Charcuterie - Show us your work

Elijah

I plan to start some bacon using Ruhlman's basic cure and adding some maple syrup. I plan to try equilibrium with 2.5%. How should I factor in the extra sugar? Just use 2.5% of the cure mixture and then wing the syrup? I've only done the salt box method and last time it was way too salty

lkapigian

Elijah said:

I plan to start some bacon using Ruhlman's basic cure and adding some maple syrup. I plan to try equilibrium with 2.5%. How should I factor in the extra sugar? Just use 2.5% of the cure mixture and then wing the syrup? I've only done the salt box method and last time it was way too salty

Personally, I’d do 2.5% salt and just drizzle in syrup till it “ looks right” ie enough to just coat 

lkapigian

lkapigian said:

Elijah said:

I plan to start some bacon using Ruhlman's basic cure and adding some maple syrup. I plan to try equilibrium with 2.5%. How should I factor in the extra sugar? Just use 2.5% of the cure mixture and then wing the syrup? I've only done the salt box method and last time it was way too salty

Personally, I’d do 2.5% salt and just drizzle in syrup till it “ looks right” ie enough to just coat 

On another note @Elijah I highly recommend Post Drying time after the cure, don’t rush into smoking , up to a few weeks for “ American Bacon “

Elijah

@ikapigian I was planning to cure in a bag of some sort. Do you mean just uncovered in a fridge after that? My cold smoking time frame seems to be done.

lkapigian

Elijah said:

@ikapigian I was planning to cure in a bag of some sort. Do you mean just uncovered in a fridge after that? My cold smoking time frame seems to be done.

@Elijah , after equilibrium cure ( in the bag ) let it dry for at least a week ( I prefer 3) before your cold smoke , let further water reduction, just my opinion but I think it produces a far superior bacon vs going straight into smoke from the cure 

Elijah

Gonna try that. At this point the cold smoke may be 90+. We didn't have much of a winter besides two weeks in December. Pictures or it didn't happen 

lkapigian

Started a Pancetta , my Lomo out of the cure, was going to stuff that in a Bung, f that, went for the Collagen Sheets 

alaskanassasin

What happened with the bung?

lkapigian

alaskanassasin said:

What happened with the bung?

Just a bit small , I could have wrestled it  in , but for Four …. The sheets were quicker

Mark_B_Good

Got around to building my cured sausage stand that inserts into my fridge. We will be making sausages this coming weekend. Will post pictures of the process and progress.

poster

Hanging some sausage links tonight, nomatter what I do the links touch each other. Is that a problem?

Jstroke

poster said:

Hanging some sausage links tonight, nomatter what I do the links touch each other. Is that a problem?

Let’s say, not ideal. But let them hang, and in a bit you might be surprised. They might fit better after drying. I would shuffle them and keep them moving once a day so they don’t just sit the entire time touching at the same place. 

lkapigian

Mark_B_Good said:

Got around to building my cured sausage stand that inserts into my fridge. We will be making sausages this coming weekend. Will post pictures of the process and progress.

Beautiful 

nolaegghead

lkapigian

Oh that Basturma!

lkapigian

Prosciutto De Visalia …29# Red Wattlle killed Tuesday 3% salt overall , salted today with 1/2 the salt , will result in 5 days then cure for a total of 30 

alaskanassasin

Getting serious now

lkapigian

A little bit if everything , added some pancetta Tesa today 

Mark_B_Good

Sausages in! Let's see how our first batch turns out. Using the biltong maker and keeping it on my pario (Temps between 40F and 55F).

lkapigian

Should be amazing @Mark_B_Good

poster

Trying the same with jamaican jerk and hot italians. The jerk have cure and the italians do not. There is fresh scotch bonnets in the jerk, can this cause an issue as they were not dehydrated? Is there ever a cause for concern doing this with certain ingredients?

lkapigian

poster said:

Trying the same with jamaican jerk and hot italians. The jerk have cure and the italians do not. There is fresh scotch bonnets in the jerk, can this cause an issue as they were not dehydrated? Is there ever a cause for concern doing this with certain ingredients?

@poster that is a valid point and while not likely with the scotch bonnet, fresh ingredients in salami can fry differently than the protein, while that’s not a problem, the potential air pockets can… I would not worry about especially smaller diameter (I dried sausages with cheese in them ) it is something to be aware of, example with garlic, I soak the garlic overnight in the wine I will use, then toss the garlic 

Mark_B_Good

Day 3, looking good. Only thing is my space is 50F during day and 40F at night ... probably going to take 3 weeks?

lkapigian

@Mark_B_Good those temps are fine, <42MM casings 3 weeks or less, trying to see if that’s a pan of water in there , 

Mark_B_Good

lkapigian said:

@Mark_B_Good those temps are fine, <42MM casings 3 weeks or less, trying to see if that’s a pan of water in there , 

The aluminum pan is just a drip pan to keep my wood clean (mostly for the biltong that makes a mess, I just left it in for the sausages, it's dry). However, I did add a small plastic container with some water in it *you can see it in the base of the photo ... my humidity is only 65% ... so I'm trying to raise it. Isn't 75% to 80% humidity the target?

lkapigian

Mark_B_Good said:

lkapigian said:

@Mark_B_Good those temps are fine, <42MM casings 3 weeks or less, trying to see if that’s a pan of water in there , 

The aluminum pan is just a drip pan to keep my wood clean (mostly for the biltong that makes a mess, I just left it in for the sausages, it's dry). However, I did add a small plastic container with some water in it *you can see it in the base of the photo ... my humidity is only 65% ... so I'm trying to raise it. Isn't 75% to 80% humidity the target?

80% max, I don't think it matters so much on smaller diameter , 65% is probably fine, looking forward to your results 

lkapigian

Basturma

Jstroke

lkapigian said:

Basturma

I have just started down this rabbit hole. I think I will give up now. Just WOW

lkapigian

Jstroke said:

lkapigian said:

Basturma

I have just started down this rabbit hole. I think I will give up now. Just WOW

Whole muscle cures are the easiest @jstroke

Mark_B_Good

lkapigian said:

Mark_B_Good said:

lkapigian said:

@Mark_B_Good those temps are fine, <42MM casings 3 weeks or less, trying to see if that’s a pan of water in there , 

The aluminum pan is just a drip pan to keep my wood clean (mostly for the biltong that makes a mess, I just left it in for the sausages, it's dry). However, I did add a small plastic container with some water in it *you can see it in the base of the photo ... my humidity is only 65% ... so I'm trying to raise it. Isn't 75% to 80% humidity the target?

80% max, I don't think it matters so much on smaller diameter , 65% is probably fine, looking forward to your results 

Thanks for all your help. I'm looking forward to the finish.