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Do you cure your own meats? (1 Viewer)

Soulfly3

Soulfly3

Footballguy
Winter is starting to creep here in Canada, weather is just about right to start preparing the dry cured meats.

Was wondering if anyone else here does any curing (of any kind)... and if so, what their recipes are.

I do the classics: cacciatore, capocollo, soppresata and fennel sausage.

Anyone else? Do anything "different" that really makes your stuff original?

 
:blackdot: I love Canada!

Do you kill the animal yourself, or get it prepared at some level?

 
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PIK95 said:
:blackdot: I love Canada!

Do you kill the animal yourself, or get it prepared at some level?
Click to expand...
When my nonno (grandfather) was alive, we'd slaughter the pigs that he raised for the year.

Now, we just purchase a couple pigs, have it slaughtered, pick it up whole, and get to work between a few family members.

With the "leftovers" like cartilage and tendon, we make something called " gelatin' " (pro: jelateen) which is basically the leftover pig parts boiled up in some vinegar, which gelatinizes naturally w the pig parts. acquired taste, but to me, absolutely effing delicious.

ultimate "poor man's" food

 
The General said:
You taking your shoes off while you do all this curing of the meats?
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In the cold basement of my grandparent's old house, while butchering a pig? Shoes are a necessity. Concrete floor.

Once your ### gets upstairs, shoes come off, like a civilized human being.

 
Serious question. Pigs get butchered in your basement? Doesn't that smell get upstairs eventually?

 
SaintsInDome2006 said:
If I want good Canadian cured meats I go to Au Pied de Cochon in Montreal, no way I would do this stuff myself.
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It's actually a really primal and excellent experience. Taking your whole animal and tranforming it, over months, into delicious cured meat is something Ive always taken pride in.

And it's a hell of a lot cheaper. And tastes better.

But ya.... AU pied is kick ###

 
Nothing fancy like you but we do make around a hundred lbs of venison/pork sausages every year. Mostly fresh or simple cure and smoked. While summer sausage is made, I have never tried a salami, may venture that way some day.

 
No, but I'm damn impressed that you do all of this yourself. Very cool family tradition.

Eta would like to see some pics documenting the whole hog to finished product process.

 
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Nigel said:
No, but I'm damn impressed that you do all of this yourself. Very cool family tradition.

Eta would like to see some pics documenting the whole hog to finished product process.
Click to expand...
I'll try to remember this when we get going... Waiting on some consistent cold to come in... usually mid december to mid january is when it begins.

FWIW, the EASIEST methid for those who are first timers, is to buy good quality (NEVER FROZEN) ground pork... Find a good italian butcher and you can make the sausages to hang in "no time"... Also, ALWAYS use natural casing (intestine)... It's a must for sausages.

I'm super busy these days w work and such, and thought about going the pre-ground meat route, but I highly doubt ill do it... At worst, Ill just buy the butts/shoulders ad grind them myself. TBD

 
DuckStupid said:
Do you some type of drying chamber where you can control temp and humidity as well as getting a bit of air flow?
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Nope, tho this seems to be how many do it.

"italian homes" have what we call "cantinas" which is basically a fruitcellar. Dark. Cold. W some sort of air flow to the outside.

My house doesnt have one, so i improvised. I have a stairway that is NEVER used which goes from the basement directly to the outside. Its hidden away where we keep out deep freezer.

It's a perfectly replicated "cantina" w coldness and airflow. I hang everything there.

Gimme a minute and I'll mock a very small scale example for you (nothinf hanging at the moment, its not the season... But Ill fake throw something up)

Will post in a few minutes.

 
Ok, so here is a VERY crude mockup of what'd it'd look like... with only one bar of wood... come winter, the cieling will be blocked by wood bars and there'd be dozens of strands of meat hanging from the ceiling.

I duct tape around the seal of the door because I dont want it to get TOO cold, or the meat just freezes... the door itself radiates the cold the meat needs to cure properly.

the rest of the meat for the year hangs at my grandparents house.

anyways, hope you get the idea. dark... room to breath... and some air flow

http://i68.tinypic.com/adbwvm.jpg

 
Soulfly3 said:
Ok, so here is a VERY crude mockup of what'd it'd look like... with only one bar of wood... come winter, the cieling will be blocked by wood bars and there'd be dozens of strands of meat hanging from the ceiling.

I duct tape around the seal of the door because I dont want it to get TOO cold, or the meat just freezes... the door itself radiates the cold the meat needs to cure properly.

the rest of the meat for the year hangs at my grandparents house.

anyways, hope you get the idea. dark... room to breath... and some air flow

http://i68.tinypic.com/adbwvm.jpg
Click to expand...
Very cool.

I travelled a lot for work for awhile with an East Coast guy that did this. He was Italian and was a family thing. He was pretty much doing a whole pig in all different manners of preparation, was pretty crazy I thought but he really seemed to know what he was doing. Cool forgotten artisanal thing.

 
Id highly suggest using pre-ground pork for your first go... maybe make 5-10 pounds (sounds like a lot, but it isnt once it dries)

Really the rules are it need to be "cold", needs some air circulation, and you should ALWAYS use a small amount of pink salt (prague powder #1) to kill of any chance of bad bacteria/botulism.

My family NEVER uses the pink salt, they just use the salt and are confident enough in their setup... I just prefer a bit more caution, but I have no problem eating their foods. ever.

 
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otello said:
What about doing in fridge?
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I've seen some tutorials online doing this... Id suggest if you wanna go this route... buy a cheap used fridge, clean it real good, and give it a whirl.

wont be able to make a lot, but you'll be able to make it!

 
Couple really good specialty meat places have opened up recently. For whatever reason this has really made a comeback, epicurean meats, etc. I'm still not sure how people find the time to do this at home.

 
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