Happy Thanksgiving!

Today I hung up 2 loins I've had in salt foe the past week and a half. I had some salumi fat rendered down, and I used it to make a "salumi rub" and coated one of the loins in it before hanging, just to add a little more depth in flavor. The paletilla's are still hanging and are getting firmer everyday. I also pulled down 46 pounds of salami I had made about 2 weeks ago from some left over berkshire pork we had. I made 8 different flavors. Four of the eight are more traditional. I made finochionna, sopressata, genoa, and a walnut salami. The other flavors are a little different. I used some tomato powder, carrot powder, and milk solids and created a bolognese salami. Another flavor I made was a beer and pretzel salami. I used some stale pretzels and dehydrated them, and mixed them with some beer powder. It tasted great. The fermentation of the beer powder mixed with the tang of the salami really went well together. I also made a thai- coconut one using dehydrated coconut. The last one I made was with soy sauce powder and wasabi powder. One of my favorites so far!

Mangalitsa Prosciutto

I took the two mangalitsa legs I have curing in salt and weighed them. They lost around 7% off its original weight. This is where most of the research I've done over the past couple of months comes into play. Even though I have my own personal "go to guide", I try to do as much research as I can on anything I am about to start curing. I have 3 major sources that I looked at before I started the prosciutto. I wrote down each method from the 3 sources, then compared each of the 3 major steps in curing prosciutto. The 3 steps that they all talked about were salt curing, incubating, then drying. I took all the information from the research I did, and looked at what was similar, and what were the major differences. From this, I created what I decided would be my own way of finishing my prosciutto. Of course, like all muscles, you must start them off in a salt bed for a certain amount of time. Which, between all of the info, is roughly about 1-2 months. Now comes the hard part. This is the time where every different book and website I've been looking at for the past year changes, but it's been the part that I've been looking forward to the most. Next is when I decide what I'm going to do to make this prosciutto my own. I'm going to give it just a little more time in the salt before I decide to hang it and start letting it move on to its final curing stages.

Mangalitsa Coppa

I was able to make 2 different styles of coppa with the two shoulders. I cured them both originally in the same cure. The methods were both the same, however, when it became time to hang them after the first month, I rolled one muscle in a more traditional, spicy rub and the other I did in a more sweeter. Both pieces have a tremendous amount of fat, so both flavors compliment each other well. I have been putting them both on the charcuterie plate and have been calling them "sweet and spicy coppa" and trying to get some guest feedback on which is their favorite, and to be honest the results have come back almost 50/50. Here are some pictures of the coppa's, just pulled down from the hooks!

Smoked Mangalitsa Lardo

With much of the mangalitsa back fat, I was able to smoke it with a mixture of hickory smoke powder and kept the salt crust that it was originally cured in. I figured with the salt crust still around it, the smoke would still penetrate and it would be too harsh on the delicate fat. I really liked the way it took on a bit of smokey color. I cold smoked it for about 3 hours, the rinsed off the salt crust, sliced, then melted on a piece of toasted baguette.

Many new things going on...

With all of the new items on the charcuterie plate, It has been selling really well. Everything on the plate is from the Mangalitsa pig we received a couple of months ago. I made some pork rinds and they came out great! I've been trying to make them for months now, doing a lot of research, but no methods have worked out so far. Finally found a way that they come out light and crispy. I've had some great customer feedback. After getting the mangalitsa, I found myself with with almost 8 pounds of back fat. I cured all of it and was coming up with different ways to flavor it. With one piece I decided to smoke it with hickory wood chips. Along with those two items, I have 2 different types of coppa. I have one thats cured in a cuban spice. This one is sweeter and tastes great. The other coppa is cured more traditionally, in a spicier crust. The finochionna is also ready. This is the first salami that I have made with the mangalitsa.

Busy days...

I finally have all of the cuts of pork all in cures. The prosciutto each weighed around 11 pounds each. I used about a pound and a half of salt, with about 5 tablespoons of pink salt and divided that up into 2 batches. Since I left the hoof on, I wanted to wrap in in parchment paper and pack it in salt. I rubbed all around the exposed bone and covered the meat area in about and inch thick layer of salt. After coving the leg, I used a non-reactive pan to prop up the leg from under the thick side, drawing a lot of the moisture from the thicker side, down to help it speed up the process. I referenced several resources and decided, what I thought, would be the best way to cure it. Today I will redistribute the cure and decide if I still want to weigh down the prosciutto to help speed up the process.

The coppa is in the cure and looks good. After 9 days, I will re-distribute the cure over the muscles. The lardo that I have is a little thicker than the last batch I did. It might take just a little longer to cure.

Mangalitsa

I have not blogged in quite a while. It has been a busy past month. Our chef at the restaurant left to another place. With that, they wanted to cut the charcuterie program for a while during the transition into getting a new chef. In that time, I spent a week in Los Angeles staging at a restaurant there that was interested in starting up a charcuterie program. I had a great time while I was there, meeting some new faces and learning a couple things. When I came back, our new chef, a great local talent, was hired and his first move was starting up the cured meats. It took 2 days to get what I had been asking for, for at least 5 months. We received 2 shoulders of mangalitsa pigs, each weighing around 29 lbs. After butchering, I have about 9 lbs of lardo, 6 lbs of coppa, at least 10 lbs for salami, and two 11 lb paletilla's for front leg prosciutto. I'm not quite sure if I'm going to use both for prosciutto, or use one for salami. Here are some pictures of the whole shoulders, then one leg, after butchering, for prosciutto.

New Flavors!

I took down the salami I had hanging of all the new flavors. I was more than happy with the way they all came out! The one that surprised me the most was the smoked salt and paprika. I wasn't sure how this one would turn out. I was a little nervous because I had to substitute some of the kosher salt in another salami recipe with some of the smoked salt. I wasn't sure they would act the same way during the curing process. It came out with the perfect amount of smokey flavor and complimented the finishing flavors of the smoked paprika. The one that I think might be my new favorite was the cocoa-chipotle. The pork and cocoa go together well and the cooca nibs add a great texture! The chipotle is a little subtle and comes out just at the end. I had really high hopes for the blueberry-maple salami and it also came out great. If I have any complaint about it, I think it would be that it wasn't the exact maple flavor I was looking for. I was having a hard time finding a maple flavor I was completely happy with. One of my favorite things about this salami was the way the blueberries looked when they were sliced. Overall, I think everything came out a success. I'm excited about getting them on the charcuterie plate and getting some feedback.

Salami Progress

All of the salumi I have hanging have been up for just about 2 weeks. They are all right on schedule and have lost around 25% of their start weight. I'm hoping they will be ready in another week or so. The sobresada was hung up about a week later then all the other salumi. I'm really excited to check out the new flavors in these next batches.

Not what I expected...

I finally sliced into the prosciutto and took out the bone. My initial reaction when I cut into the shoulder was that it looked great. The smell was fantastic. Aside from a little discoloration around the middle, I'd say it was just about right, except for a minor detail. It was closer to a traditional American ham, rather then the rustic, old-world prosciutto I was expecting. Next time I'm going to use a different recipe, and try curing it a different way. The recipe that I used called for a little heat added to the shoulder to speed up the curing process. I think that's when things took a different turn. Don't get me wrong. The ham flavor was great, and it tasted really good, but it just wasn't what I was looking for. I guess there's no way around speeding up the curing process for prosciutto. Any other method, other than time, would not quite give you the same result.

Prosciutto: Pork out, Duck up

I pulled down the pork shoulder prosciutto I have hanging. I was a little worried about how salty it might be, and I wanted to try a little piece before it is officially ready. I have to say, instead of being over salted, I don't think it was salty enough. I just cut a little piece of the outside, and to me, it could've used a little more. I think I'm going to let it hang just another week before I pull it down and slice it. I left the bone in on this one to see if it adds any more flavor than a deboned prosciutto. We'll have to see how it comes out.
The 2 types of duck prosciutto are up and hanging. A regular salt cure, and a lavender salt cure. I know I keep saying this, but I really plan on getting another pig head early this week, and start another porchetta di testa.

New Salumi

The picture on the right is of some lardo butter I made yesterday, that will probably garnish the charcuterie plate. I thought it would be a cool idea to serve it with the bread, and possibly with some N'duja. The butter came out really well. Creamy and smooth. Today I put some pork belly in the cure. I also put some duck prosciutto to cure. I put 5 breasts in a lavender-salt cure. My girlfriend and I stopped by the store today before work and bought some spices to try out some new salami flavors. I was able to make a couple different spice mixes, but didn't mix anything because I haven't gotten the casings yet. Maybe sometime the beginning of next week. I'm planning on making a spreadable sobresada, maple-blueberry, cocoa-chipotle, and smoked salt. Looking forward to see how they come out! Prosciutto is almost ready to be pulled down. Right on schedule!

Local Farm

I've been in contact with a local farm that raises a special breed of pig perfect for charcuterie. In a couple of weeks, I'm going to be getting a 30 pound shoulder to make some new salami. I want to test the flavors against the kurobuta that i use now to see which one I like better. I am still trying to decide about buying the leg for prosciutto. I want to wait until the one I have hanging now is finished before I start another one. I want to see how it comes out.

Next week...

I have the prosciutto hanging still and it wont be ready until around the beginning of April. It's coming together pretty good. Starting to lose a good amount of weight and still holding together great. This week I'm going to start hanging another batch of salami. I have about 24 pounds of pork that I need to do something with. Tomorrow I am off and I'm going to start brainstorming some ideas for some different flavors. I made a cocoa-spice blend that I intend to do something with. Maybe a cocoa-chipotle and some sort of nut. Also, I've wanted to do something with some smoked salt I bought a while back. The charcuterie plate has been selling well, and so far everyone has been liking the headcheese. I want to purchase another head later on in the week and get another one started. It would be nice to keep it a constant on the plate, and doesn't take too much time to make. The picture above is of the slices of headcheese.

Sliced Porchetta

After cooking the porchetta for about 15 hours, sous vide at about 160 degrees celsius, I let it cool for about 8 hours, to let everything gel together. I then cut it to see how it turned out, and it looked awesome and tasted even better! I was so happy to see it turn out looking amazing and tasting even better. We tried some cold, sliced straight from the head, and then tried some pan fried. The lemon zest and rosemary came through perfectly. The texture was even better than I could imagine, and better than any headcheese I've tried before. Even behind all the spices, you could tell exactly what part of the head you were eating, and they all were perfectly balanced! Everyone who tasted it thought it was amazing. A must try for any pork lover!

I also pulled the prosciutto from the warmer. I had it held at about 90 degrees F for about 40 hours. I wrapped it in cheesecloth at hung it to dry in a room at 60 degrees and 70% humidity. It weighed in with about 10% weight loss. It's still going to need about 30 days of hanging. Patience.

Porchetta and Prosciutto

Yesterday I was able to pick up a pigs head before work. I deboned it and started my porchetta di testa. First, I cut off the ears, boiled them down, and had a crispy pig ear salad. Great snack! Next I placed the pig meat skin side down and seasoned the inside of the head meat with salt, pepper, rosemary, lemon zest, garlic and red chili flakes. Next, I'm marinating it for a couple of days. It will then be rolled up, tongue and all, and then sealed and sous vide for about 15 hours. I'm excited to see how this turns out. I've done traditional headcheese, and done headcheese torchon, now I thought it would be fun to try it like this. Also, I pulled the prosciutto from the cure and placed it in an oven at about 90 degrees and pressed it between two racks to help dry it out. Its going to stay there for about 48 hours. Today I'm going to weigh some of the salami and track their progress. Should be ready soon.

Porchetta Di Testa

So today was my day off, and I'm starting to plan my week ahead. This is whats going on so far. The nduja is finally down and ready for the charcuterie plate. The prosciutto is going to be coming out of the cure on Tuesday, rinsed, and them pressed for incubation. The calabrese, cardamom-orange, pepperoni, and chorizo all need about another week and they'll all be just about done. The duck prosciutto is out and on the plate. Coppa is done. Today I'm experimenting making some flavored, homemade salts to incorporate some new flavors. Again, this is just a couple of test runs. Not really sure what the outcome will be, what flavors I want, or if it will even work. I was thinking about trying something new, and doing a little research online I've decided to try porchetta di testa. Basically, it is another way of doing headcheese. Instead of using a terrine or casings, I'm going to bone out a pig's head, marinade it for a couple of days, then braise it in a sous vide bath. I want to start this on Wednesday, hopefully.

Coppa

I pulled the coppa down from hanging and it tastes really good. I used my camera phone on this picture, so it's kind of fuzzy. Hopefully I'll be able to take a better picture soon. The restaurant has been selling a lot of salami plates, and we've been running through product pretty quick. I'm gonna to hopefully start some lonza pretty soon. I like to have at least 2 muscles on the charcuterie plate. With the coppa ready, I now have that, and duck prosciutto. I also have the lardo that needs to be used.

I've been doing some research on new salami flavors, and starting this week, I am going to start flavoring my own salts and using them to create new flavors to mix with the pork. Doing this will allow me to create many more combinations that I couldn't normally do. Im very excited about starting this and will keep posting what I come up with.

Duck Prosciutto

Today I applied the second stage of cure to the prosciutto. After another 15 days comes the incubation process, and waiting another 3 months. I've been gathering some more pork to start another batch of salami in another 2 weeks or so. The one's hanging now should be out of there soon. I'm going to start looking up different flavor profiles to start creating my own flavors for something a little new. The bottom picture is of the N'duja. It really has a great texture and an awesome dark red color. Hoping to put it on the charcuterie plate starring next week. The two pictures on top are of the duck prosciutto.

First taste of N'duja

So with valentine's day this past week and everything being so busy I haven't really had a chance to blog much, but there are a few things that I've been able to do that I want to share. With the shoulder prosciutto, it is still in the first stage of curing. I took it out yesterday just to get a good look at it and it seems to be doing good. At this stage I like to take a good look at the muscle. As the salt starts to cure, and the color starts to change, you can really get a good look and make sure that the cure was spread out evenly over the product. If you see some spots that are still a little pink, I like to just sprinkle a little of the salt mix, just to make sure it gets cured because another week from now, when you pull it out to apply your second stage cure, it might be too late.
Yesterday wasn't a very busy day at work so I was able to mess around with the N'duja a little bit. I have 2 links in a warmer room and 2 links in a cooler room. I want to see if the warmer room (70 F) ferments a little better and effect the texture than the one in the cooler room (60 F). Its not scheduled to come out for about another 10 days, but I was a little eager to try some out. I was able to cut a little off a link in the cooler room and taste some. Just as I expected, it was pretty darn spicy! Everywhere you try to get info on n'duja over the internet stresses how spicy it is, and this one was no different. But what really stood out to me was also how flavorful it was! After a few seconds the spice tends to dissipate, and your left with just a delicious, smooth, pork taste coating your mouth. On a "spreadable" scale from 1-10, 1 being like a rock and 10 being like butter, I would give it about a 6. It wasn't completely soft, but you were able to put it on toast (which really helps with the heat!). I also put a little in a saucepan with some butter and tossed it in some pasta, and it was delicious! The recipe I used reduced the heat down from 25% to 15%, but I think maybe on a future batch, I would take it down just a little bit more.

Prosciutto In the Cure

I was able to get a good deal on a bone-in, skin on, 9 pound pork shoulder and finally was able to start some prosciutto. After doing a little bit of research online, I decided to leave the bone in. On Monday I was able to apply the first stage of cure to it. The recipe I used was a pretty basic one. I mainly just used salt, sugar, pepper, and juniper berries, and of course, some curing salt. It wasn't so much about the flavor for me this time, as it was about making sure it gets done right. After 15 days I will re-apply the rest of the cure, then after 30 days I will pull it from the cure and apply some sort of weight on it to help along with the curing process. Without the added pressure from the weight, the prosciutto would take about 18 months to cure. I want to try and have mine done in about 4 months. Also, I was able to pull all of the duck prosciutto from the cure and now all 4 breasts are hanging and should be done in a couple of weeks. The coppa was rinsed and is also hanging and should take a little over a month before its done. I was able to price a couple pig heads for another torchon and I really want to start one the week following valentines weekend. Chorizo, calabrese, pepperoni, and cardamom-orange are still looking great. The one I have in the warmer room seems to be curing just a little bit quicker than the ones in the cooler room., which is expected. After a couple more days, I will be moving it to the cooler of the rooms to finish the curing process. N'duja is expected to be done around the 26th. They are feeling great and still soft enough to spread. It's going to be a busy couple of months.

Day 3

So today was the first day I checked out the salami hanging. They have already started to turn a little darker in color. I was also able to look at the one I have hanging in the warmer of the two rooms. This one was already starting to come together a little more. I noticed that along with the color change, the meat had already started to shrink up a little bit. I also decided to take a link of the N'duja and hang it along with the one in the warmer room. I want it to ferment a little more in the last couple weeks of curing. It's still looking and feeling great! It also has wonderful aroma of smoke and spice! This week I plan to get a pig's head in and make another torchon. I recieved a lot of positive feedback from servers and guests.

Next batch...

So I was finally able to stuff and hang all 20 pounds of the salami i had grounded. I was able to make 2 logs that are about 2 pounds each, of each type of salami, and was even to make 2 more logs of mixed salami. Kind of a "leftover meat that wasn't able to fit into the other casings" mix. This time around I did something a little different. I hung most of the salami in the room where I do most of my curing in. The room stays around 60 degrees, and about 65-70% humidity. I really liked the way the flavor came out, and it looked fantastic. However, I wanted to do a little more experimenting with the fermentation, so I was able to hang a couple of pieces in another room that is a little warmer. This room is about 70 degrees and has a humidity level of about 75-80%. This temperature will help the culture ferment a little better. Since both batches were made the same exact way, at the same exact time, the only variable will be the rooms I am curing them in. Doing this, I will be able to compare both different batches and be able to find out which one I like better. I'll be sure to post pictures of both and share my comparisons.

Iberico de Bellota Popcorn

So today I decided what I'm going to make for the week. I have 2 duck breasts curing in a traditional prosciutto cure, another 2 are in an ancho-chile spiced salt, and the last 2 are going to be in a juniper berry salt cure. Also, with the 20 pounds of pork I have, I'm making 5 pounds of pepperoni, 5 pounds of chorizo, 5 pounds of cardamom-orange, and 5 pounds of calabrese. I figured alot of people would like pepperoni since it's a very familiar taste to everyone. I've done the orange-cardamom one before and it has amazing flavor that I really think alot of people will enjoy. My former chef and great friend Bruce Trathen came up with this recipe a while back and it's really great! The calabrese salami is a very old-world, dry salami, with a bit of heat that adds great flavor tot he pork. Needless to say, it's going to be a very busy day tomorrow. Hopefully will have time to stuff and hang all of these. Also, the coppa is going to be coming out of the cure tomorrow, rinsed, and then hung for a couple of weeks. I'll be sure to put up some pictures of the drying process.

Today, my girlfriend and I also made some popcorn with some iberico be bellota fat scraps. After tossing it with some butter and salt...amazing!

Pig's Head Torchon...

Today was a pretty productive day. I've had some left over meat from the headcheese that I had made a while back. One of the other cooks mentioned making a torchon, but we didn't have any pig skin left. I decided to try it with some chicken skin. I have to say, it tasted pretty delicious. I was able to sear the torchon then put it in the oven for just a minute, then slice it. Check out the pictures!

I have 6 duck breasts that are going to be cured early next week. Im really excited about those. After eating at different salumi restaurant, I've encountered some different flavors I can add to some prosciutto cure to let it stand out a little more from other duck prosciutto around town. Also, I have a total of 20 pounds of pork that I am going to start making into salami soon. I took inventory of what I have at the moment and all together I have 3 pounds of sopressa de fruilli, 4 pounds of finocionna, half pound of coppa, 1 pound of duck prosciutto, half a pound of lonza, 4 pounds of genoa, 1 pound of lardo, and 5 pounds of N'duja. Not a bad mix!

Coppa

Today I was able to apply the second batch of seasoning to the coppa I have. Now it needs a little over a week in the fridge and it should be ready to hang. Also, I realized I have 15 more pounds of pork shoulder I need to do something with. I have been wanting to do some cardamom-orange salami again. Also, maybe some little pepperoni sticks on the charcuterie plate would be kinda cool.

What's Going On...

Today was my day off and I was thinking about what's going to be going on this week. The coppa I have curing will be ready for it's second stage tomorrow when I re-apply seasoning, and just after another week, will be ready to hang. N'duja is still looking good! Still has a little while to go though. I'll be sure to save some for those of you who can make it out to the restaurant. I'll be sure to let you know when it's ready, and you can send me a message if you want to come in and try some! Also, the chef is doing a food and wine show in Charleston, S.C. in March and wants me to make some chorizo for him so I'm probably going to start that the beginning of February.

The attached picture is of the charcuterie plate at Voice.

Pork Gummy Bears!

I took some of the lardo down yesterday and sliced it. It looks good and tastes great! I melted some on toast and cut some into lardons and rendered them until translucent. One of my co-workers described them as little "pork gummy bears"! I thought they tasted awesome! A few lucky tables got to taste some when I garnished the charcuterie plate with a couple little lardons and they really seemed to enjoy them. Here are some pictures!

Just an update, the N'duja is looking and feeling great! This batch is not firming up at all as the last batch did, and so far it looks like it's going to be spreadable! Can't wait to try some! Also, the headcheese was delicious! Maybe making some pate today. Coppa is in the cure!

Headcheese and Chicharrones!

Today we made some headcheese. When it sets tomorrow I should be able to take some pictures. I used the skin to make pork rinds to garnish the charcuterie plate. They came out great! The lardo should be ready tomorrow also. Im going to pull down the thinner piece and slice into it to see if its done. Also, I placed some coppa in to cure. In a week and a half Im going to take it out and re-season it and cure it for another week and a half. Then comes the hanging. N'duja is looking good. It should be ready at the end of February.

What's Next...

Today I was able to hang the new N'duja. This batch is already looking a lot better than the last. The smoking process was a little different this time around, and to me, I think that's whats gonna make the difference. Doing research on this salami is next to impossible. Alot of recipes that you will find are very vague. It's definitely going to be something worth trying out at the restaurant.

We received a suckling pig in today, and tomorrow I'm going to make some headcheese. Last week we had pate on the salumi plate, this week we had rillettes, next is going to be headcheese.

Also, I was able to post some pictures of the Finocchiona and the Sopressa.

Trial and Error...

One thing I told myself when I started this blog was to always share all of my experiences. Good or bad. Today I checked out the n'duja I have hanging, and I have to say, so far, im not too pleased with it. I might be wrong. If there's anything I have learned from charcuterie making, its that you must have patience, And this one really takes every ounce of it. One thing I new from the beginning was that making this was going to be a little bit of a challenge.

Unless for some reason it starts to loosen up, I don't see it becoming much of a "spreadable" salami. I've already began troubleshooting and came up with a couple different things that while making it, I wasn't sure about. Hopefully, tomorrow I will begin mixing another batch. Since there isn't much research on the topic, I knew that a lot of it was going to be trial and error.

N'duja pt.3

As Sunday comes to a close, I wanted to share with you how the n'duja is going. I was finally able to stuff is on Saturday, and today, i began the smoking process. I smoked it today for about 8 hours. it turned a beautiful deep red color. Im gonna have to figure out a schedule as to when i can finish the smoking process, then comes the hanging. I posted up some pics of the n'duja so far.

On another note, I got the ok to order some mallard duck breasts and a couple of pork muscles for coppa. Also, if Im not mistaken, we're gonna be getting a couple of suckling pigs in next week, but more importantly, with that order, I think were gonna be getting some legs for prosciutto. Can't wait to give this another try since my last attempt ended in failure, do to forces out of my control.