jmolinari

Coppa is not a salame (salami in English), it is a salume (cured meat). Coppa is made only from a part of the shoulder, it is the collar. It is rubbed with salt and spices, cured, and then cased, and let air dry. The spicy version/sweet version are an american thing. It is a specialty of Parma and Piacenza, but every region has their own.

I never get mold on my salame, and it ticks me off:) Acutally i have read that the mold is a GOOD thing, in that it consumes some of the lactic acid produced by the acidification process. Butcher packer even sells an surface innoculation mold to spray the salame with. I'll try some next time i order from them. Thanks for the info Dave and Abra, i'll probably make a 4.5lb batch or so. jason

Dave, how much fit in your bowl? jason

I'll be making some salame this weekend, and i've never used the KA to paddle the mixture, i've always done it by hand. Can someone who has tell me how much fits in the KA Artisan bowl without it overflowing, and how long did you paddle your Tuscan salame mixture so you didn't smear the fat? thanks jason

Abra, i only soaked mine to try to get rid of some of the salt. Seems counter productive, but it seemed to work. Maybe it isn't entirely necessary though. Dave, winging it with recipes is fine, as long as you maintain the correct amount of cure #2 and generally salt. jason

Dave, i used a 2lb piece of loin, and salt, sugar, cure #2, pepper and garlic powder. I left it in this mixture for 10 days, and then dried it for 12 days to a 30% loss. It was OK, simple flavor, but just way salty. Next time i'll use a thicker piece of loin, and maybe soak it after salting it, like i did for the lamb. jason

Mark, yes, my boneless leg, after curing in salt/spices didn't "fit" together nicely into a solid bundle. So i cut it into 2 pieces. You want to create a round piece with as few air pockets in the middle as possible. jason

I've made a lomo or lonzino as it is called in Italy. It came out too salty for my liking. I havn't made it since. It was OK. I have details of what i did at home if you want Dave. thanks Abra...glad the lamb turned out well! jason

Once you add salt and spices and grind the meat leaving it in the fridge pretty much turns it to concrete. You'll have to add some water to it to soften it back up, but it should be fine. jason

Small fridges are not the best for curing. They don't dry the air as a frost free fridge does, which may seem like a good thing, but the humidity actually gets too high as it has no where to go when you put wet meats in. jason

Chris, a regular fridge will be too cold and too dry. I use an enclosed fridge with a humidifier inside, and i have poor circulation of fresh air. My next modification is to make a hole in the side nad put a computer fan on a timer so every 6-12 hours it blows fresh air in. I don't know if this is really necessary.

I think itis about the quality of the pork, the grind and the curing

aaron, i know them, i do my CSA through them. I'll ask them next time i see them if htey have jowls. How much do they charge for them? I have some books that talk about felino salame. It is made with about 25-30% fat, and is ground quite coarse. Salt and pepper are added, and just before casing, garlic and pepper are crushed in a mortar and soaked in dry white wine. Then the filtered wine is added to the meat. It is cased in pork bungs (i believe, it is called budello gentile in Italian) jason

Dave, my boneless meats (bresaola, coppa, boneless lamb) i normally take to about 38-40% loss...depends on feel and time and rate of loss. jason

Aarontighe, did you buy the jowls locally or have to order them? I looked all over town (atlanta) and could not find them!

Dave, regarding the boni in leg of lamb. I must have forgotten to weigh it after curing and before drying. BUT all included, from beginning to end, i had it lose 42% of its weight. It was in the drying chamber for 45 days. jason

Dave, what do yo umean "unwrap" the leg? What did you wrap it with? I left mine unwrapped at all times in the cure and drying.. A pork picnic is a front leg. What recipe/method did you use for it? I keep forgetting to check my notebook when i get home! dangit! jason

i didn't get home lat night until 11, and didn't check my notes. The bone in one i made, if i remember did not seem to lose much weight in the curing chamer....i left mine in there for 45-60 days i think What method/recipe did you use for the pork prosciutto, and did you use a whole pig leg? jason

It's been in there for 32 days right now. the humidity holds about 60 percent, ( sometimes as low as 55 and as hi as 70). Do you mean 30 percent from raw to finish, or from the time you put it in the curing chamber? ← Hrmm..i'm pretty sure it was 30% from when i put it in the chamber! Yuors is boneless right? Maybe you miswrote the numbers/weights. If it has been 30 days, and it is about 3-4" in diameter, you should be getting close. It should feel similar to a coppa or a bresaola. i'll check for details tonight. jason

Dave, i measured my lamb before and after, i have the data at home. I'll try to remember to post it tonight, but this week is crazy busy, so if i forget don't kill me:) It definitely lost a good 30% if i remember correctly. how long as it been in the chamber, and what humidity are you holding? jason

Ronnie, the lentils are very easy. Saute some carrot, onion celery and garlic and pancetta. Add dry lentils to it, let it saute' for a minute. Add white wine. Let it cook off. Add chicken stock. Add bay leaves and whever other herbs and spices you want. About 15 minutes into the simmer, add some crushed tomatos (optional). Let cook until done, adding more chicken stock as needed. jason

I know i'm last to the carbonara parta, but hey...it's still good! Made with home cured pancetta, and farm fresh eggs. Awesome. One of my favorite pastas.

This is a picture of my yearly cotechino e lenticchie (cotechino and lentils) dinner. This very sausage was the sole reason i started making sausages. I missed it so much from when i lived in Italy I started making it. Then i said to myself, well if i can make cotechino...how hard could cured meats be:)

You could also apply the pig skin to your face...don't those fancy pantsy face creams have colagen

Ronni, no, cotechino uses boiled skin which is ground up, then added to meat and spices and cased into large casings (60mm or so) and then boiled for about 2 hours. It all becomes an unctuous delicous, sticky-when-cold from the skin collagen, sausage. Cooking by hand does have a recipe. jaso n