Sauscutapalooza AWSS6 The Payoff

Photo Egg

20stone said:

Pancetta and coppa out of the cure and into the undisclosed location.  The coppa is a monster, and I’m looking forward to a bite of each. HT to @The Cen-Tex Smoker, who got them both through the curing phase. 

Yes, that’s a two year old prosciutto just hangin’ out, too

Amazing stuff right there...

Foghorn

@20stone, where’s the 3 year old, 1/2 eaten prosciutto?

20stone

Foghorn said:

@20stone, where’s the 3 year old, 1/2 eaten prosciutto?

It currently resides at Chez CenTex, and is closer to 3/4 eaten by now.  It needs a final push to get us to the "new" one.

SciAggie

I love the way this thread resurfaces every now and again. A bit of a reminder...
Kind of a way of saying to us mere mortals, "Oh how cute. You cooked something plain..." 
I think maybe @smokingal is the only person that can keep up.

Thanks for the beat down. My self image as a cook is notably damaged now.

Great looking dream food you have there.

SciAggie

Foghorn said:

@20stone, where’s the 3 year old, 1/2 eaten prosciutto?

I've probably got some stuff hanging out in the back of the refrigerator that is over three and a half years old. I guess that's not quite the same though.

Foghorn

SciAggie said:

I love the way this thread resurfaces every now and again. A bit of a reminder...
Kind of a way of saying to us mere mortals, "Oh how cute. You cooked something plain..." 
I think maybe @smokingal is the only person that can keep up.

Thanks for the beat down. My self image as a cook is notably damaged now.

Great looking dream food you have there.

I hear you @SciAggie.  When this group gets together, I feel lucky to just have bought a (not inexpensive) ticket on the train.  I'm not the conductor and I don't know where the train is going.  But I'm happy to pay for my share of the coal and do some shoveling.  Then I look up after the ride to discover that I like where we've gone... the journey and the destination.

caliking

Foghorn said:

SciAggie said:

I love the way this thread resurfaces every now and again. A bit of a reminder...
Kind of a way of saying to us mere mortals, "Oh how cute. You cooked something plain..." 
I think maybe @smokingal is the only person that can keep up.

Thanks for the beat down. My self image as a cook is notably damaged now.

Great looking dream food you have there.

I hear you @SciAggie.  When this group gets together, I feel lucky to just have bought a (not inexpensive) ticket on the train.  I'm not the conductor and I don't know where the train is going.  But I'm happy to pay for my share of the coal and do some shoveling.  Then I look up after the ride to discover that I like where we've gone... the journey and the destination.

My response has more typically been "WTF just happened... again?!"

The Cen-Tex Smoker

20stone said:

Pancetta and coppa out of the cure and into the undisclosed location.  The coppa is a monster, and I’m looking forward to a bite of each. HT to @The Cen-Tex Smoker, who got them both through the curing phase. 

Yes, that’s a two year old prosciutto just hangin’ out, too

That coppa looks like what the donkey was dragging around at AWSS 1. 

caliking

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

That coppa looks like what the donkey was dragging around at AWSS 1. 

 

Foghorn

I just have to say that the rest of you were more impressed with that donkey’s uh, hardware than I was. 

20stone

Foghorn said:

I just have to say that the rest of you were more impressed with that donkey’s uh, hardware than I was. 

I wasn’t the caliber of the hardware, but the stern look of intent in the donkey’s crazy eye. 

Foghorn

Well, this is the thread that keeps on giving.

@The Cen-Tex Smoker and I met up near Fredericksburg at a winery so we could do a shady parking lot meat exchange.

I had some venison for him - so that he can experiment with some sausage recipes - for us to turn our rancher friends' deer into world class sausage  one day when we are able to get back together.  I also gave him some wagyu/angus ground beef that came from a rancher friend's herd.

I got the best end of the deal as he gave me some coppa and pancetta from the pig from the beginning of this thread - and some prosciutto from a pig from over 2 years ago.

I think it was this one.

https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1212307/sauscutapalooza-awss5-the-final-conflict/p1

He also made some Argentinian Chorizo and gave me that as well.  We're hoping it will form the basis of a new venison recipe.

Oh yeah, and some homemade bacon.

Yep.  I won.

The saga continues.

Foghorn

I should have mentioned that after the drop off, Centex texted me the following:

” ...Prosciutto is special. Like really special. Eat with friends, they will love you forever. “

lousubcap

To both players here-Better to be lucky than good!  Great trades across the board.  Until the next shady parking lot exchange...

Foghorn

lousubcap said:

To both players here-Better to be lucky than good!  Great trades across the board.  Until the next shady parking lot exchange...

To be very clear - I’m lucky. Centex is good. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Good seeing you guys today! 

I will add that the bacon is the only thing I made by myself. You, @20stone @caliking and others Had a hand in everything else I dropped off. 

caliking

Nice 👍🏾 

I’m counting myself as a winner in this as well, because I foresee some winning venison sausage in my/our future. 

20stone

A couple of comments:

• That is the last remaining prosciutto (from our pigs) that I know of.  Bon appetit
• Give us tasting notes on the chorizo... I am planning on taking the salt up a small notch... I am hopeful that the venison will be awesome in there
• That bag of prosciutto nubbins is a nice add to your average omelette  

We go to do this again

SciAggie

I’m glad y’all tease with reminders of your adventures. Joining together with friends on a great project that produces culinary excellence is what a place like this should be about. 

I’m anxious to begin my journey of dabbling with charcuterie. Y’all set the bar pretty high (even with @caliking helping)

caliking

SciAggie said:

I’m glad y’all tease with reminders of your adventures. Joining together with friends on a great project that produces culinary excellence is what a place like this should be about. 

I’m anxious to begin my journey of dabbling with charcuterie. Y’all set the bar pretty high (even with @caliking helping)

You shoulda been there for the first rendition of masalawurst. 

Between *someone* trying to show me how a scale worked, cleaning out @20stone ‘s entire stock of spices, then dispatching offspring to clean out Penzey’s before they closed, me scratching my head and screaming “I gotta see the meat!!” to figure out the spices, only to realize I was way off... it’s a miracle we ended up with a win. 

You may recall that these gents were able to crank out a metric shite ton of sausage when I wasn’t playing.  

Foghorn

Masalawurst 1 was definitely better than Masalawurst 2.  M1 was the best sausage I had ever tasted at the time.  (The beef merguez may have passed it).  I’ve had M2 a few times since the original post and I think we might consider cutting the spices by 50%. I think that will get us closer to M1.  You might even taste the pork at that level.  Given that we are now looking to adapt some of these recipes to venison I think that would probably be a good starting place as well. 

As an addendum, I had the brats last night.  I wouldn’t change anything. We might consider making axis brats as our hunting friends provide us with lean meat.  

caliking

Foghorn said:

Masalawurst 1 was definitely better than Masalawurst 2.  M1 was the best sausage I had ever tasted at the time.  (The beef merguez may have passed it).  I’ve had M2 a few times since the original post and I think we might consider cutting the spices by 50%. I think that will get us closer to M1.  You might even taste the pork at that level.  Given that we are now looking to adapt some of these recipes to venison I think that would probably be a good starting place as well. 

As an addendum, I had the brats last night.  I wouldn’t change anything. We might consider making axis brats as our hunting friends provide us with lean meat.  

But... I like some pork with my spices!

I have a sneaking suspicion that a crucial step in that made-up recipe was overlooked. The part where, after toasting and grinding a store's inventory of spices, you take a look at the deli tub and say "that's too much". Then proceed to use half the recipe for 25lbs of meat. 

It would be too simple to just cut the recipe in half when mixing it up. Plus you wouldn't end up with a ready-made spice mix for curries, etc. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Foghorn said:

Masalawurst 1 was definitely better than Masalawurst 2.  M1 was the best sausage I had ever tasted at the time.  (The beef merguez may have passed it).  I’ve had M2 a few times since the original post and I think we might consider cutting the spices by 50%. I think that will get us closer to M1.  You might even taste the pork at that level.  Given that we are now looking to adapt some of these recipes to venison I think that would probably be a good starting place as well. 

As an addendum, I had the brats last night.  I wouldn’t change anything. We might consider making axis brats as our hunting friends provide us with lean meat.  

I agree that they were over-spiced. I have gotten used to it but They were not as nearly as subtle as M1. When I say "not as subtle" I mean M1 did not hurt to eat. 

Foghorn

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Foghorn said:

Masalawurst 1 was definitely better than Masalawurst 2.  M1 was the best sausage I had ever tasted at the time.  (The beef merguez may have passed it).  I’ve had M2 a few times since the original post and I think we might consider cutting the spices by 50%. I think that will get us closer to M1.  You might even taste the pork at that level.  Given that we are now looking to adapt some of these recipes to venison I think that would probably be a good starting place as well. 

As an addendum, I had the brats last night.  I wouldn’t change anything. We might consider making axis brats as our hunting friends provide us with lean meat.  

I agree that they were over-spiced. I have gotten used to it but They were not as nearly as subtle as M1. When I say "not as subtle" I mean M1 did not hurt to eat. 

Yeah.  I like (not love) the flavor of the M2s enough that it more than cancels out the dislike of the occasional sandy/gritty texture of oversaturated spices coming out of solution.  I'm exaggerating a little on that - but only a little.

20stone

caliking said:

But... I like some pork with my spices!

I have a sneaking suspicion that a crucial step in that made-up recipe was overlooked. The part where, after toasting and grinding a store's inventory of spices, you take a look at the deli tub and say "that's too much". Then proceed to use half the recipe for 25lbs of meat. 

It would be too simple to just cut the recipe in half when mixing it up. Plus you wouldn't end up with a ready-made spice mix for curries, etc. 

I suggest we do a masalawurst moratorium until we can have @caliking to do his thing (and we can track what goes in).

Foghorn

I dug a pack of these masalawurst out of the freezer and cooked them for some guests who are in town for the eclipse. They have aged to perfection.  Better than I remember. 

lkapigian

Foghorn said:

I dug a pack of these masalawurst out of the freezer and cooked them for some guests who are in town for the eclipse. They have aged to perfection.  Better than I remember. 

Awesome, I hope this event gets new life