Curing and Cooking with Ruhlman & Polcyn's "Charcuterie" (Part 4)

[ronnie_suburban]

I'll second that Mike....that is one NICE rolled tight pancetta...

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I'll "third" it -- great job! Any tips you can share for how you accomplished that?

=R=

[FoodMan]

I'll second that Mike....that is one NICE rolled tight pancetta...

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I'll "third" it -- great job! Any tips you can share for how you accomplished that?

=R=

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Don't forget to skin the belly and it'll roll up perfectly.

[Bombdog]

I'll second that Mike....that is one NICE rolled tight pancetta...

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I'll "third" it -- great job! Any tips you can share for how you accomplished that?

=R=

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Don't forget to skin the belly and it'll roll up perfectly.

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Well...............it's not always that easy, Elie....although I suspect that Mike must have skinnier fingers than me n' Ron. That would certainly make it easier!

[dynamike]

thanks for the compliments

here are some tips i can offer

i did remove the skin

when rolling i rolled over and then pulled the meat towards me thus tightening the roll

here is an example of how i tied it but with a dish towel

when i tied it up i left the end on the bottom wraped the string underneath it tied it tight then the rest of the string was wrapped using the method were you move the string down and then loop it thru

then the finished product

then i put it in the freezer to harden slightly and trimmed the edges so they were straight

hope this helps

[Expat Russ]

It has been a while since I posted...I've been busy balancing training for a marathon with my love of all things pig.

Made Brian's holiday Kielbasa recipe...I had some help grinding and stuffing. How is this for instilling good habits at an early age. Having my son help me (he is pushing the meat through while I load it in) and enjoy himself makes the food taste even better, though I'm sure this picture violates about 90 health regulations!!!!

BTW, the Kielbasa tasted great.

[Expat Russ]

Tonight I will make the smoked chicken and roasted garlic sausage...I'll let you know how it goes...the pancetta pictured makes me want to make a trip to the Eastern Market to get a belly...my bacon's have turned out great, so I can't imagine the joy of pancetta...

Edited December 21, 2006 by Expat Russ (log)

[FoodMan]

Mike- Thanks for the helpful pics. I never manages to get my tying to look so perfect, so I just cut small peices of string and tie it corsswise. I'll try your method when I roll my new pancetta this weekend.

If I can add one more tip for anyone who wants to roll pancetta it would be to make sure it is very very dry or you'll be in danger of it molding on the inside. I usually use paper towels then let it sit uncovered for an hour to make sure it is not damp from the washing water.

Russ- That's a sure keeper of a picture. He seems to be having a great time too. I get my 3 year old son to help me with the pasta maker, I need to get him to help me when I make sausage now.

[Bombdog]

Thanks Mike. That's the technique I use also. Although my finished product never looks as pretty as yours.

I finally got around to uploading a picture of the Caw Caw Creek belly.

As you can see, they come too small to roll for pancetta. I actually have plenty of pancetta on hand. But after Jason's comment I decided one of them MUST be cured for pancetta. I'll smoke the other two for bacon.

[Chris Amirault]

I'm making a course with duck ham for Christmas dinner (click) with this latest batch of duck ham, which turned out great:

[Bombdog]

I'm making a course with duck ham for Christmas dinner (click) with this latest batch of duck ham, which turned out great:

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Chris, that looks TERRIFIC!

[Bueno]

I'm making a course with duck ham for Christmas dinner (click) with this latest batch of duck ham, which turned out great:

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That is one of the most delicious posts in this entire thread -- and for this thread, that is saying one helluva lot. Great job!

[ronnie_suburban]

I'm making a course with duck ham for Christmas dinner (click) with this latest batch of duck ham, which turned out great:

Just save me some of that fat . . . yum!

Chris, how long did you cure those breasts?

=R=

[dynamike]

the caw caw creek bellies and shoulder look amazing. i will have to order some soon. for my charcuterie work thus far i only used some commercial pork because it is much quicker to buy. i feel it is very important to support small farmers and here is a article to push you over the edge of solidify your choice to choose small farms.

porks dirty llittle secret]porks secret

here is my pancetta i dried it ten days. i only took it down because its ends were becoming hard . after a taste test i felt i was a little salty but had nice flavor all around.

[Chris Amirault]

I'm making a course with duck ham for Christmas dinner (click) with this latest batch of duck ham, which turned out great:

Just save me some of that fat . . . yum!

Chris, how long did you cure those breasts?

=R=

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Thanks, everyone! I cut up two breasts, that one for lardons and the other in very thin slices.

Ron, I cured that breast for about 18 hours and then let them dry in the fridge for about 36. That recipe is a breeze, I must say.

[jmolinari]

Nice work all.

DAve, cure the pancetta flat like i do. I thikn it is better than rolled, i always make it flat. It dries out more, and therefore the flavor is even more concentrated!

[ronnie_suburban]

Nice work all.

DAve, cure the pancetta flat like i do. I thikn it is better than rolled, i always make it flat. It dries out more, and therefore the flavor is even more concentrated!

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I like this idea very much and will definitely try it next time -- even though Mike's pictorial was excellent. Do you suggest a cheese cloth wrap, netting, hook through a corner?

Russ, I absolutely love the picture of your son assisting you . . . can't start those little ones early enough

I really hope there's a Hobart slicer under our tree in the morning!

=R=

[dls]

There is a well written and informative article in the current edition (23 Dec. 2006) of The Economist entitled "Cured meat-feet in the trough". Thought it might be of interest to some of the participants on this thread. Click here.

[Bombdog]

There is a well written and informative article in the current edition (23 Dec. 2006) of The Economist entitled "Cured meat-feet in the trough". Thought it might be of interest to some of the participants on this thread. Click here.

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Great article...thanks for sharing.

Jason, I've previously cured some pancetta flat. You're so right, it's much easier.

Ron, I just tied a couple of loose loops of string around the piece and let it hang as if rolled.

[StanSherman]

Hi,

First post to this topic. We’ve been working on some ideas while collecting toys/tools. We’ve got the stuffer and meat grinder. We’ll be getting a Bradley smoker in a few days.

We do a Berkshire pastured hog every year, and ours will be ready in a month, so we need to start making freezer space available. We’ll need to clean out about twenty French-bred, pasture-raised chickens to help make room. We thought we’d strip the meat for sausages and do a large batch of canned, clear stock. Any other ideas for “charcuterie”?

[jmolinari]

Ron, i just punch a hole through a corner of the belly piece and put a string through it.

[FoodMan]

Some recent Cahrcuterie efforts, using my brand new Grizzly:

I made a Cotechino for New Year's celebration dinner. I based it on Len Poli's recipe but used fresh garlic and no Amesphos. I also made half of the recipe and stuffed it in an inedible fibrous casing. This sausage is outstanding with a lovely texture.

Here is the original recipe

click here and here for much more details and pictures in the Emilia-Romagna thread.

Based on the garlic sausage master recipe I made an improvised Chipotle-Mole fresh sausage. Taste test of a small piece confirms this a real winner a bit spicy and smoky with a touch of bitterness and a good flavor of cumin (well maybe some more cocoa would not hurt )

Chipotle-Mole Formula I used:

2lb pork butt

1/2lb fat back

3 gr toasted cumin seeds

2 gr Mexican oregano

18 gr kosher salt

2 gr balck pepper, ground

6 gr minced garlic

1 Tbsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp cocoa

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 dried chipotle chilies soaked in 1/2 cup water (this is pureed and added at the end along with the vinegar)

Here is a picture only folks on this thread would appreciate

My garage fridge and it's bounty of cured meats. It has smoked bacon, rolled pancetta, Cotechino, Chipotle-Mole sausage, and sweet Italian sausage. Oh, and jars of deliciouse bread and butter pickles from Charcuterie too.

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!

[BaconFat]

Thanks to this thread that I've been lurking in since it started, I've been slowly getting into meat and stuff and stuffing meat.

I got the book a couple of months ago. I made the bacon first, and why wouldn't I? Thanks to Ranch 99 and fresh bellies cut to order. I did two five pound bellies, regular smoked and a black pepper/garlic. I really liked them both but will add more spice next time as the smoke overwhelmed the spices.

Then my wife got me this nice electric grinder/stuffer from Northern Industrial Tool, thanks to a reference upthread.

Next I ordered casings from Butcher-Packer. I swear they sent me a Gordian knot of hog middles. Is there a trick to getting the casings off without messing up the whole lot? I couldn't figure it out and ended up cutting what I couldn't untie. What I had was plenty long enough, but I would have like to save more for a later use.

Next up was a recipe that my friend's Croatian family has made for over 50 years. We did 20 pounds of sausage, ate some for dinner and smoked two coils like you see in the photo. Smoked at 130 for four hours, about eight pounds per coil.

The end product out of the smoker is very similar to kielbasa. The coils would normally hang in the attic and air dry ending up like pepperoni, but I'm not going to try that just yet. I cut my coil up into large chunks and used some for a nice pot of Red Beans and Rice on New Years Eve.

[ronnie_suburban]

BaconFat,

I've had similar issues with casings from Butcher-Packer and the way they are packed. Eventually, the casings do untangle from each other but as I've struggled with them along the way, I've often wondered "isn't there a better way?"

That's a beautiful coil of sausage on that grill. Do you have a recipe you can share?

=R=

[A Patric]

Hi all,

I recently decided to make some of the spicy italian sausage from the book. A few days ahead of time I pulled out the meat and fat back to defrost, and when it looked good I started getting all the ingredients together. After readying the Kitchenaid, Grizzly stuffer, and every bit of spice or herb in its own little cup, I proceeded to cut up the meat into cubes. After getting through the remains of a previous shoulder (about 2 lbs) I move on to the next one.

I had vacuum-sealed it some time ago for a moment just like this. However, when I opened it, I realized it wasn't the shoulder that I had pulled, but the pork belly. It had been folded and arranged in the bag so that it really looked like a chunk of shoulder, but shoulder it was not. Sooo...

I decided that I was going to make the sausage anyway, and that I'd substitute the pork belly for the remaining quantity of shoulder (2.5 lbs) and fat back (.5 lb).

I did everything else as usual, and I have to say that this is by far the best "Italian" sausage that I've ever eaten. 2 lbs shoulder and 3 lbs belly does more than fine by me! One note: My belly was not the fattiest that I've ever seen, so if you try this and have a really fatty belly (take that in which ever way suits you best), then you might want to mess around with the proportion of shoulder to belly a bit.

Has anyone else had any screwups while making recipes from this book that have turned out to be excellent in the end?

Edited January 6, 2007 by A Patric (log)

[Norman Walsh]

Regarding the primary bind in sausage making I would like to know if its possible to tell visually that you have reached the emulsified stage.

Or is it a matter of eat and tell?

Also how long did the paddle mixing take and was the wine added last?

Hope you do not mind the questions.

Thanks

Norman