goutdelavie

I personally haven't. But Alton Brown actually had an episode on that. It involved brining the bacon as well as smoking. The smoking actually acts as a preservative as well - giving the meat a longer shelf-life. I'm not sure how it would go otherwise. If you just salt it I'm sure you'll get some great cured belly for use as lardons. It will also be FANTASTIC if you confit it.

For me personally, I prefer the large die on my KitchenAid for almost all grinding. The only way I can get a larger grind though is if I have my butcher do it - they can get a REALLY coarse grind that is really good for some things. It's also how they do their own sausage. Long story short - be friends with your butcher!

My scale actually JUST died on me so I'm not certain of the % loss. Regarding the air, I thought that I go most of it out. I also used a sterilized needle and 'massaged' them a bit to try to make sure they were packed densely. I guess i need to be more assertive about that next time around. Side note - love your site! Is it ok if I add it to the links on my blog, goutdevie.com?

I love the Charcuterie book. I've cured Salmon a few times, made bacon, hot and sweet Italian sausages, chicken sausage, and a delicious Bratwurst that my friends went totally crazy over (easy to impress perhaps?) It seemed to me that it was time to make the jump to a dry-cured sausage. I've become friends with the folks at my local butcher shop and they have been very helpful with some things. When I decided to dry-cure they were willing to hang the sausage for me since New York City apartments aren't cooperative when it comes to temperature and humidity. My butcher shop also cures some of their own meats so it seemed logical to leave mine there. Saucisson Sec seemed the best place to start. I wanted to use the minimum number of ingredients so that I could taste, see, and smell anything that might have gone wrong. Well, no such luck. The sausage felt firm but had just a touch of give. When I cut it open, it was a bit loose on the inside and a much lighter color. Case Hardening? It seems that way based on Ruhlman's troubleshooting section but of course, I'm hoping that it just needs more time. I picked it up from the butcher at the 20 day mark and also used hog casings for a smaller sausage. Here are a few pictures: As I said, it's been 20 days. More time? Or start over?