|
I just bought 24 pounds of hand-raised hog from my two little brothers. I have a number of different cuts, including a belly slab that I'll be making into bacon, and a shoulder that will be either coppa or fresh sausage depending on my mood. Two pieces I got pretty much for free are a heart and a liver. What can you do with pig hearts and livers? I know what I'd do with beef hearts and livers, but not pig.
|
#
¿
Oct 23, 2012 01:16
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 14, 2024 01:21 |
|
|
You can get it on Amazon too, if that's convenient for you. Just look up Prague powder or pink salt or Instacure #1 or #2 or whatever.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 26, 2012 00:58
|
|
|
Kid posted:So I got another batch of pork belly to make some bacon. But rather than 1 big belly the butcher gave me 10 pounds of pork belly chunks, some big some small. Think it will still work for bacon? This might be a really dumb suggestion, but maybe you could air-cure the chunks in a beef middle in the same fashion as coppa? I'm a charcuterie neophyte myself, about to start the cure on my first dry-cured pork belly today, which is my first charcuterie attempt ever. I'm using Ruhlman and Polcyn's recipe.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 1, 2012 20:01
|
|
|
Jason Molinari has a great how-to for making a curing chamber out of a fridge at Cured Meats. I haven't tried it myself, but that set-up will be my fallback if my basement doesn't end up matching the temperature/humidity range. I'm buying a thermometer/hygrometer today to check. Speaking of which, even if my basement is the right environment, is it okay to hang a dry-cured pork belly without wrapping it in cheesecloth or anything first? I know if it was in an enclosed curing chamber it'd be fine but I don't know about in the basement in the open. I'm concerned there'd be insects all over it, even though it's winter and the only creatures I've seen around the house lately are spiders.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 3, 2012 13:33
|
|
|
dms666 posted:I think the point of the cheesecloth is so it dries out evenly instead of the outside getting dry faster. Ah, ok. So basically there's no real downside to using the cheesecloth and I might as well go for it? Here's my pork belly in the cure. I should have taken a photo of just the meat, it was beautiful. 
|
|
#
¿
Dec 3, 2012 21:39
|
|
|
Xarb posted:Thanks for the link. I use one of the small fridges he warns against, but it doesn't have a freezer and I'm not sure there is a cool plate either, I'll have to check when I get home. No problem, dude. Glad to be of help. THE sausage debauchery is another great charcuterie site, also concentrating on salumi like Molinari does. Scott is more about "look at the awesome poo poo I made" than actually posting recipes and detailed instructions like Molinari, but his site is great inspiration and is why I finally decided to take the plunge and spend the money on the starting equipment for salumi. That includes fresh sausage. Speaking of which, can we talk about fresh sausage here since it's technically still charcuterie despite not being cured? This is the room in my basement I was thinking of using for drying.    It's what used to be a rainwater cistern. My house is around 200 years old. The only issue I can see is that the humidity is low (50%), and there are a number of large openings like the gap to the crawlspace that goes under my master suite addition. I assume humidifying just the cistern would be difficult, since the humid air would spread throughout the basement. The temperature is good though, hovering between 50 and 55 degrees F. Any suggestions on how successful drying might be in this room as-is or ways to improve it as a drying room? Martello fucked around with this message at 00:59 on Dec 4, 2012 |
|
#
¿
Dec 4, 2012 00:23
|
|
|
dalstrs posted:You might try closing off the open areas with plastic to protect from dust (and also hold in the humidity). For the humidity issue try placing a bowl of water in the bottom and see what it does. I would imagine the more surface area of water you have, the higher the humidity would get, so play around with different container sizes and see if they get the humidity where you want. Also I want a basement. Great idea, I'm gonna try that sometime this week. Thanks!
|
|
#
¿
Dec 5, 2012 01:54
|
|
|
Last night I processed a 6-pound pork shoulder to make Italian sausage. I only needed 4 pounds so I cut the remaining 2 into big 3-inch chunks to make coppa. Ruhlman and Polcyn's recipes always say "non-reactive baking pan." Since it was such a small amount, I used a shallow Rubbermaid container. Is there anything wrong with using plastic for curing? I know some of the other people here cure in plastic bags so I figured it's probably fine but I just wanted to check.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 5, 2012 15:27
|
|
|
Lord of the Llamas posted:Bacon is cured by definition. America tends to smoke it too. Having been to China they probably translated it wrong or just lied. You can't just slice raw belly or loin and call it bacon... He's right. What they apparently called "bacon" is just pork belly. It's a common cheap meat in both Chinese and Korean cuisine.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 5, 2012 16:14
|
|
|
A pork belly and coppa-like object I hung up last week. I'll post more about them tomorrow since I need to get to bed.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 18, 2012 07:35
|
|
|
I hung up a pork belly and a coppa to dry in my basement, two Thursdays ago. This is what they looked like last Tuesday.  From what I've read, a little white mold is fine on stuff with a casing, like the coppa. The belly I'm not sure about, since it's not wrapped. Should I wipe them down with a rag soaked in white vinegar? This is something I read you can do if you don't like the white mold. Or are they both fine and I should leave them be?
|
|
#
¿
Dec 25, 2012 08:32
|
|
|
I took down my pancetta tesa (dry-cured pork belly) and coppa at the beginning of January, but didn't get the chance to enjoy them until this past weekend. (Army training) The coppa was way too loving salty. Not sure how it got like that, but it was bad. I'm keeping it, thinking I'll cut it into chunks and use it in a sauce. Hopefully the salt will leach out into the sauce and the chunks won't be little salt-explosions. The pancetta tesa came out beautifully. I've served it on an appetizer plate a couple times and everyone has loved it.   edit: I'm starting the cure for a lonza tomorrow. I'm thinking of doing the black-pepper cure in Ruhlman and Polcyn's Salumi. The only thing I'm not sure about with the recipe is that it doesn't have pink salt in it. I think I'm gonna mix some into the kosher salt for the cure, just to be on the safe side. Martello fucked around with this message at 06:29 on Feb 5, 2013 |
|
#
¿
Feb 5, 2013 06:07
|
|
|
dms666 posted:Looks good. I am not 100% sure on this, but from reading I want to say that since it is a whole muscle cut that is not being rolled, just liked the Tesa, that you should be fine without pink salt. I think it is only used in rolled pancetta since there is a chance of there being a dead air space in the middle, which botulism needs to grow. Ah, okay, that makes perfect sense. Thanks!
|
|
#
¿
Feb 5, 2013 17:28
|
|
|
The lonza is in the fridge, curing with Kosher salt, pepper, cardamom, and a little bit of pink salt just to be on the safe side. I'm using Ruhlman's recipe from Salumi, and contrasting the long fridge-curing times in Charcuterie, he instructs to only cure for 1 day per 2 pounds of meat. The lonza I'm using is 3.5 pounds and still has the bone. Does 2 days still sound right for the cure? Has anyone ordered Mangalista meat from Mosefund or anywhere else? I'm wondering if the 12+ dollars per pound cost is worth it. I'm looking into local sources of hand-raised pork since I just ran out of the family grower pigs, but there's nothing very close or convenient that I've found yet.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 7, 2013 12:53
|
|
|
The lonza is up and hanging. This will hang for 3 more weeks.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 8, 2013 03:05
|
|
|
Ruhlman and Polcyn'sm Charcuterie and Salumi also differ from each other on how or when to use pink salt. Charcuterie recommends it for almost everything to be cured, while Salumi often just calls for sea salt. They also recommend much shorter fridge-curing times in Salumi, usually 1 day per 2 pounds of meat. I'm not sure why there's such a significant difference. They may explain it somewhere but I just missed it.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 18, 2013 23:27
|
|
|
Ruhlman and Polcyn call for pink salt. 1 gallon/4 liters water 2 cups/450 grams kosher salt 1/2 cup/100 grams sugar 1 ounce/25 grams pink salt (5 teaspoons) 3 garlic cloves, minced 2 tablespoons/20 grams pickling spice
|
|
#
¿
Feb 22, 2013 22:57
|
|
|
Charcuterie has a pickling spice recipe also, I just didn't post it. I can post the whole recipe if anyone wants and doesn't own the book.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 25, 2013 12:38
|
|
|
Forgot to post this back when I took it down in February, but this is how my pepper-cardamom lonza turned out. The other side isn't as red and almost seemed kinda raw. I ate it anyway and suffered no ill effects, but I probably should have cured it longer. I think the big problem was that I left the bone in the loin, which must have kept the meat moist longer. Next time I'll take it out. Definitely something to try again though. This is what I was doing with it when I wasn't chopping it into chunks to throw into polenta. 
|
|
#
¿
Apr 16, 2013 13:27
|
|
|
Found a place in Greene, NY called The Butcher Block. It's a random little deli place in a village out in the middle of bumfuck upstate NY redneckery, pretty much completely incongruous. It's about ten minutes from my parents' so convenient for when I drive down from Fort Drum. The owner makes his own sausage and roast beef, and is starting on salumi soon. I told him about my salumi attempts and he got super-excited and showed me his basement where he'd be curing. I talked to him for almost an hour and by the end of the conversation he was asking me what I was doing when I get out of the Army and hinted he wanted me to work with him. He said if I brought down finished salumi he'd sell it for me in his shop. Not sure if that's legal since I'm not USDA certified, but whatever. I told him the only thing keeping me from starting the cures on any new pieces was I was looking for another source of good pork. He brought out an 8.5 pound shoulder of pasture-raised local pig. I think he was trying to just give it to me, but I made him charge me. He charged me 15 bucks for the whole thing and threw in a free roast beef sandwich. I got his contact info and I'll definitely be in touch. I'm making this shoulder into a spalla (just salt and black pepper) and a bunch of sweet Italian sausage. The shoulder  Nice fat cap  Shoulder blade removed and cut in half for the two projects  Spalla in the cure in the bag. It'll be there under a 15 pound weight for four days, then go in the basement to hang for 4-6 months.  Sausage, pre-grinding. I'm leaving it in the fridge overnight and I'll grind and stuff it tomorrow. I added kosher salt, turbinado sugar, paprika, fresh oregano leaves from my AeroGarden, toasted fennel, coriander, and black pepper, and fresh garlic. 
|
|
#
¿
May 28, 2013 04:05
|
|
|
Crazyeyes posted:Can someone explain to this lowly fool what the purpose of hanging meats in the basement is? And how to go about doing it in the first place. I have always wanted to try making this kind of stuff. Air-drying (or air-curing). It's how you make things like prosciutto, speck (which is also smoked), and coppa/cappicollo. If you've tasted any of those you know what the purpose of air-curing them is. All you really need is a fridge to start the cures - just like the bacon everyone's been doing around here - and a cool, dark, humid place to hang them. Scott Bakula posted:To add to that, what sort of conditions are necessary for hanging? I wonder if my garage would be suitable How hot does it get there and what's the humidity like? Get a combination hygrometer/thermometer and leave it there for a day so you can monitor the humidity and temperature. You want around 55 degrees Fahrenheit and 70-80 percent humidity. Keep in mind those are ideal curing conditions, you can get away with lower humidity. Not sure about temperature though. I cured a pancetta tesa and a lonza in my basement at between 50-60% humidity and they both came out beautifully. I need to buy an ultrasonic humidifier so I can actually control the humidity, but the temperature stays right at 55 with almost no variance. I don't know how the warm weather will affect it, I've only owned this house since last summer and I didn't start doing salumi until this past winter. My advice to both of you is to buy Charcuterie by Ruhlman and Polcyn. It's the bible of the art right now. Salumi is good to if you're looking to get deep into the Italian meats, which is what I'm doing obviously. And I'm still a beginner myself at this, so don't take my word for it. Get Charcuterie and check out blogs like The Sausage Debauchery and Cured Meats. Both those guys have been at it for quite a while and make some beautiful-looking stuff. Martello fucked around with this message at 17:28 on May 28, 2013 |
|
#
¿
May 28, 2013 17:26
|
|
|
Not an expert but I'm 99% sure you'll be fine if you cook the bacon before eating, no matter how long or hot you smoke it. You can cook raw pork belly and eat it, right? Same thing with this semi-cured bacon.
|
|
#
¿
May 30, 2013 11:21
|
|
|
Pulled the spalla out of the fridge yesterday and hung it up. It had already lost about 4 ounces. It will hang in my basement for 4-6 months.   The only thing worrying me about my basement right now is that the humidity is much higher than it was in the winter. It used to be lower than ideal, but now it's 75-80 which is 10-20 percent higher than it should be. I think it will still be fine but it might take longer to dry, not sure. I've never done such a large cut that needs so much time hanging.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 2, 2013 23:13
|
|
|
Who here makes salami? I want to start a soppressata but I don't have a good setup for fermentation. It's supposed to be 80 or so degrees F at 80 percent humidity for 12 hours, and then it can go in my basement with everything else. Anyone have any suggestions? Jason Molinari at Cured Meats has a fermentation box setup that I could definitely do but I'm wondering if anyone else uses a simpler setup.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 10, 2013 13:27
|
|
|
I did one of those and the humidity was all over the place the whole time, mostly down in the 50s. This is in my stone basement, not a specially-constructed curing chamber. It came out just fine. Don't worry about it, the Italians and other Europeans have been doing this poo poo for a few thousand years without fancy equipment.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 12, 2013 20:10
|
|
|
sativa dreams posted:I also plan on doing lots of other stuff that would be in there for much longer, like brisket. I love to grill and its about time I made the step up to smoking as well, and being a tech-oriented guy with money to burn (yay new job) I kinda want to be all fancy with my meat monitoring. As far as slicers go, I've looked on craigslist and they are all going for $500+. How do you get one for $20?? Are you talking about a motorized deli slicer? Just seems really cheap; I guess you just gotta keep looking and hope you get lucky? I'd still like to have a good knife anyways for slicing other meat and also for the simple fact that I just don't have a good one. The best slicing knife is the Victorinox Granton Edge Slicer with Fibrox Handle. 41 American and absolutely worth every penny. You can get a food slicer at The Sausage Maker for 72 bucks. Bonus if you're a New York State resident because the company is in Buffalo and it's nice to buy semi-local. The Sausage Maker has pretty much every single thing you could possibly need to make charcuterie of all description. Highly recommended.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 31, 2013 13:13
|
|
|
I like turtles posted:I did salami once, left it hanging from my chandelier for a day at around 75-80 in the house, in Arizona, then put it in my meat mini fridge for 3-4 weeks, then hung it back up on the chandelier for a couple months. It was delicious. I'll have to try something like that. I found that my basement being 20 degrees warmer and (probably most importantly) about 40 percent more humid in the summer vs the winter and fall makes a HUGE loving difference. To the point where my spalla grew horrendous mold over a weekend I was gone and I had to toss it. Really sucks, but at least I used the other half of the pork shoulder for sausage a while ago. It was amazing meat. Next time I get another cut I'm keeping it frozen until my basement gets dry again or until I pick up a cheap second-hand fridge to make a drying chamber a la Cured Meats.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 6, 2013 20:10
|
|
|
Last night I started 8.5 pounds of salami using the Salami Diablo recipe from Ruhlman and Polcyn's Salumi. They are fermenting in tupperware containers in my oven right now. I haven't bothered to build a fermentation box yet, my oven stays around 77 degrees or so and the tupperware keeps the humidity up. We'll see how it goes though. I'll post photos when they start drying out in my basement and looking cool.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 4, 2013 14:07
|
|
|
It's really hard to take good photos in my basement, but here's the salami so far. Should be done in about three weeks. I made em small for stocking stuffing purposes.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 7, 2013 13:10
|
|
|
Salami:   I let them dry too long/didn't humidify my drying chamber, so they ended up being the shriveled little things you see there. Still delicious though, and very spicy. My wife and I are gonna stuff another batch today, this time in beef middles so they won't be so tiny. The little ones were intended as stocking stuffers so they'll still work for that.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 6, 2013 14:46
|
|
|
Finally made bacon. It's easy and I would have done it before but I was having a hard time finding a good source of bellies. I finally found one, so here's some maple-pepper bacon: I used the Ruhlman basic dry cure and added more pepper and some maple syrup. Cured for 9 days (too long, gonna have to blanch it) and then hot-smoked for about three and a half hours. edit: I left it in the cure way too long cuz I was out on the range training my dudes to shoot brown babies inside houses, so I guess I'll have to blanch it before frying. The flavor's great, but just too salty. Martello fucked around with this message at 14:10 on Dec 9, 2013 |
|
#
¿
Dec 9, 2013 13:20
|
|
|
atothesquiz posted:In case you didn't do this last time, after you take it out of the cure, rinse it thoroughly and slice off a bit and fry it up. If it's too salty, soak the belly in water for awhile and then fry up another piece. Good idea, I'll try that next time. Big salami:  I'll watch them closer this time to make sure they don't overdry. I also have a humidfier on underneath them set on medium-low. Humidity is 45 percent and rising.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 11, 2013 02:11
|
|
|
Last night I got home from work before my wife for once, so I made dinner for the first time in a while. I roasted a spice-rubbed pork loin (cinnamon, cardamom, allspice, red and black pepper, salt, olive oil) and topped it with pieces of my homemade bacon for the last 30 minutes of cooking. I made a bourbon maple butter sauce for it.   Charcuterie is the best thing
|
|
#
¿
Dec 13, 2013 19:05
|
|
|
atothesquiz posted:Go on... I wanna say it was 1 1/3 cup maple syrup, 2/3 cup bourbon (using up a magnum of Maker's), and a half stick of butter. Spiced with a little cinnamon, allspice, and salt. I cooked it down until thick in a small saucepan, and that was it. Pretty drat tasty.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 15, 2013 16:49
|
|
|
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3534301 The charcuterie thread is a slightly odd place to look for a cheese thread.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 20, 2013 12:36
|
|
|
That's why I said slightly odd.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 20, 2013 12:46
|
|
|
Just depends on how dry you want it. If it's dry enough, don't leave it longer.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 28, 2013 22:51
|
|
|
Tweek posted:How dry is too dry really if I plan to cut it so thin I can read through it and wrap it around cheese? They don't turn to bricks in the two months I intend to keep them up, surely. Yes they will turn into bricks if you hang them two extra months. What's your goal for hanging them longer? You can indeed vacuum seal and freeze, though I'd just seal em and keep in the fridge. I'm not sure what freezing will do to air dried salumi.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 31, 2013 20:45
|
|
|
Tweek posted:The extra two month ('til Groundhog's Day) would be just because that's when I have a dinner party planed. Leaving them hanging is just laziness, though judging by the panccetta I had two nights ago, I'll probably take it all down soon. I meant whole muscle or salami, "salumi" encompasses both. Post some photos when you take em down please.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 3, 2014 18:46
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 14, 2024 01:21 |
|
|
So I took down my big Tuscan-style salami A little too salty, I'll have to reduce the salt next time. Otherwise delicious. The only thing I have hanging now is another pancetta tesa, but I flavored it like American bacon this time. Maple syrup, brown sugar, black pepper. It should be ready in another week or so.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 5, 2014 17:07
|
|