Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Well, it sure has been a while! No real news. I continue to make cured meats, always looking to improve. I don't really have the time to update this blog any more, and the basics of everything you need to make pretty much anything (as far as salumi go) is here. From here on out it's just varying recipes, and methods to change the outcomes.

If you want to follow what i've been making I post every so often on Instagram as Cured_meats.

I do still answer questions posted on here, so if you have any ask, or come ask me on Instagram.

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Friday, August 29, 2014

Prosciutto Crudo

photo 1Oh my, it’s been a while since a last posted something here. I haven’t stopped making stuff, I’ve just been making stuff which I’ve already posted about, like coppa and bresaola. So I didn’t think it was worthwhile to post them.
But now, finally, I’ve made something new. A whole, bone in prosciutto crudo. Don’t think prosciutto needs any introduction, but just in case, basically it’s  a whole real hog leg salted and then dried. I didn’t have veyr high expectations for my outcome, given it was my first try with a prosciutto. I followed Craig Deihl’s advice on salting time and general process.
In this case I used a rear leg of an American Guinea Hog, a small heritage breed hog from Carolina Heritage Farms. This is a great breed for home curers as they are only about 100lbs fully grown.

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Thursday, February 20, 2014

A Facebook group of curers

A while back a friend of mine, Scott from Sausage Debauchery, started a Facebook group for open discussion of sausage making, curing meats and anything else involving deliciousness. It's a good place to ask questions and get advice from a group of folks who know their way around a curing chamber and a grinder!

Come join us. Search for the "Sausage Debauchery" group in Facebook or use this link:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/sausagedebauchery/

See you there!

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Thursday, January 9, 2014

Heritage Foods Guanciale Taste-off

20131214-IMG_4097 Heritage foods is a company which sources and resells premium, small farm, meats from around the country. Really, this is the kind of pork you want to be curing. Small farms raising heritage breed pigs in a happy environment on good feed. A while back someone from Heritage Foods contacted me asking if I wanted to try some of their products for curing. Of course I did! After a little back and forth with them, I told them that rather than just curing a couple different cuts of pork, why not cure the same cut from two different breeds, and see if there are any organoleptic differences between just breeds, keeping all other variables the same.

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Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Coppa di Testa

20130309-IMG_1674 A while ago I decided to buy 1/2 of a Guinea Hog from a local farmer. Of course, every part of the pig had to be used to make delicious salumi!
Initially I had intended to photo document the breakdown of the pig, I started out well, but then it just got too complicated and time consuming, it got late, the pig had to be broken down and refrigerated, and basically I didn’t do a good enough job to post it up here. So i’ll go through what I have produced and show as much as I can of the breakdown.
First up: Coppa di testa !

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Thursday, May 16, 2013

Pancetta Steccata dei Monti Nebrodi - Tasting



The pancetta I made late last year is ready (well, it was actually ready in February!), and it's FAAAANTASTIC.

The quality of the pork from Mosefund farm is spectacular. The fat has a wonderful low melting point and just disappears on the tongue.
 The folding allowed the pancetta to stay quite a bit moister than leaving it all flat, while allowing for long aging.
The spicing is great, and evident, but the flavor of the pork stands out beautifully.
This is great both eaten sliced thin on bread, put on warm pizza or in cooking. It's a winner all around!

Thanks again to Mosefund for the Mangalitza belly. I can't recommend them enough. Their pork is great, go get some right now!

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Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Mangalitza Culatello

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I think by now pretty much everyone who is into pork and heirloom pig breeds has heard of Mangalitza pigs. Long story short; they’re an old world Hungarian lard pig, and when properly raised are about as good as it gets for curing.

I had the opportunity to purchase a leg from a Mangalitza pig, and I immediately thought “culatello time!”

I’ve gone into great detail on my last culatello post, so this one will just be some pictures showing the big differences between that commercial one and this one.

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