Meat Club Charcuterie

random posts about our meatings

Rosen Bresaola - Take 2

For some time now, an eye of round has, in the cold darkness of my freezer, been beckoning me to aid in its transformation into bresaola.  The last time I tried to guide the fate of a similar piece of meat, the metamorphosis was less than stellar.  I sought advice from virtual and human sources, and used the recipe from the Ruhlman/Polcyn book as my starting point.  The product was fine, but the drying was slow and uneven, and it just didn't taste that great.  So, a year-and-a-half later, I'm trying again. 
 
[Interesting aside: I got berated by one local meat luminary -- Paul Canales at Olivetto -- for taking the advice of another local expert -- Scott Brennan at Cafe Rouge -- to cure/dry the meat in a beef bung cap.  This just goes to show that there's no right answer on this stuff, although there are some very strong opinions].  
 
This time I'm using the eye of round again, but using a recipe from Ryan Farr (yet another local meat master that chimed in -- kindly I might add -- on my first attempt 18 months ago).  The recipe is from Marissa Guggiana's upcoming book Primal Cuts (see: http://welcomebooks.com/primalcuts/), which Marissa was kind enough to share with me.  Rather than spelling the whole recipe out, I'll make a plug for you to buy Marrissa's book (which you can get a very good sense from at: http://welcomebooks.com/primalcuts/lookinside.html).  
 
One interesting difference to note between Ryan's recipe and Polcyn's is that the former calls for using sodium nitrite (pink salt/curing salt #1) while the latter calls for using sodium nitrate (curing salt #2).  Given the relatively long cure of the meat (around a month), I'd expect the use of #2, but Ryan's more an expert than I, so I'll have to ask him the next time I see him (if he's not mobbed by greasy, meat worshippers).  Or, perhaps he'll just comment on this post and tell us why.  Ryan, what's the skinny?  Or, perhaps, Mr. Polcyn, you'd like to chime in?
 
Anyhoo, enough text.  Here are a few pictures of the start of the process: trimming the meat, making the dry rub/cure (including winging it on making up my own berbere spice, called for in Ryan's recipe), rubbing half the cure, and bagging it in the fridge for a week (to be flipped daily, then cleaned off, and the other half the cure applied, followed by another week in the fridge, then off to the curing chamber for around a month).  More posts later.

           
Click here to download:
rosen-bresaola-take-2-MdXZhZAqboVhNHgk5YCf.zip (2626 KB)

Rosen Lonzino

Witness the saga of the moldy lonzino!
 
I started with inspiration from a few different sources and recipes (relying most heavily on Len Poli's recipe: http://lpoli.50webs.com/index_files/lonzino.pdf and http://curedmeats.blogspot.com/2008/06/lonzino.html), and then followed my muse.  Unfortunately, a week away from home coupled with a dehumidistat set too high, set for initial conditions that proved challenging, perhaps insurmountable.
 
But first, some basic stats: I began with an initial refrigerator cure for 24 days (mostly because I forgot about it, but in the end, this did not cause any problems of the product being too salty).  Then, on March 25, I put it in the chamber, after stuffing it into a beef bung and netting (all the little black flecks you see in the photo are some of the residual thyme leaves that I didn't fully wash off).  I set my dehumistat/fan combo at around 85% with temp around 50 F, innoculated the lonzino with some mold starter culture, and then .... went on vacation!
 
Eight days later, I came back to find chamber humidity at 82%, temp of 56F, and LOTS of different flavors of mold.  The following pictures were taken on 4/5/10:
     
Of course, this was very disappointing, but I wasn't ready to pitch the whole thing into the trash.  Having seen tons of green mold on all the salumi hanging in the rafters of NYC's famous Pork Store on Arthur Avenue (see: http://www.yelp.com/biz/calabria-pork-store-bronx and pictures), I was ready to ride it out.   So, I scrubbed off as much fuzz as I could with some white vinegar solution, reinnoculated it with good mold culture, and hung it back up in the chamber with humidity of around 78% and temp of 57F.  These photos are from 4/7/10:
     
Click here to download:
rosen-lonzino-jcCaJFDfcrzssuCHBclJ.zip (646 KB)
And these are from 4/10/10, with the good mold having bloomed:
     
Click here to download:
rosen-lonzino-AgxbnDzEGhkyAJFFncBb.zip (659 KB)
Thereafter, I let it hang for several more weeks, with RH slowly declining from high 70s to high 60s, and temp remaining 55-60F.  And, I finally pulled it out of chamber on 5/3, when it had lost 33% of its weight.
 
     
Click here to download:
rosen-lonzino-pCpwmjukbJhFyxybbhah.zip (902 KB)
And then I donated my body to the labratory of medieval meat experimentation.  I cut into the lonzino, sliced it up, and ate it.  Well, some of it.
   
Click here to download:
rosen-lonzino-kkmoEmFdamarvcoyzEtH.zip (460 KB)
As these words prove, I am still quite alive.  And, I didn't even get sick!  (Of course, I also told my pregnant friend not to touch it). 
 
How does it taste, you ask?  Not great.  It's a little bit musty and just not all that yummy.  I suspect the early mold had a fair amount to do with the mustiness, but that's about all the flavor complexity there is.  So, I'm dubious about just how great it would taste had I not botched the early stages.  I guess I'll have to try again and see.
 
Finally, there are two things I would probably do differently.  First, I think I would trim off the layer of fat and connective tissue on the one side of the loin.  As you can see from the photos, it resulted in very uneven drying and I think created a virtually impermeable barrier to moisture loss on that side (note differential drying in final slices and lack of any mold during latter phase of drying).  Second, I probably wouldn't put the lonzino in the beef bung, as I think that it's relatively imperable too (based on similar experience drying a bresola).  Poli's site said it should take around 17 days to dry, while mine took over a month and is still quite moist in the center.
 
It was a lot of fun to do, and I'll probably try it again, but I won't chalk this one up as a masterpiece.  But, you're all welcome to come over and try it!

 

Guanciale, Tessa, and Lardo

Some results are in from our Big Pig Day.  My guanciale, tessa (flat pancetta), and lardo are all done, and all turned out excellently.  I let a few things sit in the cure for longer than called for (I forgot about things), but nothing appears to be overly salted or otherwise problematic.  I'll post some more tasting notes as I and my willing friends and family move through the product. 
 
I only had a very small lardo piece, so I let that cure in the fridge for 6 days, and then rinsed off the cure and let it hang in my chamber (in the cheesecloth bag in the photo) for 18 days.  I let the tessa and guanciale cure in the fridge for 17 days, and then rinsed and hung for another 10 days.  On March 26, I pulled them all from the chamber and cleaned off the mold for final consumption and storage.  As you'll see, the tessa got some nice, white mold from ambient conditions (they were not innoculated).  The photos showing the mold are after 8 days of hanging.  The guanciale got almost no mold and the lardo had none.
 
Conditions in the chamber were maintained at the high 50s for temp and high 60s and low 70s for humidity.  Made for a nice firm product, without being hard or dry.
 
All in all, a great success for every product.  I was, and remain, a bit ambivalent about leaving the skin on the guanciale and tessa.  I think it probably makes for a more uneven cure and uneven drying.  But, it looks and feels so damn awesome at the end that it's hard to pass up.  And, it probably adds a nice protective layer (though probably not essential since I will keep extra product in the fridge or freezer, tightly wrapped in plastic).
 
Keep your eyes peeled for the next posting on my lonzino, which has hosted more gnarly growths of mold than you can imagine ....

                     
Click here to download:
Guanciale_Tessa_and_Lardo_tag_.zip (2966 KB)

Giant Genoa: Big Disappointment

5 months and 32% weight-loss later, I finally cut into the giant genoa (see prior posts for the epic history of this beastly 10 lb salame).
 
Unfortunately, the results are less-than-spectacular.  The flavor is off (soapy/bitter/rancid aftertaste), the meat/fat ratio is off, and the bind is off.  The curing conditions for the last 5 months have been excellent, with a steady decline in RH from around 85% to 55%, with temperature generally running 50-60 degrees F.  While there was no big bloom of white mold, there was also no big bloom of any bad mold.  So, I'm not exactly sure what went wrong (I suspect a few things from our production phase).  Regardless, we'll chalk this one up to experience.
 
That being said, I have 10 lbs of the genoa salame that I am the mere custodian for, and I'm happy to distribute large chunks to anyone that wishes!  And, even though it wasn't great on its own, it did make for a fine hoagie (one of my favorite foods as a kid).

           
Click here to download:
Giant_Genoa_Big_Disappointment.zip (1512 KB)

Big Pig Day -- More Photos!

Here are some more photos from our excellent Big Pig Day.  For those who could not attend, we spent the morning breaking down the hog for later fabrication in the afternoon into: prosciutto, lardo, tessa (flat pancetta), guanciale, brine cured loin, dry cured lonzino, coppa, fresh garlic sausage, tuscan and genoa salami (and other things I've probably forgotten).  Then, we had a bunch of misc. parts leftover for individual home creativity (ribs, offal, trotters, ears, skin, etc.).  A great day in all.

For all that did attend, please post updates (with photos, insights, and confusion) on the progress of your curing and consumption!

                         
Click here to download:
Big_Pig_Day_--_More_Photos_tag.zip (2960 KB)

Rosen Curing Chamber Design

Many folks have asked how I built my mini curing chamber, so I thought I'd post a photo series with brief explanation.  My goal was to keep the price low, keep it self-regulating, avoid cords going in and out of the door, protect the meat from insects/rodents, and incoroporate some air exchange.  In the end, I think I came up with a pretty good design  where the whole thing, including used fridge, was around $100 (maybe a little more).

The pictures should mostly speak for themselves, but here's a short overview that tracks with the pictures:

1) Get mini-fridge on Criagslist (~$50-$80)
2) Drill hole in side with hole saw.
3) Nest section of PVC/plastic piping in the whole and seal with silicone sealant (to keep all the dusty insulation out of the equation and avoid moisture/mold penetrating into the fridge structure/lining).
4) Install cheap dryer vent on inside of fridge to allow air to come in when venting system turns on (see later), but stay shut and keep air/insects/dust/etc. out when venting is off.
5) Install cheap wire mesh screen on outside of hole (opposite dryer vent) to keep insects, rodents/etc. from getting access to fridge interior.
6-12) Install computer fan hooked to dehumidistat (connected in junction box), so that when humidty in chamber reaches desired threshold (e.g., 75%), fan turns on, and blows humid air out of chamber, while sucking in dryer air from air intake (photos 2-5).  Note: air outside chamber is generally dryer than interior due to normal environmental conditions, but I also have a large duhumidifier in the room where the chamber is, to keep ambient humidity down (I already had that to control humidity in my basement, where the chamber is located).  Note that I had ZERO electrical experience prior to doing this, so don't think that wiring the junction box requires great skill -- it was super easy -- just splicing a few wires together.
13) Install dryer vent on exterior of computer fan, so when it's not running, insects/rodents/dust/etc. don't get into chamber.  The wire you see next to the dryer vent is a power cord that exits from the back of the junction box.  I think this is much simpler and cleaner than running power cords through the gasket of your fridge.
14-15) Overivew photos, including remote thermometer-hygrometer, which lets me know conditions in the chamber without opening it (it transmits all the way up to my bedroom).

That's pretty much it! 

Well, there is one dirty little secret that I didn't post a picture of -- when I was cutting the hole for the computer fan, I severed the refrigerant line -- ack!  So, when the temperature gets too high, I throw a frozen water bottle into the chamber to drop it down.  Doing so is just routine now, so not that big a deal (although I lose control, of course, when I go on vacation).

                             
Click here to download:
Rosen_Curing_Chamber_Design_ta.zip (773 KB)

Prosciutto Begins!

Peter and I started a prosciutto on Sunday afternoon -- pictures are below.  We started with a 31 lb leg, trimmed it up a bit, carved out the aitch bone (part of the pelvis), lined a giant plastic bin with salt, put the leg in, packed a ton of salt in all gaps in the meat and around the bones, buried the leg in the remainder of the salt (50 lbs total), put about 25 lbs of weight on top of the salted leg, put the lid on, and then left it in Peter's walk-in fridge (around 40 F). 

Peter will flip the leg occaisonally over the next few weeks and give it some loving salt massages, and we expect to pull it out after about 3 weeks in the salt, at which point it will be rinsed and hung to dry for 9 months or a year. 

This is my first prosciutto, so I can't answer too many questions. But, Peter has done a bunch, so if you post questions, I'm sure he can chime in.

I'm not sure I can wait a year to carve into this.....

               
Click here to download:
Proscuitto_Begins_tag_Jamie_pr.zip (1722 KB)

Tuscan Excellence

Well, the three tuscans are done -- see photo series below. 

I pulled them out of the chamber on Thanksgiving morning, after about a month in the chamber (recall that we made them on October 24).  After the fermentation stage, I kept conditions in the chamber at around 54-58 degrees and humidity around 70-80%.  The mold bloomed pretty nicely and weight loss was around 35%.

After I pulled them from the chamber, I scrubbed off the mold with some salt water solution, then dried them off, and wrapped them in wax paper in the fridge.  You'll see the pre and post scrubbing images below.  You'll also see the spread of sliced salami that my daughter and I quickly gobbled up.  It tasted very good and was much less sour (in a good way) than the first batch that Tim and I made a couple months ago. 

So, who wants some salami?  I was just the custodian for these and I know that several of you wanted salami but did not have sufficient curing conditions.  So, I could probably cut two of the tuscans in half and give to those who want some -- Andy? Robin? Yolanda and Frank?  Others who helped make these?

       
Click here to download:
Tuscan_Excellence_tag_Jamie_tu.zip (1526 KB)

Incipient Drops of Tuscan Fat

Interesting new development on my tuscans.  A handful of tiny drops of fat on the surface, which were not there two days ago (see photos below, and look closely for the small, gleaming beads of liquid fat). 

I've seen similar weeping fat in prior salami (though much more excessive), but I thought that was due to temperatures that were too high, and perhaps conditions too dry.  But, these have been kept consistently below 60F and at or above 70% RH for the last several weeks.  Anyone know what physically causes this?  I've been reading the very interesting (and detailed) Marianski book (http://www.amazon.com/Art-Making-Fermented-Sausages/dp/1432732579), but haven't gotten to anything on this yet (I'm bogged down in a section on the innumerable variety of bacteria and their properties and functions).  

One interesting thing is that I only see this in spots where there is no mold (though it may be happening in other spots as well but the white mold is just absorbing it as it oozes out, so it's not visible).

         
Click here to download:
Incipient_Drops_of_Tuscan_Fat_.zip (204 KB)