoke aroma is fierce but the flavor is outstanding, both the fat and the meat. I am very pleased for a first try.

Recommended humidity for drying is 75%, so these dried a little fast. The result was some "case hardening" (darker color meat). When thin sliced this will not be an issue but I'm going to hold the pork in a poly bag for a week to see if the moisture evens out. Any experience here with case hardening? Will this work?

 

[Tatanka]

Looks good!:icon_smile_tongue:

 

[airedale]

... Is that the same as Prosciutto?

Yes and no. Both are cured and dried pork, but from different parts. Prosciutto is a cured and dried ham. AFIK prosciutto is also not smoked.

I am new at this, working through this tutorial: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1581572433"]Dry-Curing Pork: Make Your Own Salami, Pancetta, Coppa, Prosciutto, and More (Countryman Know How): Hector Kent: 9781581572438: Amazon.com: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/513VOLrUKJL.@@AMEPARAM@@513VOLrUKJL[/ame]

 

[oifmarine2003]

Looks good. You might be interested in our Charcuterie thread. Check it out here:

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=205412

 

[ssv3]

That's awesome!

 

[airedale]

Looks good. You might be interested in our Charcuterie thread. Check it out here:

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=205412

Wow. Thanks very much for the point-out.

I tried to post this question to that thread but the software says the thread is too old for postings. Grrr ...

Maybe you or someone here can comment:

I just pulled my first lonzino and it tastes great. It has some case hardening but not enough that it will be an issue when its sliced thin. But I don't like it!

My plan was to leave the loin sitting on the counter (zip-loc bag) for a week or so and see if the moisture evened out or not. I see one recommendation here to put it in the fridge, though. But since it's cured, isn't keeping it cold unnecessary? Diffusion rate depends on temperature, so the fridge will definitely slow things down.

 

[Shagdog]

Most guys that I know will vacuum seal it after curing/drying, before slicing. Then it goes into a regular fridge for another month or 2 (the longer the better). Honestly, I'm not sure why it's not listed as a standard part of curing.

Lonzino looks excellent, case hardening doesn't look bad at all :thumb:

Also, you can bump that old thread, just tick the little box that says you know it's old..

 

[TallBoyBBQ]

Beautiful!

 

[airedale]

Most guys that I know will vacuum seal it after curing/drying, before slicing. Then it goes into a regular fridge for another month or 2 (the longer the better). Honestly, I'm not sure why it's not listed as a standard part of curing.

Lonzino looks excellent, case hardening doesn't look bad at all :thumb:

Also, you can bump that old thread, just tick the little box that says you know it's old..

Thanks. Not to be argumentative but is the refrigeration really necessary?

 

[Shagdog]

Probably not. But Honestly, I have stuff vacuum sealed in my fridge from 6,7,8 months ago I haven't gotten to yet. If you make 1 thing and are waiting patiently for some certain milestone, go nuts, but when it gets to be a big pile of stuff, you'll find yourself throwing it in the fridge just because...

 

[CakeM1x]

My past 2 lonzinos got to about 28% with case hardening which I don't quite get cuz my setup is heavily monitored with tech. I've read lonzOno should be around 35% loss. Are mine safe at 28ish%?

Yours looks good! Throw that on with some chicken or a veg to use more of it. And yes sealing aND fridge it will help even out the moisture like meat left to rest after a hot grill.

 

[oifmarine2003]

Thanks. Not to be argumentative but is the refrigeration really necessary?

It's not necessary but it will help to get rid of the case hardening. It allows the meat to equalize as far as moisture goes.

 

[airedale]

Just to report back: I vac sealed the two pieces of meat and left them sitting unrefrigerated for a month. This did not make the hardening go away completely but did (subjectively) seem to reduce it. There was absolutely no sign of mold or any kind of spoilage from the month of sitting.

A chef friend sliced it for us last Monday, proclaimed that I had "done good!" and happily collected her slicing tithe. The stuff is an awesome and addictive snack. The hardening is undetectable.

As the English would say, I'm quite chuffed with the result of my first charcuterie experiment. Hopefully my two capicola, hung a week ago, will be as good when we slice them in a couple of months.

 

[IamMadMan]

Nice Job.....