mdbasile

Welcome Tristar!! Nice to have your input here.

Just pulled down and sliced my Lamb Procuitto!!! I am very pleased!! Note the slicer - was in my parents basement - what a find!!! Nice and thin slices....

Hey all -- Got a little problem -- have my Pancetta hanging for 1 week now and I have found tiny fuzzy mold at the ends -- seems it just happened in the last couple of days. I have wiped it with the vinegar/water mixture. Should I just pull it down and slice those pieces off, or wait a couple of days? The book says 2 weeks hanging, and I am at 1. Or could I just stick it in the fridge for the next week? All help is appreciated...

Doc-G - like that packaging!!! Also what perfect looking product. What kind of casings did you use?

Jeniac - I have made the salmon about 7 times and I am happy with the following: 3 lb Costco Salmon 3/4 cup koscher salt 1.5 cups mixed light and dark brown sugar 1/4 scotch zest of 1 lime. Comes out perfect everytime. Also let it sit at least 2 days after it is done - seems to get better that way....

YUM !!!!!!!!!! Tried it today with the chicken and turkey, which turned out great: Let me say that I didn't cure the duck for as long as I'd have liked; it was a muscovy duck breast, not pekin/long island (that's all Whole Paycheck had, at $15 a pound, too); I used ruby port instead of madeira. OK, having said that: this stuff is duck crack. Here it is on a plate with the last of my peperone. The color isn't as good in the photo as the duck turned out; it's more pink than brown. You can get a better sense of the colors here: I've had my doubts about adding flavorings to the brine of stuff I'm going to smoke, out of a sense that it's often hard to pick up the nuances. But I really could pick up the flavorings here, which played fantastically off the smoke. I really, really encourage you to make this recipe. ←

Trust me on this - I made a shit load of sausages(20lbs 80+ links) with the KA and it was a royal pain in the ass. If I had known just how bad the KA stuffer was, there is no way I would have used it. Not only is it difficult, but it ruins the sausage by smearing it. You need a piston stuffer - period!! Trust me.

Hmmm. Would it be a worthwhile thing to vac-pack the non-uniformly dried sausage, and keep it thus, in the fridge for a week or two? I'd expect that sealing it in would be the best way to even out the moisture distribution. You should be well protected against big bad botulism, the worry would be whether any other moulds or other nasties are going to take advantage of the conditions... hence keeping it really cool, while it evens itself out. ← Actually that is what I did - wrapped in plastic for 2 days and now they are fine....

LOL! Mark, I'll say that I'd definitely just brush it off and eat it. After all, I ate that green jowl bacon. I guess that I'm up for just about anything. =R= ← Just think of the resistance your building up! ← I like it.... yes - well it is now hanging and lookin good... I'll post a photo

Thanks for the vote of confidence... I think... It is only 1 of a dozen links, and I am now hanging it under refridgeration... I'll decide in a week or so if I will freeze and then eat or toss..... or just slice em and have a nice day...

Ok - I have a nice one... One of my pieces of Venison salami fell to the floor in my cellar... I am thinking it was there for about 1 week... with nice white mold - BTW... anyway the parts that were on the floor were still "soft and wet meat, while the exposed areas were pretty dry. Floor is a cellar floor - though I doubt any bugs... It looks and smells fine - Do I have to pitch it or should I continue to hang and wait?

That mold looks like the good white stuff to me - can you get a clearer photo?

Hmm... I guess I will be living dangerously then. The Tuscan and the Chirizo were both done with ME-K "in" the salami and they are fine -- eaten a bunch and still here. The Venison I have hanging is the same - I'll keep my fingers crossed. It had been frozen very cold far a few months. I spoke with BP about it and I am pretty sure if it goes bad - I'll know it. I am thinking that getting a serious strain of deadly bacteria is not very likely... I am curing right @ 60 degrees Doesn't the curing salt DC #2 in my case help prevent deadly bacteria?

... to acidify the sausage to the point that the deadly, but tasteless, odourless and not visually evident Botulinus bacteria can't tolerate. ← OK got it. What role does the sugar then play? Then I am back to my original question about the ME-K - does it do this job?

Thomas - yes welcome. I like the way you have hung the salami's (well hung !!?? -- sorry couldn't resist) - nice way to keep them from touching, and give a cool look. Wouldn't one get fermentation from the sugars even w/out the bactoferm? I thought the bactoferm was a prevententative(if that is a word) for bacteria not a fermentation agent....

Jason - that is what I am hoping - for this batch of Venison salami... clearly my Tuscan and Chirizo are ok with the M-EK.... just want to know what is what. Frankly I like the mold effect with the M-EK -- really gives that white powder coating!!!

Thanks Ron.... also 5 lbs of backfat, 2lbs veal chunks and one 7 lb pork belly not pictured... So much pork... so little time.... BTW - the Vension Salami is with toasted crushed juniper berries and black, green and pink crushed peppercorns and some garlic... along with the kosher, dextrose and curing salt...

Here is the difference between the KA - bottom and the Grizzly- Top. The one KA - was at the very beginning - started ok, as you can see on the left and then went straight to..SMEAR.... As you can see the others are good...

Here is my lamb procuitto and venison salami hanging.. Pancetta, Guiancale, bacon curing and a pork shoulder in waiting...

Hmm - well I put it in last Salami and got great mold.... but do I need another bactoferm product too - to keep bacteria from forming?

Bactoferm question: There are 3 different product on the Butcher Packer website. LHP Bactoferm™ F-RM-52 M-EK-4 Bactoferm What is the difference? I read the info, but really could figure it out. FWIW - I have used both of the last two, and obviously using the M-EK-4 has given me some nice mold, but can I use any of these?

Nice Work Chris!!

Agreed - I made some Venison Salami (will post photos) Sunday and was using myn KA stuffer - I was getting all kind smearing - I was swearing a blue streak -- in serious frustration. Next thing I know my wife is staning next to be with a box... saying Happy Fathers' day a little early!!! Man was I thrilled with my new 5lb Grissly stuffer !!!! How the hell I have been able to use the KA is now beyond me -- The stuffer is sooo much easier - a fraction of the time and mostly NO SMEAR !!!! Thanks Honey!!!

YES! That's it exactly! Better in fact: you can't eat your pets! (Bourdain excluded, of course.) ← I dunno 'bout that. I've got an African Grey Parrot that has come extremely close to becoming a late night snack on more than one occasion. Usually when he interupts a conversation with a Bourdain like stream of profanity! ← well we used to have a basset hound...think fried ears.. ..on a more serious note... started guiancale, pancetta, and hanging a lamb proscuitto... damn I love you guys.........

I dont' see why you need to choose. I made Tuscan salame first along with bresaola. I'd do more than one salame if I was you. Your family can clean you out if they like it....and then you are sitting there waiting for another batch to cure. ← Agreed. It is just a little more effort to make the 2nd one. Tuscan is a good start, and Chirizo/Pepperone would be a good 2nd....