Charcutapalooza (long)

20stone

Brief update:

While I was a little late doing so, after a month of hanging, the exposed meat portion of the proscuitto gets coated with sugna, which is equal parts lard and rice flour, along with some pepper.  We (not surprisingly) has some lard on hand (from the June hog), and got 'er done the other night.



Also, from the "anything worth doing is worth overdoing" files, 



Depending on the meat, 25 - 35% weight loss is what we are shooting for.  The coppa is getting pretty close to the "eat me" window

DoubleEgger

Wow. I'm impressed. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=M0nXoilz_BM

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Well- we got to enjoy the fruit os AWSS1 last week when we visited H-Town. Cali and family joined at Chez Jones and we busted out some Lonza and Copa that had been in the cure or drying since January 1. Absolutely incredible stuff. Lonza was smooth and buttery with hints of citrus and fennel while the copa was Big, bold and stinky (in a good way). Add some great wines, cheeses, marcona almonds, and some goodies from the garden and that made for a pretty special charcuterie board. Not to mention the bacon we used for the pasta we had for dinner. 

The Copa with the stink still on it:



The goodness inside (That is 20stone in the 1994 Tommy Bahama shirt)



Lonza is the lean muscle with big fat cap. Copa is the darker round cut with heavy intramuscular fat. 



"Bruschetta". Homemade bread, tomato, basil from the garden, burata. Incredible. 



Venison sausage from AWSS2 "The Memorial Day Massacre"



And finally- we let the kids share in the fun back at home tonight

lonza, copa, buffalo mozz, Sartori Bellavitano (hard cheese from WI) and a Sartoti Fontina to round it out. 

DMW

Whatever, I hate all y'all

DoubleEgger

DMW said:

Whatever, I hate all y'all

Sounds like you need a trip to Sheetz 

caliking

I think Caliprince enjoyed that charcuterie  board as much as we did. And I'm getting a lardon just thinking about the crispy bits of bacon in the bottom of the pasta pot...

Good to see you and TFJ again. We missed ya at the M-day shenanigans.

Foghorn

That. Looks. Awesome. 

I had some of the copa last weekend. Great stuff. 

You didn't eat my share of the bacon did you?

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Foghorn said:

That. Looks. Awesome. 

I had some of the copa last weekend. Great stuff. 

You didn't eat my share of the bacon did you?

Well you weren't there

20stone

I'm glad it turned out.  We've gone too far down the rabbit hole to make sh@&$ty grub.  

For those that are curious, the coppa is the "money muscle" or collar from the shoulder. The lonza is the loin. 

Both were in the cure (#2, salt and sugat) for three months, stuffed into "casings" (my preferred term for beef bung for large cuts) and hung in the Short Bus for five months, where they lost 30% of their starting weight through moisture loss.

The prosciutto is a longer term project, due to be consumed on 1/1/19 (not a typo). 

In the mean time, we have another coppa hanging from AWSS2, and it'll be ready when AWSS3 rolls around. 

As for @Foghorn, the bacon is getting sliced today. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Get that bavon very cold before slicing. Semi-frozen is best. Will go much faster and you will get much cleaner cuts. 

20stone

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Get that bavon very cold before slicing. Semi-frozen is best. Will go much faster and you will get much cleaner cuts. 

If only I had some way to get it cold....some sort of very cold storage device....

BMF to the rescue

RagingIrishman

I'm new to the forums and WOW am I out of my element. I just try to not burn things or kill people by under cooking. My suggestion is to find some people on a wine making forum and schedule a party.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

RagingIrishman said:

I'm new to the forums and WOW am I out of my element. I just try to not burn things or kill people by under cooking. My suggestion is to find some people on a wine making forum and schedule a party.

Welcome to the darkside. Don't worry, you still have time. It took us a long time to get this way. 

20stone

RagingIrishman said:

I'm new to the forums and WOW am I out of my element. I just try to not burn things or kill people by under cooking. 

Then this is just for you.  Charcuterie is all about not killing people with food thats not cooked AT ALL. 

RagingIrishman said:

My suggestion is to find some people on a wine making forum and schedule a party.

Not sure if you're making a great suggestion or just throwing shade here (but I'm pretty sure), but brewing, baking, charcuterie ane wine making are all very similar.  Time, temp and bugs doing all the work, with bonus points if you don't kill anyone. 

20stone

Meat for the long haul.

We are now nearly nine months into a two year process to cure the prosciutto from AW/SS 1.  The leg has lost 12% of its original weight to evaporation, with a target of 30% loss.  I am not a patient man, and in retrospect, this should have warned me off:

Prosciutto
Active time - 5 hours
Total time - 17,520 hours

Pictured below in its new home (a vertical Traulsen wine cooler), along with a coppa from May (now ready at 34% loss) and two salamis

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Prosciutto
Active time - 5 hours
Total time - 17,520 hours


ha ha- this is hilarious. 

caliking

That is a beautiful sight to behold. 

20stone

caliking said:

That is a beautiful sight to behold. 

With all this capacity, I just need to add more stuff.  Certainly there will be Prosciutto de Miney going in January.  With the cycle time, it makes sense to have two going at once.  Also, I think I am ready to advance my salami game.  Perhaps some of Eenie will hanging up in tubular form this fall.

JRWhitee

  

The Cen-Tex Smoker

20stone said:

Meat for the long haul.

We are now nearly nine months into a two year process to cure the prosciutto from AW/SS 1.  The leg has lost 12% of its original weight to evaporation, with a target of 30% loss.  I am not a patient man, and in retrospect, this should have warned me off:

Prosciutto
Active time - 5 hours
Total time - 17,520 hours

Pictured below in its new home (a vertical Traulsen wine cooler), along with a coppa from May (now ready at 34% loss) and two salamis

nolaegghead

I'll give you a year and you'll be talking about a walk-in.

You're my hero.

20stone

nolaegghead said:

I'll give you a year and you'll be talking about a walk-in.

Of course, I've ALREADY talked about it.  

That's the sort of thing that prompts @20stonespice to tell me to go get that 5 acres of land (most recently when digging a Noggin Hole was suggested).

nolaegghead

There's a DIY walk-in you can build using a CoolBot, window unit and Home Despot materials: 

http://commonsensehome.com/build-walk-in-cooler/

20stone

nolaegghead said:

There's a DIY walk-in you can build using a CoolBot, window unit and Home Despot materials: 

http://commonsensehome.com/build-walk-in-cooler/

I don't know why I would stop there.  I already have the garage insulated and air conditioned.  I could just add a few more btu's and keep the whole thing at 55 F, and have salamis drag across the cars like a car wash when we pull in.

Foghorn

Dude, the next time your loving bride is out of town you just build another identical garage in front of your current one.  

"What do you mean the driveway seems shorter?"

Thatgrimguy

This thread is epic AF

NPHuskerFL

@20stone Dude!!!

bgebrent

Thatgrimguy said:

This thread is epic AF

Couldn't say it any better.

Foghorn

RagingIrishman said:

I'm new to the forums and WOW am I out of my element. I just try to not burn things or kill people by under cooking. My suggestion is to find some people on a wine making forum and schedule a party.

@RagingIrishman, if you are still around.  You're presence here suggests that you are not out of your element.  Just recognize that there are some con men here who prey on unsuspecting victims like myself.  Obviously, 20stone is one of the godfathers of the con men. He has dual captain in @The Cen-Tex Smoker and @caliking.   His hidden consigliere is @pigfisher.  He does a lot of the dirty work behind the scenes.  

  They look for forum members at eggfests with a certain stereotype:  Your post suggests that you are at risk.  Don't say I didn't warn you. 

-decent cook who wants to play with the big boys/girls, but isn't quite there yet
-trusting
-good team player who wants to contribute to something bigger
-naive
-too nice to call a spade a spade and is essentially an enabler (they gauge this on the relationship with one's spouse and how they support shopping or other expensive habits)
-trusting
-ideally someone who is busy with work/family but in their desire to contribute to an egghead group project would be willing to write a check for the good of the team
-naive
-when they are available they are hard workers and ideally they bring something else to the table (e.g. a supply of high quality beer)

Don't say you haven't been warned.  They spotted me from a mile away.  Hopefully, you won't suffer the same fate.

20stone

Foghorn said:

<big snip of a bunch of libelous crap, though close enough to the truth to avoid litigation>

Don't say you haven't been warned.  They spotted me from a mile away.  Hopefully, you won't suffer the same fate.

Dude, you're 6'8".  Everyone spots you from a mile away.

Foghorn said:

-ideally someone who is busy with work/family but in their desire to contribute to an egghead group project would be willing to write a check for the good of the team

-when they are available they are hard workers and ideally they bring something else to the table (e.g. a supply of high quality beer)

Frankly, I think we need the labor more than the check, and when you and @keisterboy had a shoulder in a hog two minutes after showing up for our first effort, I knew we had the right guys.