Bombdog

Susan and Ron Those things look awesome! Sorry I've been away for a few hours guys...we were enjoying the pool and 80 degree weather here today. <dig> Anyway, I too am a link-a-holic. I paid a visit to the butcher yesterday and came away with 10 lbs of fresh shoulder, 5 lbs of fat back and 13 lbs of belly. Can you say fresh? When I asked if they had any belly available, she said, "Let me see if they have started cutting up the hogs yet?" So, other than the pool today we have cubed up 5 lbs of beef for peperone, 10 lbs of shoulder for more Tuscan salame and Linguica, and separated and put 3 sections of belly into cure for bacon. We're getting ready to stuff the peperone and linguica. Tomorrow we'll finish up the Tuscan salame and some turkey sausage of our own design. Yesterday, when Beth got off graveyards, we had a charcuterie plate of bresaola, duck breast proscuitto, and Tuscan salame with pecorino. For dinner we had pasta carbonara with homemade panceta... Is this a great new hobby or what!? Dave

Jason, I just used the standard hog casings...not sure of the mm size, about 1 1/4-1/2 in diameter. Dave

Anna This isn't going to help you now...but as Michael has suggested in the past, Butcher-Packer.com is a much better resource for supplies, as far as costs go. Dave

Michael, I'm kind of confused. Are you saying that the KA doesn't work for those reasons if you grind and stuff in one session? I usually grind my mixture into the KA bowl (in ice) and then paddle it. I take a few minutes to re chill everything and then put the mixture into the attachment with the blade and die removed to stuff it. This is a close up of the lamb sausage I made last week. I didn't think it was crumbly, but now I'm not sure. Dave

Jason, it was the largest die on the KA grinder, 1/4 inch I believe. Dave

Susan, I think for the most part all of us here are novices at this adventure, with the exception of Jason. I have chopped and mixed and left overnight before grinding a couple of times. I can't see where it makes any difference at all. You can certainly grind and stuff on the same day (depending on what you are making). Unless your choice calls for an overnight rest before stuffing...go for it. The only suggestion I have is to let the grind chill real well before stuffing. I know that others have had bad things to say about the KA grinder/stuffer. Personally, with an extra set of hands, I haven't had any real issues. It's not the most professional set up, but HEY, I'm still a rookie too. I would clean your grinder atachment after grinding and put it in the freezer while the ground filling chills, just to make everything as cold as you can. AND, even though Ron thinks I am really talented at tubing, stuffing the grinder and taking pics all at once, I found that having an extra set of hands feeding the grinder/stuffer while I tube seems to work pretty well. Just take your time during the tubing process...don't be afraid to turn the machine off and make adjustments to your process. Keep your filling COLD and you shouldn't have any problems. Good luck Dave

Thanks Ron. Hard as it may be to believe, that salami was my first curing project. I followed the recipe in the book to the letter and never had one bit of a problem. I checked them at the recommended time and decided another week was a good idea. At that point, they were just a bit softer than I thought they should be, although the taste was great. I'm guessing <knock on wood> that it was just beginners luck. Michael speaks to so many things that can go wrong that I was pretty much resigned to having some sort of problem. I can't see you having any problems with the project Ron. Other than the curing time, they really are not any different from so many of the other projects you've already done. Dave

I guess this is my lucky day. When I checked my notes for Abra, I discovered that the Tuscan salami should be ready. Flavor is wonderful, nice and firm to the touch. I'm pretty full of myself today! Dave

Abra, I hope you meant your pancetta, not proscuitto. Mine was cured for 10 days and then into the curing chamber on March 22. Dave

Well, I completely forgot to take pictures yesterday when I took the lamb out of the cure and hung it. On the bright side, I took the pancetta out this morning Very happy with the results. I guess I got it rolled tight enough, as it seems fine inside. You're so right Ron, about how difficult that process can be. Dave

Abra, did you mean to ask Jason that question? I'm not at all clear on what you are asking me. Dave

I agree completely. I have a small hard back journal type notebook in the kitchen that I have periodically used for jotting down things culinary for quite some time. The entire back half is now used to document my charcuterie projects. I find it very useful, if for nothing else, than to refer to for dates and weights. As I have moved towards projects of my own (and Jason's) the incredients are important too. Dave

Abra, yes I sliced it by hand. My favorite knife is a 12 inch Henckels Pro S chef's knife, nearing 30 years old, which had a pretty cool first user Regarding the lamb proscuito...I don't believe there is a recipe in the book, nor did Jason post one originally. He just commented on the spices used to cure the leg. I looked at the book recipe that I used for proscuito and kinda winged it. I'll be pulling it out of the cure tomorrow, and have pictures before I put it in also. I'll post both. Dave

I totally agree!

I used the one in the book Jason. Not sure if it comes across in the picture, but the flesh is very firm and easy to slice paper thin. The flavor is a bit gamey (expected) and very remeniscent of pork proscuito. These are not some kind of special duck, just a supermarket buy in South Carolina. Perhaps that's the difference? Dave

I'm honored Ron. I used about 2.5 lbs of lamb to about 10 oz of fat back, trying to stay in the ratios Michael suggests. Probably about 3 T of chopped fresh rosemary, 3 or 4 cloves of garlic, 2 t of kosher salt and added the crumbled/diced feta AFTER the grind. On an other note (happily), I removed the duck proscuito from the box today... What a happy mouth this created! This stuff is great! I highly recommend it! Dave

Yeah, well, that WAS a bit difficult. Those andouille are incredible! I think I found my next project. Thanks Ron

Okay, so I get this wild hair, the fiance and I wanted lamb and I wanted to make some sausage. I thumbed through the book and decided it shouldn't be too hard, as Michael suggested early on. The idea was to create a sausage that was like a piece of rosemary and garlic marinated and grilled lamb. So here it is. Simply, lamb, fat back, rosemary, garlic, salt pepper, a bit of paprika, and just before stuffing about a cup of crumbled feta. Before grinding and adding the feta During the stuffing. Lucky for me, I usually have a second set of hands and the KA stuffer hasn't been much of a problem. All stuffed and linked. And here they are, with tabbouleh. We were both extremely pleased with the flavor and texture, exactly as I wanted. More importantly, I was pretty happy that we have graduated to the point of making our own sausage, from conception of an idea to dinner table. Dave

My temps are a bit lower (48F or so) and my humidity stays a pretty constant 65%. I'm guessing that since my drying appears to be pretty consistent and there has yet to be any mold (good or bad) that I'm okay with those numbers. I'll do a weight check at 30 days and see where it is then. Thanks for the help Dave

I used the bone in, thinking more along the tradional lines, I think...as far as the flavor...Well, let's just say that your description of strong and lamby was the reason I tried it to begin with. This was a fairly small leg, at 5.5 lbs. I'm curious what you think about hang time after the cure?

Jason, I have a leg of lamb curing right now, inspired by your upthread post. It should be ready to come out of the cure and begin "hang time" in a day or so. We are making lamb, rosemary, garlic and feta sausages tonite of our own design. I'll post pics tomorrow.

I'm not sure how you figure that. It was the hard work and enthusiasm of both Brian and yourself that created the book and inspired me to begin. My curing projects are beginning to come out now. This is the bresaola that went into the curing chamber (fancy term for the hi jacked refrigerator in the garage) on March 7th at 1.5 lbs and removed yesterday at 15 oz. Great flavor and texture and never a hint of mold of any sort. The duck breast proscuito should be ready tomorrow or Friday, along with the Tuscan salami.

Chris, please let us know how it is on arrival. My fiance is all over me to ship some things to her mother. I was thinking of doing it in the same manner.

I told ya! And it was worth EVERY bit of the wait, wasn't it?

Right...I leave it on and then defend my right to eat it with deadly force.