jmolinari

Joe, i'm FAR from the expert, Nathan, and others in this thread know far more than i do...now about charcuterie that is another story:)

heh. Well i have access to a machine shop, so i'm going to try modifying a plate of the closest size. I already have the plate, (from my old manual grinder), it needs to be reduced in diameter about 2mm, and then i need to add some pins where the "ears" of the KA plates are. Just haven't had time to do it.

I think it should be fine. You're already in the "danger zone" (40-140) if you cook the steak rare (125), but it is there long enough to sterilize, as i understand it. Hopefully nathanm can weigh in

IS anyone else annoyed by the lack of different size plates for the KA grinder? I wish they had a bigger plate.

Looks awesome derek. Did you cook it or eat it as is?

Neat! It is a great place in winter with heavy dishes and polenta, typical for the region. You can just say the Molinari family says hello, they may not even know my first name, they are 2 or 3 cousins:) Enjoy your vacation

I've made some great lardo. basically it comes down to soaking the fatback for about 3 months in a 25-35% brine in which you made a "tea" of herbs, such as sage, rosemary, juniper, garlic etc. It is relatively simple, but getting the right spicing/herbing/salting is tough.

My cousin's resto is in gignese, it is called 3V (his daughters names all begin with V). I believe there is a road sign that points you in the direction once you are in the gignese town center. Maybe even ask around, at the bar in the center. The cottolette are good. The pizza is ehh.

True Ned, he should join locals to eat. The one in marocco he wasn't allow though.

sourness is dictated by the amount of sugar, not the quantity of bacteria. the sugar is broken down to acid, so that is what counts.

Hiking and bike riding is good at the top of Mottarone, which is a small mountain right above Gignese, which is right above stresa. You can take the cable car right from the lake in Stresa, which drops you off at the top of the mountain, really cool, and a must do. A while back my dad and i rented bikes at the base in Stresa, and you bring them up to the top on the cable car, and ride down, really fun. Ask around if they still do that. You can also take a day trip into switzerland, with a special boat from the Imbarcadero in stresa (the boat dock). It takes you up the lake into Locarno, eating an optional lunch on the boat (recommended, the food was good!) then you take the Cento Valli train back to Domodossola, and then the regular train back to Stresa. REALLY nice. You go through huge valleys and mountains on the train. Amazing views. Great time. The boat ride take about 1.5 hours, then you can look around the big shopping area in Locarno for a hour or 2, then take the train back, for another hour or so. It is a nice day trip, and def. worth doing. You could also drive to Domodossola, which is a bigger town than Stresa, but i'm not really sure what there is to do there:) Can't really help with restaurants much, we eat at home or at a cousin's small restaurant (nothing to write home about). jason PS: i think it is a good idea to book the boat/train a few days ahead, as it was quite busy when we went.

6ppc, i'm going to try T-SPX in my next batch in the future, so if you experiment with it, def. let us know. Hummingbird: forever is really forever. If salted and kept in the fridge they will last indefinitely. Specially if they don't smell rotten.

[Moderator note: The original Cooking with Ruhlman & Polcyn's "Charcuterie" topic became too large for our servers to handle efficiently, so we've divided it up; the preceding part of this discussion is here: Cooking with Ruhlman & Polcyn's "Charcuterie" (Part 4)] Ah yes, but i'm counting on non-deadly sickness ! again to cover my ass, i do NOT recommend any method for making salame. You're on your own!

Bryan, to make stock sous vide, one could use ice instead of water in the bag. Then you could use a regular edge seal machine

I thikn we should all make salame with no starter, and the 1st person to get sick reports back! I kid, i kid!!

Bud, that link you sent is for the elimination of trechinea from the meat, but doesn't address other pathogens necessarily. Trechinea can also be eliminated by freezing for certain periods of time as well. Either way, even my smallest salami tend to dry for at least 3 weeks.

Bud, yes, Len's site is fantastic, a great resource. I'm not sure i follow the connection between cultures, diameter and drying time? I agree with teh salt/nitrate comment. MAYBE if you don't use cultures, the salt % should be increased? For example, i see Len's site says a minimum 3.5% salt should be used, yet his recipes often use less....always wondered why.

Nice mod. If i can get a good porky flavored meat from a salame without cultures, that is what i'm looking for. I'mnot into all the flavorings. Some are good, but i prefer a plain robust "cacciatore" salame, which is just meat, salt, pepper, and a bit of garlic and wine.

It is funny how seriously people take every show involving food, thinking it should be made for foodies and if it isn't, it is not worth watching. I enjoy the show, taking it for what it is . A show about a guy, who at times is repetitive, but is generally nice and sincere, eating various food items around the world. It is entertaining and a good way to pass 40 minutes and seeing different cultures. I've seen many dishes and foods so far that i hadn't heard of before, and found interesting. Bizarre? To me, sometimes (the worms in the logs in Indonesia). Bizarre is defined as "markedly unusual in appearance, style, or general character" Given the definition, that meaning has to take a cultural and knowledge context. If you havn't seen something before, it could be considered bizarre, no matter how normal to someone else. Bizarre is not a derogatory term, nor is it intended to be in this case. I think everyone needs to lighten up. And if you don't like the show, or the host, don't watch it! Just my $0.02. jason

Regarding the starter cultures, i don't think they are NECESSARY. I believe they are good from a safety standpoint. In fact the first salame i ever made, did not have starter cultures. It was a very thin (15mm) artificial casing, and as i remember, now that you mention it, it was darn tasty. That is when i started reading about starter cultures and how they should be used. Now, as to whether i trust the salame without starter cultures, i'd have to think about it. I do know that a butcher friend in italy does not use them, and the health inspectors have no problem with that, and health inspections in italy are rather rigorous. What we're assuming if we don't use starter cultures is that OK bacteria is going to reproduce faster than bad bacteria, which seems to be a crapshoot to me. I wonder what kind of "sickness" one could get. The botulism risk i think is removed by using nitrites, so that seems to leave just regular food poisoning (which can be rather unpleasant from what i've heard). Something to think about. Maybe my next batch i'll risk making a few salamis with culture, and a few without, and see if there textural and flavor differences. jason

Reviving the topic a little bit. It has been a while since i've made any charcuterie, but i'm going to start again in teh next couple of month. Generally, i've been disappointed with my salame results. Everything else is fantastic, but my salame is always a let down. I think it has to do with my fermentation time. What cultures is everyone using here, and how are you measuring the pH drop? Are you going by time alone? If so how long at what temp? Are you measuring? If so, to what pH level are you letting the meat drop? Paul Bertolli in his book specifies a pH value, but it is a bit contradictory in certain areas. How is everyone fermenting the salame before drying? jason

Tried Fra' Mani last weekend from a local shop here in Atlanta, and i agree, it is about as close to an Italian salame as i've ever tried here in the US. I tried the salametto and the gentile. Prefer the denser, harder texture of the salametto. The prices are astronomical though, to the point that they are laughable. it is $22/lb here.

I've wondered by never asked. If you guys drop your knives off for sharpening, what do you use to cook until you pick them up!?

Any vitamin store should have dextrose, places like "NOW", or even maybe whole foods, or Vitamin Shop.

i agree, i'm sure there are other producers, just haven't seen them.