[Green Mold on Dry-Cured Sausages?!]

If fuzzy, green mold shows up... wash down with a vinegar solution as per Sam's post? rub with olive oil as per the Barcelona dude? let it bloom, bloom, bloom as per the Calabria dudes?

I came across this paragraph while reading Pamela Sheldon Johns' Prosciutto Pancetta Salame.

Mold is an important effect of the aging process. As it develops on the surface of the meat, it regulates humidity, allowing the product to dry slowly and uniformly. In the first three or four days, white mold grows only near the lean parts. After two or three months, the skin is uniformly covered in white or gray to green mold. The amino acids and peptides in the meat react with beneficial molds to neutralize any nonbeneficial molds. Controlling the temperature and humidity helps to avoid the production of toxic molds; the ideal conditions are temperatures under 20 degrees C (70 degrees F), with a relative humidity lower than 80 percent.

←

Like everything else, there seems to be some people who swear that it needs to be one way or you die, and others that claim the exact opposite. Those photos of the green mold on those professionally made salamis are eye opening for sure, and lead me to believe that it is a natural part of the aging process as the above quote states.

I am in the middle of my 3rd try at salami, dry curing in a wine fridge with a humidifier and a humidistat, and have not had mold to speak of during my first 2 batches. But this current project, which has been drying for a week, looks like it is about to bloom hard. I'll see what happens but I now think I'm going to refrain from wiping off any mold until the aging process is complete.

Incubation

after one week

[Making Bacon]

There's been a big debate about the "dry" vs wet cure here, Marlene, and a lot of us have come to the conclusion that Ruhlman's "dry" cure doesn't distribute the cure evenly enough. I have done his method many times using my FoodSaver machine, and the bellies don't release enough liquid to allow for complete overhauls of the meat in the cure. That results in lots of intense edge curing, with exteriors more salty and sweet than interiors. I've served lots of pieces of bacon that are extra dark on the ends from having too much sugar there.

So, this time around, I used a modified-Ruhlman approach, dredging the bellies in his cure, sticking them in pretty tight-fitting pans, and then barely covering them with water. This is very imprecise -- there are a lot of people who have strict notions about brine percentages that may find this heresy -- but it resulted in a very strong curing liquid, easy overhauling (moving the meat around in the cure), and a even distribution.

Perhaps this would only work once you've done it a few times another way. I've done enough bellies that I'm now going by feel; I can tell when it's cured enough. However, the ease is very attractive, and the results excellent. Next time -- I'm eager to do another rosemary cure soon -- I'll document the entire process.

←

In Kutas book he describes a box cure method where the bellies are dry cured for a couple of days to release liquid, and then a brine is added to submerse the bellies for the remainder of the curing process. The brine ingredients are the same as the dry cure ingredients except they are dissolved in water.

I did not add liquid to mine, but did overhaul and redistribute the cure every 2 days. I actually dumped out the liquid as it accumulated so it would not overcure the submerged piece on the bottom. A true dry cure if you will. I made sure the pieces were pressed together very tightly and rotated them as I overhauled. Also did a nine day cure.

I'm interested in seeing the results of your experiment Elsie

[Rack of Lamb: Tips, Techniques & Sauces]

Looks fantastic!!

[Making Bacon]

Consensus sounds like 5 a pound is high. It is at Whole Foods, so that's likey why, but I've got a stellar butcher there - maybe he'll cut me a deal if I mention I want to make regular orders. He's a great, old-school butcher.

←

5 bucks a pound is way high. But nice bellies can be hard to find. I have paid that much before and I have paid much less for bellies that I was not happy with.

I recently lucked into these for $1.50 per lb. They cured in salt. pink salt and a three pepper medley for 9 days. No sugar in this batch. I smoked them with apple wood for 12 hours at temperatures less than 120F. The taste is awesome! My best batch yet.

[Thought I would share my Linguica]

Seems like Portugese style linguica is hard to find across the center of the US, but prevalent in every grocery store on both coasts. Here in Central Texas its nowhere.

So what is one to do? Make your own!!

I think I got it fairly authentic with coarse chopped pork butt and chunks of creamy fat. The meat was marinaded in Port wine, garlic and marjoram. Cured and cold smoked with a good amount of pepper mixed in. I love Linguica and grew up on it as a youth in Northern California. Not the easiest sausage to make, but worth the effort.

[Making Bacon]

If you can find a suitable outdoor enclosure, ( a large grill may work for small batches, or even an unused garbage can ), a hotplate with a cast iron skillet will smoke wood chips or sawdust and not give out much heat. Real smoke no oven!

Since bacon is an uncooked product, once cured, I just let it smoke to a desired color rather than worry about the internal temperature.

[Barbecue-Braising on the grill?]

Fine Cooking came up with a new issue(99) that has a picture of  "Barbecue-Braised Vietnamese Short Ribs" on the cover.

The article is by Bruce Aidells ( whose recipes have always worked well for me in the past).  This  article  "A new way to to grill: Barbecue-braising"  includes  recipes  for spare ribs, Thai chicken legs with lemon grass glaze, Moroccan lamb shanks, bourbon beef and Vietnamese short ribs.

All cooked using his four step technique: 

1.  Season,

2.  Sear on the grill,

3.  Braise in a pot on the grill,

4.  Remove from the pot, return to the grill  and glaze.

The pictures of cooked meat are great, but there is no picture of a pot after it has been involved in long searing on the grill.   OK, I have a cast iron dutch oven that could probably work without much damage.  The kitchen will stay cool while I barbecue-braise, BUT we use wood in our  charcoal grill...Will we require a retired railroad worker to keep the fire going?

The pictures look so good,  (especially the Bourbon Beef)  and Aidells sounds so convincing... What to do?  Is this really a new way to cook meat, or have some of you been there and done it?

←

This is not a new way to cook meat. A lot of BBQ folks using slow indirect cooking for like ribs, brisket, pork butt etc, will braise the meat during the middle of the long cooking process by tightly foiling the meat with liquid. The meat is then unfoiled and put back on the heat to firm up and/or glaze.

[Curing and Cooking with Ruhlman & Polcyn's "Charcuterie" (Part 6)]

I'm in Canada and Fermento is not to be found.  I know I can order it but shipping is crazy.  Is there a substitute for Fermento (maybe dry milk powder), or can I leave it out?

←

Fermento is used to add the tang of a fermented sausage without the starter culture. If you could get a starter culture you could just ferment per starter culture directions.

I have used both, however there is a substitute I have not used.

Encapsulated citric acid has the same purpose as fermento. Lots of info on the net.

[Curing and Cooking with Ruhlman & Polcyn's "Charcuterie" (Part 6)]

Hi, kinda new around here . If there are any bratwurst lovers out there, the recipe in Charcuterie is a good one. I have made it a couple of times. In this batch I substituted venison for the veal. The eggs and cream really make a great looking and tasting sausage.