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

[Tom Gengo]

Did you use Morton's or Diamond Crystal, and did you measure or weigh the ingredients?  There's a note somewhere near the front of the book that says there's a noticeable difference in volume between the two.  I believe Ruhlman says the book's recipes are tested with Morton's, so if you happened to use DC, that may be your problem.

ETA: Oh, and to answer your question, I'm not particularly precise.  I just pt together the specified ratio and make sure the whole slab is well covered.

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Mike, you are on target: Diamond kosher salt is a larger crystal. Can't remember where I saw the conversion, but it is about a 33% increase in volume. ERgo, for every cup of Mortons you would need 1 1/3 cups of Diamond. However, if the ingredients are weighed, a much preferable method, then there is no concern for the differences in volume measurements. As such, it is unlikely that the brand made a difference here since the book recommends Morton's.

Another difference in the products: Mortons has an anti caking agent in it vs. Diamond w/o any "adulterants." Despite the impurities in Mortons and primarily due to accesability, I utilize the Mortons & have not found any adverse flavors.

[qrn]

I will weigh in ,(pun intended),

Mortons Canning and Pickling salt is better than any of these. Its just salt, with no

additives at all, its also very fine, and pure, so it dissolves easily. If you are doing a brine , you can use it without need to heat the water. If adding sugar , use ultra fine bakers sugar for the same reasons.

Only caveat is that you need to use them by weight...

Bud

[randallrosa]

Took my belly out of the cure and gave it a little smoke today. It is VERY salty. In the book, they say if this happens to blanch it before cooking. I guess I'll have to do so because it is really not going to be edible as it is.

I did what it said to do, but this just did not turn out for me.  Really sort of disappointed

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I had a similar issue. Instead of blanching before cooking indivdual strips, I soaked the whole belly in cold water for about 1 hour, I completely dried it, and it seems to reduce the salt dramatically. I did loose some smoke flavor so I put it back in the smoker for about 1 hour and got the smoke profile back.

I think the recommended 7 day cure is assuming a thick belly (2 inch +), and some of the thinner bellies can be cured in about 5 days. I give the belly a tap test- once the meat of the belly is hard, its time to move it to the cold smoke ( after a day of drying)

hope that helps.

Randall

[genarog]

So I put my guanciale in the adpated wine cooler two weeks ago, and it weighed 619 grams. One week later it was 585 grams (94%). And now it's at 575 grams (93%).

The wine cooler has been at between 58 and 62 degrees and between 60% and 75% humidity.

Is it supposed to lose weight this slow? I don't care if it takes 6 months and ends up tasting better, I'm just concerned that I may be doing something wrong. So far it smells ok, though.

[qrn]

So I put my guanciale in the adpated wine cooler two weeks ago, and it weighed 619 grams.  One week later it was 585 grams (94%). And now it's at 575 grams (93%).

The wine cooler has been at between 58 and 62 degrees and between 60% and 75% humidity.

Is it supposed to lose weight this slow? I don't care if it takes 6 months and ends up tasting better, I'm just concerned that I may be doing something wrong. So far it smells ok, though.

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as long as its not covered with green, or other scary looking mold, its ok....You are not making dried/cured sausage at 40%drying loss...

Bud

[Chris Amirault]

And my experience with lop yuk and pancetta suggests that fatty cuts lose their moisture more slowly than meatier cuts.

[jmolinari]

Definitely pancetta and guanciale lose weight slower than meatier items. I don't weigh my pancetta anymore. I just go by time. Minimum 3-4 weeks and i use it. I've left it for a year in one batch and it was still good, it wasn't overcured/overdried, so i stopped bothering with the weighing of this particular cured meat.

[genarog]

Thanks for all the replies. One more question: once I take the guanciale out and start taking slices from it, can I put it back in the cooler with the rest of the products I'm still drying? Or should it go to the fridge?

[jmolinari]

I think putting it back in teh curing chamber shouldn't be a problem. You're exposing a "fresh" piece to the air, but i don't see why that would be bad.

Why not just put it in the fridge though?

[randallrosa]

I love the duck proscuitto that I make based on the MR recipe.

When using the larger duck breasts inevitably the meat side gets quite dry.

im curing at 56-58 and 60-63 humidity for about 1.5-2 weeks on a big duck breast

I was thinking of melting down some duck fat to a paste and coating the exposed side to keep it more even...has anyone tried that? or have any other solutions?

randall

[arbeck]

I've been cooking out of this book for a while, and I've almost used up my winter supply of smoked meats. Thankfully it's just about time to get the smoker out again. My question is about the bacon recipe. I've had very good success with it. I've been buying skin on bellies from a local Japanese Market (Uwajimaya). I'd like to upgrade the quality of pork I'm using, however I can not find a local supplier of bellies with the skin on. All the Berkshire and Mangalista sources I've talked to only process skinless pork. My question is, has anyone tried the bacon recipe using skinless pork?

[meicjos41]

I've been cooking out of this book for a while, and I've almost used up my winter supply of smoked meats.  Thankfully it's just about time to get the smoker out again.  My question is about the bacon recipe.  I've had very good success with it.  I've been buying skin on bellies from a local Japanese Market (Uwajimaya).  I'd like to upgrade the quality of pork I'm using, however I can not find a local supplier of bellies with the skin on.  All the Berkshire and Mangalista sources I've talked to only process skinless pork.  My question is, has anyone tried the bacon recipe using skinless pork?

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I just made some this week. I ordered a whole pig, and gave them specific specifications about how I wanted it butchered; however, they ended up slicing the belly with the skin already off. I just tied the slices together and cured it as normal (no skin). I only cured it for five days, and it was a little salty, but after a minute blanch it tasted perfect. I just pulled out some more sliced pork belly from my freezer this morning, and am planning on doing curing it tonight or tomorrow but for only 3.5 days. I think that you'll be able to make some pretty delicious bacon even if there is no skin to begin with.

[qrn]

I've been cooking out of this book for a while, and I've almost used up my winter supply of smoked meats.  Thankfully it's just about time to get the smoker out again.  My question is about the bacon recipe.  I've had very good success with it.  I've been buying skin on bellies from a local Japanese Market (Uwajimaya).  I'd like to upgrade the quality of pork I'm using, however I can not find a local supplier of bellies with the skin on.  All the Berkshire and Mangalista sources I've talked to only process skinless pork.  My question is, has anyone tried the bacon recipe using skinless pork?

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I always skin the belly before cure /smoke. no problems...I Get it from local H mart, Korean super mkt.

Now all I need is to use up all the skin I have in the freezer...

Bud

[jupe]

Though not directly from the book, this was inspired by it--and it's something I make quite regularly because of how easy and delishus it is. Cured then confitted pork loin.

I like to serve it with a variation on home made mayo, but with almonds, more lemon juice, and cilantro blended in as well.

Edited March 16, 2009 by jupe (log)

[jupe]

Again, these are variations on recipes presented in Charcuterie, but I would never have attempted them without the book. So, in honor of St. Patricks, here is home made corned beef with butter lettuce, home made raw milk cheddar, and avocado (which you can't really see).

Edited March 18, 2009 by jupe (log)

[McDuff]

I just came home with a whacking big pork belly from whole foods. 16.5 lbs and it's the size of a sirloin strip. I'm going to make bacon, try pancetta, and do a gordon ramsay thing with some. It's got a lot of fat on the outside, no skin, and after I trim some of that off and find that it may be too thick still to roll nicely, does anyone think it would be a problem to butterfly the piece I'm going to use for the pancetta?

[Andrew Fenton]

Pastrami!

Whoa nelly, this stuff is good. Brined a 3-lb brisket for three days (and it could have done with a little more), then smoked it today for five hours. A couple of hours' braise (I used some vegetable stock I had kicking around rather than water), cooling in the fridge, and here it is:

I tried a couple of slices tonight... tomorrow, I intend to make a truly kicking reuben for lunch!

[menuinprogress]

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That looks absolutely fantastic!

I *need* to get some brisket on the smoker...

[Andrew Fenton]

I *need* to get some brisket on the smoker...

Indeed you do!

In the words of George Costanza, I find the pastrami to be the most sensual of the salted cured meats...

[TheSwede]

I'm planning on starting my first air dried sausage tomorrow, the Tuscan Salami from Charcuterie that Chris Hennes has executed brilliantly earlier in this thread.

I'm planning on hand dicing the fat, but I'm a bit unsure about the grinding of the meat. The book states "small die" but prevous attempts with my Kitchen Aid grinder has yielded an almost homogenous texture with the small die. Should I do half the meat on the coarse die and half on the fine? Or all on the coarse?

Any insights?

[McDuff]

I just came home with a whacking big pork belly from whole foods. 16.5 lbs and it's the size of a sirloin strip. I'm going to make bacon, try pancetta, and do a gordon ramsay thing with some. It's got a lot of fat on the outside, no skin, and after I trim some of that off and find that it may be too thick still to roll nicely, does anyone think it would be a problem to butterfly the piece I'm going to use for the pancetta?

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to answer my own question...it was two bellys in the bag, meat side in. I wondered why there was fat on both sides of it. so i have 5 lbs curing for bacon, 5 lb curing for pancetta, some is on the stove right now using a recipe from FAT for red cooked pork belly and the rest is chilling under weights in the reefer after being braised with white wine, a lot of garlic and some other aromatics and herbs.

[jmolinari]

I'm planning on starting my first air dried sausage tomorrow, the Tuscan Salami from Charcuterie that Chris Hennes has executed brilliantly earlier in this thread.

I'm planning on hand dicing the fat, but I'm a bit unsure about the grinding of the meat. The book states "small die" but prevous attempts with my Kitchen Aid grinder has yielded an almost homogenous texture with the small die. Should I do half the meat on the coarse die and half on the fine? Or all on the coarse?

Any insights?

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Use the "large" KA die that comes with the grinder. You're correct, the smallest KA die just makes a mush in my experience.

[TheSwede]

Use the "large" KA die that comes with the grinder. You're correct, the smallest KA die just makes a mush in my experience.

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Thanks, that is what I did. Checked your blog before grinding and came to the same conclusion.

The salami is fermenting right now. I'm fermenting in the oven, but at room temperature (24C/75F) so I figure around 24-36 hours.

[jmolinari]

Use the "large" KA die that comes with the grinder. You're correct, the smallest KA die just makes a mush in my experience.

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Thanks, that is what I did. Checked your blog before grinding and came to the same conclusion.

The salami is fermenting right now. I'm fermenting in the oven, but at room temperature (24C/75F) so I figure around 24-36 hours.

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Duration depends on your culture...

[OliverB]

just got some more bacon in the bag! Hmmm, one week from today......

Also just received my waring pro meat grinder yesterday, the sausage stuffer shall be here Monday. I see some good meat on my plate in the near future! I'll probably start with Nuremberg Sausages as that's where I'm from and I just got a recipe from a local butcher there :-)