Charcuterie: What if I leave this meat in my fridge for 6 months?

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > Charcuterie: What if I leave this meat in my fridge for 6 months?

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goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

Is their a nice cheeses thread on here? I have been interested in trying new, nice cheeses and found there are monthly clubs. Does anyone have any recommendations?

I am looking at
1. CheeseMonthClub, which is 91.90 for two months (1.5lbs of 3 cheese per month)
2. Penn Mac's Club which is 90$ + shipping for 3 months (2lbs of 4 cheese per month). History for the 3 months I would get it is
January: Free Range Cheese
Vlaskaas from Holland- Alto Badia from Italy-Rashera Leroy Pyrenees from France.

February: A Taste of France
Comte- Morbier- Istara Chistou- Chevron Goat

March: A Taste of Ireland
Dubliner- Cheddar Vintage- Cahill Porter- Erin Gold

goodness fucked around with this message at 12:29 on Dec 20, 2013

# ¿ Dec 20, 2013 11:49

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# ¿ May 5, 2024 08:26

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

Can anyone recommend a good monthly charcuterie club?

# ¿ Dec 21, 2013 00:08

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

I plan on making some bacon for the first time when I get back home to Arkansas. Can a one suggest another thing that is fun and easy to make for a beginner? Lardo, rilletes, prosciutto, etc?

# ¿ Dec 28, 2013 08:49

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

Ok, now I just need to figure out how to smoke things. Wonder if I can do it in an oven?

# ¿ Dec 28, 2013 12:16

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

Is there a good place to order pork belly and duck breast online if I do not have a suitable local butcher?

Also, can I do bacon and other things if I do not have a smoker but just a regular oven?

# ¿ Jan 25, 2014 11:08

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

holttho posted:

I can't vouch for online dealers, though I am sure they are out there. But even the most rural of towns has access to bellies. You just may have to do some investigative work and call delis to see where they get their bacon, then call their supplier. Call as many as you can asking where you can get a full belly. Eventually, you will probably just find a distributor/butcher that you can buy from.

A full belly is the entire underside of one half of the pig; there are two belly cuts per pig. It should weigh anywhere from 8-12lbs, depending on the size of the pig, fat/lean content, and whether or not the skin is still attached. I prefer the skin still on, as it makes the belly a lot cheaper (since they didn't have to do the work) and the skin can be put to use in various things from chicharones to just simply rendering the fat out of it. However, many places don't sell the bellies as full, and will come in halves. There is the front and the back half of the belly. The front half is much thinner, and much more uniformly rectangular shaped. It is easier to cure evenly, cook/smoke evenly, and slice into friendly little strips, but it is a little less flavorful. In my earlier photo, it was the stuff in the middle of the cutting board. The back half is a big, honkin piece of meat that goes from a thin, neat rectangle to totally oblong shape at the end. It has much more meat, much more fat, more flavor, but is consequently harder to ensure even cure, even cook, and even slices. It is the stuff on the near, right side of my cutting board photo. It also has a tendancy to contract and curl irregularly when cooking/smoking.

If you can inspect the belly before purchase, make sure it has a good fat/lean composition; 50:50 is ideal. Don't be fooled into thinking more meat = better value, as too much meat per slice will end up tasting a bit hammy and be a bit on the tough side. And definitely don't get a leaner belly because of low-fat 'health reasons'. You are making bacon, if you want healthy eating tips, eat the full stuff, just eat less of it. Also, for your first time, try and get bellies that are about 1.5 inches thick and avoid the pressure they may try to give you to buy the super primo 3" thick belly. That stuff is for fancy, braising meals, not bacon. It's also gonna cost about 4x more. Bacon making will destroy the texture of any fancy belly and turn it into "Bacon texture" and all that extra money you spent won't be noticeable.

Also having a thinner belly to start with means that you will have more control and knowledge about the salt migration into your meat. Recipes rarely say how thick of a cut to use, but assume for bacon 1.5". If you have a thicker piece, you will not only have to cure it longer, but you will then have to back some of the salt out again, or the outer areas of the belly will be far too salty. Think of the salt as heat entering the meat: the heat moves in at a constant rate determined by the temperature outside. The salt moves in at a constant rate determined by the salinity of the solution outside. If you have a thick cut, by the time inside is up to temp/salt content, the outside is toast/pure salt. Fortunately, unlike cooking, you can get the salt back out. Just soak it in water for an hour or so, then let the belly rest in your fridge for a day. That will help the cut come to equilibrium.

As for you actual question, you absolutely can oven cook it. Just know that it won't really be bacon; it will be cured pork belly. The smoke flavor is a huge amount of what we perceive to be bacon. But don't despair, as you can just dump in a few sloshes of liquid smoke to your cure. How much or how little is up to you, but for a full belly, I would probably recommend something in the tablespoon range. I have done the liquid smoke method for my second time I ever made bacon (after the first time of just using the oven and being a little disappointed with the oven style) and it turned out pretty darn good. It still won't be idea, but it'll help a bunch.

Awesome, thank you so much for the help!

What is a typical price for a full belly and a half?

# ¿ Jan 26, 2014 02:29

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

holttho posted:

Even with the cheapest cut, it will blow your mind how good it is. Virtually all bacon you have ever had is pressure cured and chemically smoked, making what is normally a 7-10 day process into a 7-10 minute process. The difference will astound you.

My brother and family jest whenever I bring up making my own bacon and good food

Hopefully I can show them how amazing the difference is.

# ¿ Jan 27, 2014 03:24

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

holttho posted:

You're right, but for the wrong reasons. Your vote is just simply cast; deaf ears.

Granted, I don't spend too much time here in GWS, as I find it to be a little too harsh and insular of a community, but I do know you are missing the spirit of the forum. It is not about fulfilling the minimum requirements of flavor and ease vs. economy, but rather bettering yourself and the lives around you by the dedication to improving a craft.

Hopefully they jest in good-heartedness, and have a culinarily open mind. Otherwise, you may be fighting an uphill battle that you can never win.

They just laugh that it will taste the same and I am making a big deal out of nothing.

# ¿ Jan 27, 2014 04:25

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

I had some smoked salmon (from the store yeah I know) this weekend and was reminded just how much I loved it. Whats the deal with getting a whole salmon, it may be a little harder than finding a pork belly it seems (in Arkansas). Maybe I am overthinking it and I don't need a whole salmon?

I asked about cooking bacon in the oven before, and its good to know I can. But besides buying my own smoker, is there a good DIY smoker that I could construct (for the bacon and salmon)?

# ¿ Feb 13, 2014 02:16

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

holttho posted:

The Alton Brown smokers are awesome. All of them.

You can very easily smoke in a grill, you just have to make it work for you and you will have to put more effort in. When I first started smoking, I just used my cheapo grill and it had amazing results. Will you win BBQ awards? Probably not, but you will be very happy.

The trick is to just keep the heat very low: use minimal charcoal and set the coals off to one side and your meat away on the other. Using bricks in the grill is also very effective if you turn them into a heat wall; they will block the radiative cooking (at least for a few hours...). Using bricks in the grill is a good skill to learn in general. It's how you make tightly controlled zones in a small charcoal grill.

A word of warning with briquettes though: if you are using cheap ones, know they have quite a lot of "glue" and filler in them used to hold them together. This glue can and does include a plethora of things you may or may not want on your food. The filler can and does include anything they may have swept up from the shop floor. They can do this because the idea is that for regular grilling you fully ignite the briquettes and burn off the outer layers before you put the food on. That's why it says right on the bag, 'fully ignite before food application.' More expensive brands only use things like cornstarch to glue them together. Do NOT use brands that include some sort of ignition aid as that is pretty much just the briquettes are soaked in lighter fluid before bagged. Will this stuff kill you? No. Will it give you cancer? What doesn't these days. Will it contribute off-flavors to your product? Most likely.

Ultimately, minion method should really only be used with lump/chunk charcoal/wood. If you are using briquettes, just light them outside the grill and let them burn for just a tiny bit to get rid of the bad stuff. Then toss them in.

I will definitely have to look into doing it on a grill. We have one outside the apartment, but I have actually never used a charcoal grill before. Only ever cooked on gas or electric.

# ¿ Feb 14, 2014 08:12

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

Can use Frozen pork belly for bacon or frozen duck breasts for prosciutto?

# ¿ Mar 14, 2014 01:30

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

Martello posted:

Frozen pork belly or duck are just duck and pork belly, but frozen.

So yes.

Just thaw them out like any meat and then use?

# ¿ Mar 14, 2014 11:28

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

Chef De Cuisinart posted:

I've done a brined filleto. Turned out fine. Be mindful of your humidity though, pork tenders are so lean they'll dry on the outside super easily.

What is this filleto you are speaking of. I can't find anything on google really.

# ¿ Apr 5, 2014 02:37

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

MiTEG posted:

Looks like filetto is dry cured pork tenderloin similar to lonza-
http://meatgeek.co.uk/dry-cured-pork-fillet/

I finally found a good source for duck breast and picked up some this afternoon. Inaugural recipe for my new curing chamber will be duck prosciutto, but if I have room I'll throw some filetto in there as well.

Interesting.

I found frozen duck breasts, I think it was 4 for like 20-30$. Maybe that is good, idk.

# ¿ Apr 5, 2014 05:43

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

feelz good man posted:

You should be able to find people raising ducks around you for $10-15 apiece. Look on craigslist. Buy some happy ducks instead!

I don't think I could kill and break down a duck. Not at that stage of food loving yet.

# ¿ Apr 5, 2014 06:06

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

Really though, is that a human leg.

# ¿ Jul 15, 2014 04:31

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

cock hero flux posted:

I think your first clue should have been the fact that it seems to still have a sock on the end of it.

Sock and a shoe. Was just talking about this on irc

# ¿ Jul 16, 2014 03:00

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

EngineerJoe posted:

Guys, I'm not sure how deep this rabbit hole goes:

This is getting interesting.

Meanwhile, he destroys the evidence.

# ¿ Jul 16, 2014 04:49

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

stickyfngrdboy posted:

i'm a butcher, want me to tell you?

Depends, are you a butcher of man?

# ¿ Jul 21, 2014 17:06

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

Kavak posted:

Yeah. I think I see a hoof at the end, but I'm not sure.

You see the edge of a sock and shoe that is still on the foot.

# ¿ Jul 22, 2014 22:32

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

Cimber posted:

I was flipping thought the channels the other day and caught "The Chef's mind" or some such thing on PBS. The were walking though a Kentucky smoke house where they age hams 12 or 18 months.

Then they sliced some open and it looked almost exactly like prosciutto. My taste buds started to water a bit, so i looked online and found the smoke house.

http://www.newsomscountryham.com/agkencounham.html

Yes, the web page is godawful.

100 bucks for a ham? Holy poo poo, are they really that worth it? What would I do with a ham like that?

Smell it a lot and then eat all of it. Country Ham is one of the best things I've ever smelled, especially touring a hanging room of them.

# ¿ Nov 1, 2014 17:48

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

dms666 posted:

Did a batch of bacon over the weekend, 100 lbs total. Here it is after 8 hours of cold smoke, did another 8 hours the next day too.

I would like to buy some if you would sell any.

# ¿ Dec 4, 2014 20:00

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

Anyone know a good site to order some charcuterie on?

Also, I am trying to find some easy stuff to make at home. I see that rillettes are pretty simple, any other easy to make things that don't require exotic machinery/methods ha.

# ¿ Dec 6, 2014 05:32

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

GrAviTy84 posted:

Duck prosciutto and confit are both easy. So are pâtés. If you live in an area with appropriate weather a ham, lonzino, or bresaola can be done though they are safer with pink salt #2.

Bacon and corned beef are both good beginner friendly cures too

Chicken liver pâté is seriously stupid easy though.

I live in Arkansas, I don't know what kind of weather I need for that.

Got a recipe/link for the chicken liver pate?

And for the duck prosciutto/confit, are frozen duck breasts fine?

# ¿ Dec 6, 2014 06:58

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

Meaty Ore posted:

A whole ham was the third curing project I tried, after some bacon and a corned beef brisket. I would recommend a wet cure if it's somebody's first time doing a ham--it's similar to curing a corned beef, but with a (much) larger cut of meat. I managed to smoke mine on a Weber grill and it came out marvelously.

I don't have a smoker yet so that is the only thing holding me back from some things. I know bacon for instance does not need to be smoked but it seems to be a lot better if it is?

# ¿ Dec 6, 2014 08:45

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

Well I made chicken liver pate just now, currently cooling for the next couple of hours. Got some French bread and blueberry preserve to try it with (couldn't find any good jams at the grocery).

It was an interesting experience for sure. First time cooking with livers so I hope I trimmed/cleaned them alright. Also didn't have any wine but I put a little balsamic vinegar in. Can't wait to try it out tonight!

edit: Well its pretty livery, was excited for my gf to try but she wouldn't like it now. Maybe I need more shallots/thyme and I am sure the wine would have helped mellow that a bit.

goodness fucked around with this message at 03:13 on Dec 7, 2014

# ¿ Dec 7, 2014 01:21

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

Anyone want to make some bacon and something else that is easily sendable? I'm looking for something awesome to buy for my dad and don't have the time with finals/moving to get anything done.

# ¿ Dec 11, 2014 07:28

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

Anyone have a good rilletes recipe?

# ¿ Dec 18, 2014 05:03

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

holttho posted:

Was it a metallic shade of green? If it was, it could just be an oxidization reaction with the myoglobin in the meat. Same thing happens if you sous vide a piece of beef before searing it.

The other (more likely) problem was it just simply went rancid. Maybe too much air in the bag?

Is this why Roast Beef looks rainbow sometimes?

# ¿ Jan 20, 2015 23:22

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

Found a butcher with

3.50/lb frozen pork belly
16/lb frozen duck breasts

Good deal on the belly right? Idk about the duck as I have not bought it before.

# ¿ Jan 29, 2015 21:47

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:

Duck doesn't seem special but buy all the belly he will sell you.

I guess it should last a long time frozen. I may go back and grab 10-20lbs. tomorrow.

# ¿ Jan 30, 2015 03:19

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

Dr. Pangloss posted:

Is this the final product of that guys leg? At least the foot with the sock fell off.

Did we ever see that show up on a police report or anything? Legit was a human leg with sock on

# ¿ Mar 27, 2015 19:04

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

Way to ruin your one funny thing dude.

# ¿ Apr 30, 2015 17:18

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

icehewk posted:

Get a refund.

I follow a facechunk charcuterie group. Apparently the yellow mold is from where it was touching the board it was resting on.

Should probably hang it like almost all cured products imo.

# ¿ May 1, 2015 00:15

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

Every time the health inspector comes in to a restaurant I work at I just imagine their minds imploding if they ever eat somewhere out of the USA.

# ¿ May 7, 2015 18:17

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

Chef De Cuisinart posted:

Pancetta is very edible raw, especially if it has been dried.

Yeah I thought the point of most of this was to be able to eat it raw as the curing process cooks it.

Have any of you made beef bacon? Is it even something you would want to do.

# ¿ Dec 11, 2015 07:18

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

Stringent posted:

That's interesting, never had raw pancetta.

Isn't it just like bacon or prosciutto?

# ¿ Dec 11, 2015 07:28

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

Scored a vinotemp 27 bottle touchscreen model at the dumpster. I got it to turn on but it wasn't cooling. Turned out to be an easy relay/overload fix.

Now to decide what to cure first

# ¿ Nov 22, 2016 09:55

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

What temp/humidity do I want my meat hanging area?

: 50-60 F

goodness fucked around with this message at 07:11 on Dec 17, 2016

# ¿ Dec 16, 2016 20:50

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# ¿ May 5, 2024 08:26

goodness: Jan 3, 2012; When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

Pekin duck is defrosting
Wine cooler chilling at 57*

I'm really excited to do this duck prosciutto as my first charcuterie project.

# ¿ Dec 19, 2016 06:55

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > Charcuterie: What if I leave this meat in my fridge for 6 months?

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