Charcuterie - Show us your work

lkapigian

That chorizo looks great !

lkapigian

Started this Lonzino back in September , really happy with the flavor...( Calabrese on the left , )

lkapigian

Work in progress Old School Salami , no cultures added , though I did go .25% on the cure 2.5 % salt ...just eliminating 1 hurdle .  Cured meat for 24 hours before grinding , added spices and wine .Starting PH was on the high side for pork @ 6.1 % but heading in the right direction 5.83-5.9 48 hours from Start 

9kg going for Italian Dried Sausage and Snack Sticks 

SciAggie

@20stone Pointed me to this video on the Sausage Maker website. I found it very helpful. Starter cultures are a bit intimidating for me. Maybe it will help some of you as well.

https://youtu.be/oDGTSlvFupk

lkapigian

SciAggie said:

@20stone Pointed me to this video on the Sausage Maker website. I found it very helpful. Starter cultures are a bit intimidating for me. Maybe it will help some of you as well.

https://youtu.be/oDGTSlvFupk

You will start getting a feel for how the animal was raised , stress levels @ slaughter by checking the beginning PH ....one thing I have noticed about using starter cultures is they don't talk about starting PH, just the target finish....If you check your PH @ the beginning it will give you an idea of how to tweak the culture and dextrose...it's a race to a PH of 5.3  ...my 2 cents 

nolaegghead

 Right, a stressed animal has a lower pH from lactic acid resulting from anaerobic metabolism.

nolaegghead

But let me add, moving pH is not linear to the amount of acid or base you add.  It's a logarithmic scale.  So moving from 6 to 5 takes way more acid than 7 to 6, for example.

nolaegghead

Botch

nolaegghead said:

But let me add, moving pH is not linear to the amount of acid or base you add.  It's a logarithmic scale.  So moving from 6 to 5 takes way more acid than 7 to 6, for example.

"I did not know that."  [/Carson]

SciAggie

People misunderstand the acronym STEM. They believe it stands for “Science Technology Engineering and Math”
In reality (at least here) it stands for “Science Technology Eating and Math”

SciAggie

I cut an eye of round in two pieces. 1/2 will be bresaola. The other 1/2 will be basturma. They are in the equilibrium cure for 3 weeks. 

SciAggie

My wife was like, “Why are you washing weights?”
(trying to keep things clean)

lkapigian

LoL

fishlessman

found a missing duck proscuitto thats been wrapped in cheese cloth since april in the meat draw, any thoughts. have not done the unwrapping with it yet im bad with this, last summers worcestershire sauce is still sitting on the top of the fridge in the fermenter

lkapigian

fishlessman said:

found a missing duck proscuitto thats been wrapped in cheese cloth since april in the meat draw, any thoughts. have not done the unwrapping with it yet im bad with this, last summers worcestershire sauce is still sitting on the top of the fridge in the fermenter

Should be Exceptional !!

lkapigian

SciAggie said:

I cut an eye of round in two pieces. 1/2 will be bresaola. The other 1/2 will be basturma. They are in the equilibrium cure for 3 weeks. 

Great job on noting the ready date on the package, I am horrible about that and always have to "think back" 

Botch

fishlessman said:

found a missing duck proscuitto thats been wrapped in cheese cloth since april in the meat draw, any thoughts. have not done the unwrapping with it yet im bad with this, last summers worcestershire sauce is still sitting on the top of the fridge in the fermenter

Many of the worlds' cuisine masterpieces were happy accidents/forgotten foodstuffs.  

HeavyG

Botch said:

fishlessman said:

found a missing duck proscuitto thats been wrapped in cheese cloth since april in the meat draw, any thoughts. have not done the unwrapping with it yet im bad with this, last summers worcestershire sauce is still sitting on the top of the fridge in the fermenter

Many of the worlds' cuisine masterpieces were happy accidents/forgotten foodstuffs.  

Can't help but wonder tho - for each successful "happy accident" how many chefs/cooks/diners died from an "unhappy accident"?

Who was the first person to get a whiff of Limburger cheese and then decide it was a good idea to take a bite? Did folks at that moment regard that person as brave or an idiot?

fishlessman

HeavyG said:

Botch said:

fishlessman said:

found a missing duck proscuitto thats been wrapped in cheese cloth since april in the meat draw, any thoughts. have not done the unwrapping with it yet im bad with this, last summers worcestershire sauce is still sitting on the top of the fridge in the fermenter

Many of the worlds' cuisine masterpieces were happy accidents/forgotten foodstuffs.  

Can't help but wonder tho - for each successful "happy accident" how many chefs/cooks/diners died from an "unhappy accident"?

Who was the first person to get a whiff of Limburger cheese and then decide it was a good idea to take a bite? Did folks at that moment regard that person as brave or an idiot?

hoping the ph meter i bought works with the brown fish sauce, but if anyone wants to go first.....

buzzvol

HeavyG said:

Who was the first person to get a whiff of Limburger cheese and then decide it was a good idea to take a bite? Did folks at that moment regard that person as brave or an idiot?

Hold my Belgian beer. 🍺

lkapigian

HeavyG said:

Botch said:

fishlessman said:

found a missing duck proscuitto thats been wrapped in cheese cloth since april in the meat draw, any thoughts. have not done the unwrapping with it yet im bad with this, last summers worcestershire sauce is still sitting on the top of the fridge in the fermenter

Many of the worlds' cuisine masterpieces were happy accidents/forgotten foodstuffs.  

Can't help but wonder tho - for each successful "happy accident" how many chefs/cooks/diners died from an "unhappy accident"?

Who was the first person to get a whiff of Limburger cheese and then decide it was a good idea to take a bite? Did folks at that moment regard that person as brave or an idiot?

Back in the day, they did have Food Tasters in the Roman Empire "Halotus"

SciAggie

Let Mikey try it
https://youtu.be/CLQ0LZSnJFE

Elijah

Cold smoked some bacon. I let it cure too long and it ended up saltier than I'd like. Only slightly. The neighbor that I let try it said it was the right amount for them. I'm thinking about soaking it in water for a bit. I'm afraid of what it'll do to the other flavors, but whatcha going to do. Anyone have an idea for soak time?

nolaegghead

Soak in ice water overnight.  Make sure they're not piled on each other.

kdink

Question for those who know, I want to get started down this rabbit hole since I'm already committed with the sausage making, but will need to have a dedicated fridge, will one of those 3ft tall wine coolers work? I understand that I will need to humidity, fan and controllers? but is that a good place to start or will a regular fridge be better?

lkapigian

kdink said:

Question for those who know, I want to get started down this rabbit hole since I'm already committed with the sausage making, but will need to have a dedicated fridge, will one of those 3ft tall wine coolers work? I understand that I will need to humidity, fan and controllers? but is that a good place to start or will a regular fridge be better?

I bought (2)  4.4 mini fridge , 1 to ferment, 1 to mature ...now that I've been doing it, all my ferment are at room temp, no fridge needed ... I can get a lot of product in that 4.4....you need a couple things to make it work ..but very doable.....all that being said, if I had to do it over I would have gotten what @sciaggie got...im looking at a glass door fridge now ... if you want to give a go in sausage casing to get your feet wet, you can do that in your regular fridge 

It's just like sausage making with more salt and sugar 

lkapigian

Was going to hang in a back room but the weather shifted to upper 60s low 70s so into the chamber in a couple days ....the larger Dried Italian Sausage de Calabria  No Starter Culture ....smaller ones same mix, added culture 

SciAggie

@lkapigian Man, you’re killing me. That looks superb. I’m going to make chorizo on Saturday. 

lkapigian

Thanks @SciAggie

what culture are you going to use if any

Botch

lkapigian said:

HeavyG said:

Botch said:

fishlessman said:

found a missing duck proscuitto thats been wrapped in cheese cloth since april in the meat draw, any thoughts. have not done the unwrapping with it yet im bad with this, last summers worcestershire sauce is still sitting on the top of the fridge in the fermenter

Many of the worlds' cuisine masterpieces were happy accidents/forgotten foodstuffs.  

Can't help but wonder tho - for each successful "happy accident" how many chefs/cooks/diners died from an "unhappy accident"?

Who was the first person to get a whiff of Limburger cheese and then decide it was a good idea to take a bite? Did folks at that moment regard that person as brave or an idiot?

Back in the day, they did have Food Tasters in the Roman Empire "Halotus"

Could that be the origin of the English word "Halitosus"?