Curing and Cooking with Ruhlman & Polcyn's "Charcuterie" (Part 2)

[ronnie_suburban]

Abra, to me that definition looks awesome. Really, that's exactly what I shoot for. Great shots, too.

As for their lack of juiciness, I'm not sure what to say. My first inclination would be that you didn't use enough fat but you seem to have that covered.

=R=

[Mallet]

OK.  This topic is approaching epic proportions.  Chris, forgive me for asking, but please refresh my feeble memory about your curing chamber...

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I've recently learned that you can search WITHIN specific threads, very useful for monster topics like this one...

[jmolinari]

I'll be making some salame this weekend, and i've never used the KA to paddle the mixture, i've always done it by hand.

Can someone who has tell me how much fits in the KA Artisan bowl without it overflowing, and how long did you paddle your Tuscan salame mixture so you didn't smear the fat?

thanks

jason

[Bombdog]

Abra, I'm with Ron, those look great! But I have to think that adding some back fat would help. Even if I have a good fatty butt I still add some fat.

Jason, I just paddled the mixture, very cold, but didn't try to get the really emulsified texture.

I don't have any pictures of the mixture, but here is one of the finished product. I remember thinking when was stuffing it that perhaps the pieces of fat were too big.

[mdbasile]

From what I have determined - I washed off GOOD mold and had no bad mold...

Did I do any damage by wiping off the good mold?

Edited May 24, 2006 by mdbasile (log)

[jmolinari]

Dave, how much fit in your bowl?

jason

[mdbasile]

Abra - those are very nice -- and I agree great definition...

.. and one cannot have too much pork fat....

[mdbasile]

Abra, I'm with Ron, those look great!  But I have to think that adding some back fat would help.  Even if I have a good fatty butt  I still add some fat.

Jason, I just paddled the mixture, very cold, but didn't try to get the really emulsified texture.

I don't have any pictures of the mixture, but here is one of the finished product.  I remember thinking when was stuffing it that perhaps the pieces of fat were too big.

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Looks like the perfect salami to me!

[Abra]

Jason, in my shot above, you can see 1 1/2 lbs of meat in a 6 quart bowl. I've been making small batches, since we can't eat that much sausage. More would fit, of course, but that might help you gauge the amount that will do well in your KA. This batch was paddled for 2 minutes.

I did rinse the lamb prosciutto, by the way, but completely forgot about the soak. I'm not acquitting myself too well as far as following directions goes.

Great find, Martin! I never noticed the Search Topic button either.

[Bombdog]

Dave, how much fit in your bowl?

jason

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I can fit 5 lbs. It's pushing up on the edges at first so I just kinda wrap my big mitts around the top for 30 seconds. I suppose I could use that pain in the butt plastic shield that came with it, if I could find it.

[Bombdog]

Ok all - I panicked today about mold...

After all this discussion about mold - I saw white raised chalky mold all over my salami's and FREAKED....

I rubbed them all down with 50/50 vinegar/water.... then I read the section about mold...

Sooo white mold -- the powdery stuff is ok - no?

Did I do any damage with the vinegar wipe-down? Sorry no photos, but it looked roughly like someone blew snow on parts of them...

Input is appreciated....

Thanks.

Mark

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Mark, from what I can tell you didn't do any damage. I have YET to have any mold of either sort and I've come out okay so far. I don't think I've read anything that says the white mold enhances the product, just that it's okay.

Still, I have a wee bit of good mold envy.

[jmolinari]

I never get mold on my salame, and it ticks me off:) Acutally i have read that the mold is a GOOD thing, in that it consumes some of the lactic acid produced by the acidification process.

Butcher packer even sells an surface innoculation mold to spray the salame with. I'll try some next time i order from them.

Thanks for the info Dave and Abra, i'll probably make a 4.5lb batch or so.

jason

[mdbasile]

Mold is Back!!! Hoping it stays the course!!!

Those with experience - good??

[Expat Russ]

My dad used to fish a lot and there was an old gentleman who would come down to the boat landing on his scooter from time to time and watch with some kids on bicycles the boats coming in....My dad swore that it never failed that when Nate and the kids were there, the landing would be a clusterbleep...as such, when either of us screws up something, we typically laugh and say Nate and the kids must be around...well Nate and the kids were in my kitchen this weekend!!!!

I

1. Found out that 5lbs of sausage don't fit into a 5 lbs stuffer

2. 10 ft approx of casings don't equal 10 ft of stuffed casings (I can't as an engineer believe I was this stupid)

3. The metal bottom of a stuffer and Corian countertops don't make a good match...although my wife is probably now expecting that expedited granite.

4. Never chose Monday night to do your first smoking experience !!!

5. It is possible to dirty every pot/pan/dish/utensil if you try hard enough...

On the bright side my jagerwurst turned out fantastic in my new bradley smoker, my duck and roasted garlic sausage was decedent, the cured salmon was gone within 36 hours, and the pork belly is happily curing awaiting its date with the smoker next weekend.

[Chris Amirault]

Looks and sounds good, Mark and Russ! I, too, can report the return of good mold:

It's chalky white; the fuzzy zits are gone. Here's what the whole gang looks like in the big black box:

After a few squeezes like that old woman sneaking around the produce section in Tampopo, I chose the firmest link in the batch:

And then I decided that it was time to give the peperone a try.

I could report on the flavor, starting off with an intense meaty sensation, followed by layers, in order, of fennel seed, then tang, then pepper. I could brag about that definition and consistency -- notice that there's no dry edge, thanks to my devotion to humidity. I could tell you that I was amazed by the complexity of this suddenly new food, a tired stand-by turned into something profound.

While that's all kind of true, what is more true is that, no matter how often I pondered our hale forebears curing meat in caves and basements, I couldn't help but think, obsessively, that I might be making myself sick.

It's disappointing to realize that I'm such a fucking pathetic American sometimes.

Onward!

[ronnie_suburban]

Chris, that is absolutely masterful. It really looks perfect. Congrats on a job well done and also for not screwing the pooch (as Gus Grissom might say), when things started to spiral on you.

My peperone has been drying since Saturday and I cannot wait for it to be done. I realized tonight that I should have taken a portion of it and hot-smoked it. That way I could have been enjoying it sooner (like now!!) and getting to try it 2 different ways. Oh well, I'll save that for next time.

Russ, it sounds like you've been a very busy boy.

=R=

[Chris Amirault]

Thanks, Ron. I'll be interested to learn what you think "done" is. I have to say it's got a different consistency than the usual sticks, softer but also more... textural, if that makes sense. And unlike commercial stuff, the first thing you taste, the dominant effect, is one of cured meat, not spice and heat. Even the tang is clearly meat-based.

[Abra]

Wowsers, Chris, that was a beautiful save from a moment of what looked like sure disaster. Congratulations!

Ok, next up for me will be peperone. My husband adores peperone pizza. I forget if you guys mentioned above - did you use sheep casings to get it smaller?

I swear, pork and beans is one of the world's hardest dishes to photograph. But I wanted to post this here because I knew you guys would get it totally.

Rancho Gordo's Ojo de Cabra Beans with Four Home-Cured Porks: Guanciale, Double Smoked Bacon, Tasso, and Pork and Garlic Sausage. I was telling my husband how easy it had been to make dinner tonight, and he said "yeah, but it took you three months to get your mise together!"

[Chris Amirault]

I used pork casings, Abra. They seem to be working fine.


 

[Moderator note: This topic continues here, Cooking with Ruhlman & Polcyn's "Charcuterie" (Part 3)]

Edited June 3, 2015 by Mjx
Note added. (log)