Ciapek wrote:@ GarthVader, when I make Pancetta or Prosciutto, after the salt or brine cure, I wrap the meat up tight and thick with either cotton or Muslin cloth and place it in the fridge with a brick/weight on it.
This will accelerate moisture removal from the meat, keeps the air off the meat, and prevents spoilage and moulds.
Pending on portion size, cloth will stay on for up to two weeks with a change of wrap once a week.
Then either cold smoke and dry exposed in the fridge or air dry.
Cheers.
Interesting... I did weight down the lonza when I had it loaded in salt and vac sealed, but the muslin idea I like. It would work in a similar way to the banquet bags.
I weighed the lonza and pancetta again today to see where I was up to.
The two slabs of pancetta are almost right on the target weight, but i'll give them another couple of days. I'm going to slice some up for breakfast on Saturday, and cube some to make a pancetta carbonara for dinner too, then i'll still have a about 750g left.
The lonza has lost more than the required 30% of it's weight by last week, the extra few days were just to be sure (plus if I get sick, I want to be off during the week, not on my weekend), so I sliced some up and had a crack at it.
The colour, the smell the texture and the taste were all awesome... I'm so stoked with how it came out, now i'm just playing the waiting game to see if I get sick before I give it out to other people to try.
I've shaved off 100g and vac-sealed the rest and put it back in the fridge for now.
Ciapek wrote:Cure no1 and salt only.
Cloth for pulling moisture.
Cheers
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I suppose it's what you read and who you talk to.
The purpose of each type of cure should be understood however.
I'm not banging on that you must use this or that
I make salami that has no nitrite or nitrate or event fermentation agents.
However
No 1 and No 2 cures have different purposes.
No 1 is for short term like bacon and No 2 is for long term like the pork in this thread.
Using No1 is better than nothing when doing these long dried out cuts but it's not ideal.
All is not lost in reality as proved by Garths book and test and my olden day salamis. ,, Only 3% salt and a good environment.
I'm no expert but I do gather information and try to lye down the middle. I suppose that is the interests in it.
If trees screamed when we cut them down, We wouldn't. If they screamed all the time we would. http://www.aussiecue.com.au
I'm going to try a number of ways to do things, and eventually work out my own style.
This appears to have worked, and i'm stoked to have done it the traditional way, with just salt and time. But i'd always be concerned giving it to other people, just in case they did get sick.
I've bought some more cure #2 a heap of salt and some banquet bags, so i'm going to start a coppa this weekend in one of the bags with cure #2.
I agree with Smokey.
The safest method would be a combination of Salt, cure No1, and cure No2.
And adhering to a good solid recipe.
Alas, over the years, I have narrowed down my use of curing agents, and as far as sausages, and dried meats go, I stick to good hygiene, keep an eye on temperatures, and I use Cure No1 and Salt only.
I do not make Salami nor other fermented products, I was always a little intimidated by these, and was never fortunate enough to have anyone teach me.
Whereas dried meats and sausages, well everyone in my family overseas made these, so teachers were aplenty.....
Keep at it Garth, your results speak for themselves.
Coppa with Banquet bags, salt, and (Cure No1 @ 1tsp per wet kg of meat) would be what I would run with.
Pending on size and Shape of meat portion, about 3 weeks in a sealed container with the dry cure, turning every two days or so, when firm, rinse in cold water, wrap thickly in cloth, place into flat plastic container and weigh the meat down.
If you are drawing out a lot of moisture change cloth twice in the first week, and once in the second week.
I boil my dirty cloths in a large stock pot and add vinegar to sterilise.
That should get you a very firm piece of meat.
I then roll in sweet Hungarian paprika, crushed pepper, dried onion granules.
Let this absorb and wet itself out overnight in the fridge, then Cold Smoke for an hour, lightly, I don't like to overpower this recipe.
Then hang it in a bar fridge for a few weeks....
Hope this helps, or adds to your process.
It's just how I have done it over the years.
Btw, when my Grand Mother was still alive, Pancetta and Prosciutto was done by her, and it only had Salt, nothing else.
She would laugh at my cures, .......go figure.
Ciapek wrote:Coppa with Banquet bags, salt, and (Cure No1 @ 1tsp per wet kg of meat) would be what I would run with.
Pending on size and Shape of meat portion, about 3 weeks in a sealed container with the dry cure, turning every two days or so, when firm, rinse in cold water, wrap thickly in cloth, place into flat plastic container and weigh the meat down.
I was going to do the Coppa in salt and cure #2 then banquet bag in the fridge with the same temp/humidity as the book recommends.
What are your thoughts on applying the salt/cure mix and vac-sealing then weighting and flipping regularly? Rather than just having the meat and cute in a container?
Garth, I don't see any problems vac sealing and dry curing. Don't need to weigh it down while curing, weights would only come into play when you are extracting moisture from the cured meat, after the curing process.
I have vac sealed meat portions while curing when fridge space was at a premium, that way you can stash it anywhere and not take up space with rigid containers.
Just don't forget to turn it and give it a massage every few days.
Agree with the above.
It should also be noted that No 2 has both the right amounts of Nitites for immediate protection and Nitrate for long term protection.
Sounds ominous but it's pretty simple.
I'm lucky to have teachers but only eat their food as handed down from generations. I don't argue with them. It is what it is.
But they have a butcher shop and cool room that I cannot replicate at home so the No 2 is an insurance policy.
Seeing it done the old way is a real eye opener but for me, Trying to do it micro in a fridge totally changes things.
The only advice I can give is keep pork cold and sterilise everything. It's a JOB and corners cannot be cut
If trees screamed when we cut them down, We wouldn't. If they screamed all the time we would. http://www.aussiecue.com.au
I pulled out the pancetta today and it was dried a little more than the target, so it's good to go!
Sliced it open, and BAM! It's awesome, I shaved some off and had a taste, then chopped some up into cubes and fried it off... As with pretty much everything, it was even better when fried.
I've been asked to make some pancetta for some friends now, so i'm going to do some more but with cure#2 this time just to be sure. I'll keep doing the pancetta as a straight up air-dry without using the banquet bags I bought, i'll save them for big meaty cuts like Coppa et al.