This adventure: lamb prosciutto. Want to follow along?

20stone · October 2018

A few thoughts on your awesome progress:

The bladder was a great move. The sugna option would have been a mess, and I suspect you will have a much better result this way.
Very, very tidy job on the bladder, and that is awesome from a “bugs in the bladder” perspective
I would watch the edge where the bladder meets the bone for unhelpful bugs, and wipe them w vinegar if they turn up
Have you thought about preemptively hitting it w Bactoferm 600 or similar?

Awesome stuff, and thanks for the update.

Sea2Ski · October 2018

smokingal said:

Did you rub it down with red wine for the flavor or some other reason?

@smokingal
Honesty, because I have read that many people do this. I figured it could not hurt. I know, and as @20stone stated, that if you get bad mold growth and you catch it early, you wipe it with vinegar or wine and you are good. So again, I figured why not?

@20stone. I was thinking before the casing that I was not going to use 600 on this project, but after all the tugging and pulling on the casing, then sewing I reconsidered. It will be sprayed after taking the wet weight tonight. I find If I spray it when it is already soaked, the mold does no take as good as a foothold as I would like.

Sea2Ski · October 2018

Got the other leg in a bladder today. Needed to use the larger size bladder as well. First one from this package. Whew, man it stinks! Bless my wife for putting up/allowing me to do this! She already told me me she will not eat any. “ You want me to eat rew meat from a lamb we saw running around, after the leg sat in salt and then stuffed in a pigs bladder for how many weeks?”

I reminded there there were other spices as well. She was not amused.

Anyway.....

Here is the larger sized hog bladder. I put a 1 cup measuring up next to it for reference while I was rinsing it.

And here is the second leg after being cased in the bladder. The slight discoloration is the added pepper I put on the leg prior to casing and wrapping.

So here they are hanging. I will spray the bigger leg tomorrow morning.

theyolksonyou · October 2018

I love this thread. Between you fridge score and this, you’re my forum hero.

NorthPilot06 · October 2018

Awesome. No other way to say it. I’ll be following for sure

Sea2Ski · October 2018

theyolksonyou said:

I love this thread. Between you fridge score and this, you’re my forum hero.

Thank you. Glad you are enjoying it. Really.
No one around me really cares except for my buddy ho has the land for the pigs and sheep. There is one foodie girl that works for me, but I can not tell if she is really interested, or just kissing up.
Regardless, although I am by far a charcuterer - if that is a word - I am having a blast with this new hobby and adventure, and enjoying my products.

The fridges? That was pure luck. 100% pure luck and because of the attention of my wife. But now that she sees how deep in this charcuterie thing I am in, she might be second guessing her score for me.

bgebrent · October 2018

I am loving this Mark. Next level. And kudos to Valerie supporting the awesomeness.

20stone · October 2018

Sea2Ski said:

So here they are hanging. I will spray the bigger leg tomorrow morning.

Very, very nice. I see you upped your tying game for this one as well. I can’t wait to see how it turns out.

lkapigian · October 2018

Enjoying this thread , wanting to join the curing game...maybe with the winter coming

dharley · February 2019

Can we get an update?

bluebird66 · February 2019

Interesting!

Sea2Ski · February 2019

@dharley you must have ESP.
They are still hanging the drying chamber and will be taken out for the first time today. I am super excited to try something new. I will update this thread as we cut into them and slice.
Warning: may be a total failure. I have never done charcuterie with a bone-in piece of meat, nor have I used a pigs bladder for the casing. I really do not know what to expect.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/83/zyaumf29ifii.jpeg

20stone · February 2019

Very, very stoked to see how this turns out

Sea2Ski · February 2019

I drove over seeing this in my rear view mirror.

First I sliced up some other meats. It was being eaten almost as quickly as I could slice it, so the board was sparse when I got this picture.

Then it was time to cut into the legs.
One had dried to 32% weight loss, the other 36%
I cut them, and bingo!!!
There was a deep red color and only the slightest bit of case hardening on one side as you can see in the picture below. But it is deceptive, it looks worse than it was. (See sliced picture further down). The smell was complex and layered. First, it was grass and dirt, then the seasonings of fennel and pepper and garlic came through. Texture was silky smooth.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/wu/adk029giwdt8.jpeg

Sliced and next to some pork

Piled up on the slicing board:

Added with the others and spread out:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/b1/wqejn4nupp7d.jpeg

It was a home run. Both were great. One was excellent. The garlic rosemary one had a bit too much garlic (who knew you could ever have too much garlic!) but it was still excellent. Once lambing season comes around, we will certainly be doing a few more legs like this.

@20stone give it a go! It was relatively quick and I am extremely happy with the results!

dharley · February 2019

Absolutely awesome!!

buzd504 · February 2019

Holeeeee crap!! That is farking amazing. Incredible job!!!!!

bgebrent · February 2019

Home run is modest. Absolutely beautiful charcuterie. Great work brother.

20stone · February 2019

Sea2Ski said:

I drove over seeing this in my rear view mirror.

First I sliced up some other meats. It was being eaten almost as quickly as I could slice it, so the board was sparse when I got this picture.

Then it was time to cut into the legs.
One had dried to 32% weight loss, the other 36%
I cut them, and bingo!!!
There was a deep red color and only the slightest bit of case hardening on one side as you can see in the picture below. But it is deceptive, it looks worse than it was. (See sliced picture further down). The smell was complex and layered. First, it was grass and dirt, then the seasonings of fennel and pepper and garlic came through. Texture was silky smooth.

Sliced and next to some pork

Piled up on the slicing board:

Added with the others and spread out:

It was a home run. Both were great. One was excellent. The garlic rosemary one had a bit too much garlic (who knew you could ever have too much garlic!) but it was still excellent. Once lambing season comes around, we will certainly be doing a few more legs like this.

@20stone give it a go! It was relatively quick and I am extremely happy with the results!

That looks just fantastic. I’ve got to give it a try. Congratulations!

mEGG_My_Day · February 2019

This adventure: lamb prosciutto. Want to follow along?

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