Smoked Sausage and Italian Salumi

I know that it has been a while since my last post.  Chalk it up to laziness.  Check out some of the tasty chicken smoked sausage that was made a while back with some of my friends in Morris.  It was amazing right out of the smoker (after a quick ice water batch).  Great amber color and smokey flavor!  Much better than the first time we tried to make it.  Next time I have to make a Texas style hot link or a Polish kielbasa.

Also since my last post, I received a baseball bat-like package from a from a friend with the following note.

Lobo was in Italy visiting his sister and noticed all the hanging meat and sausages at the local markets.  We had been having conversations about salami since I started this blog and I guess I piqued his interest.  I remember when I was in Rome that some of the markets have vacuum sealers and will ship goods, so I asked him about shipping me a sample.  He said he would look into it.  Truthfully, I forgot about the conversation until the package arrived in the mail.  Inside was a long salami covered in beautiful white mold.  Check it out.

The salami was amazing.  Deep red color mixed with large chunks of wonderful fat.  It had a distinct salami flavor and a good amount of spice.  I have been addicted to spicy lately, so it was right up my alley.  I still have a little left in the fridge and it's great on a crusty bread with a little mustard.  Thanks again, Lobo!

Stay tuned for a guanciale update!

Two-week Update Guanciale #1

Guanciale #1 has been hanging for a little over two weeks.  During that time I have been monitoring several factors:

1.  Appearance-The guanciale appears to be loosing some of it's weight but what I really deem important here is what I don't see.  There is no appearance of mold or other signs of spoilage.  That is good.  The guanciale looks almost exactly like it did when I hung it, so I am encouraged by that.
2.  Touch/Smell-The guanciale has a pleasant "raw" smell still and you can smell elements of the cure still too (garlic, thyme, black pepper).  The texture has gotten slightly firmer.  It is more noticeable on the sides that are thinner, but it is by no means hard.  Based on what I've read, the texture is fine and consistent with the process.
3.  Temperature-The temperature does seem to fluctuate slightly above and below the temperature the thermostat has been set at.  The fridge was inexpensive so I wasn't expecting perfection, but I am a little disappointed in the temperature fluctuation.  The temperature range has still been within the 50-70 F that I am looking for.  I have been adjusting the temperature periodically to make up for the humidity issues that I am having (see below).
4.  Humidity-This is my biggest area of concern so far.  My humidity meter (cheap and archaic as it is) has been reading in the 75-90% range consistently since I hung the guanciale.  I was hoping for a 65-75% range.  I think the biggest thing that the elevated humidity rate is doing is slowing the dehydration process.  The elevated humidity is definitely a better problem to have than too low (that would cause the jowl to dry too quickly on the outside before the center could be adequately dehydrated).  Hopefully, the humidity will lessen once the jowl has lost a little more of its moisture.  I have been moving the temperature of the chamber around so that the motor would click on to help dehumidify the chamber.  I may have to invest in a humidity meter that can give me maximum and minimum levels so I know exactly how much fluctuation is occurring. I've also been trying to open the fridge every day or two to allow some fresh air in.

Results:

I have experienced a decrease in the weight of the jowl over the last two weeks.  The starting weight was 615 grams, and I have removed the jowl and weighed it twice since.
-April 6, 2012 (6pm)-594 grams
-April 15, 2012 (10:30am)-579 grams
Total Weight loss: 36 grams
Percentage Weight loss: ~6%

I am drying at a much slower rate than I had hoped.  I hoped to be at about 15% weight loss after two weeks, so I'm unsure of how long it will take to lose the 30-35% necessary to complete the process.

Stay tuned for more updates and a few other related stories.

Drying Guanciale #1

Friday, March 30, 2012

After a week in my fridge, it is time to pull the jowl out of the cure and prep for drying.  At this point, the jowl is slightly firm and has retained most of its original color.  I rinsed all of the cure off and dried the jowl.  In order to hang, I had to cut a hole and run some butcher twine through the hole and tie it off into a loop.  I then weighed and measured the prepared jowl in order to track size and weight loss.

Jowl length: 9 inches

Jowl weight:  615 grams

Attaching the string to a metal hook, I then hung the jowl in the center of my chamber, placed a paper towel under the jowl, and closed the door.  I then set the temperature to 60 degrees F. Check out the cool blue light!

The guanciale will be done when it is firm to the touch but not hard and has lost 30-35% of its weight.  I also covered the chamber to avoid light entering.  After an hour or so in the chamber, I checked the humidity gauge.  It was running a little too humid (around 85%), but I am hopeful that the humidity will drop within 24 hours to the 70-80% range.

All I can do now is cross my fingers and hope for the best.  I will do a weight check in a week and keep you posted.

Update:  On Sunday, the humidity had stabilized at 75% once I decreased the temperature to 57 degrees.  I was hoping that the running of the fridge to maintain the lower temp would dehumidify the chamber.  If the fridge is not running, then the humidity builds. Once it turns on, the humidity then drops.  Hope it works.

Guanciale #1

Guanciale is an Italian cured and dried pork jowl.  It is usually an ingredient in a dish but can be sliced and eaten "raw".  I decided this would be the easiest and cheapest practice item to test my curing chamber.  The jowl is an inexpensive cut ($7/lb from a quality butcher) and requires no grinding, mixing, or stuffing.  All you do is mix the curing rub, apply it to the jowl, cure it for a week or longer, and then hang it for up to two months.  Seems easy enough right?


On Friday, March 16, I purchased this beautiful 1.5lb pork jowl from The Butcher & Larder on Milwaukee in Chicago.

The butcher was very helpful.  I have never dealt with that cut of meat before, and I'd read that you need to remove any glands before you begin the cure.  The butcher pointed out a few glands and was happy to remove them for me (before he weighed the meat for purchase too!).  After that experience, I will definitely be back.

Later that night, I was relaxing, planning on starting the cure for the guanciale the next day.  I didn't have any fresh thyme, but the rest of the ingredients are pretty common cabinet staples (kosher salt, sugar, fresh garlic, and peppercorns-I also added 1 tsp of pink curing salt that was recommended by Ruhlman to maintain the pink color and firm texture, but this is optional).  It is important to follow the appropriate ratio of salt to meat to ensure proper curing.  At 9:30pm, I couldn't stand it anymore, so I ran to the local convenience store and bought some fresh thyme.  After my wife laughed at my craziness, I was ready to prepare my jowl for curing.

I mixed all the ingredients as suggested in Charcuterie.

I then placed the jowl in a freezer bag with the cure on top and mixed to distribute the cure evenly over jowl and slid it into the fridge for a one week cure.

A couple of question marks for me remain.  Ruhlman suggests a cure of 4-6 days, but I've read in other places that you should cure the jowl up to a month.  Also, the skin was left on the jowl.  Most cured slab bacon still has the skin on, so I decided to keep it on.  We'll just have to wait and see.

Equipment

I swear by my KitchenAid grinder attachment. Based on cost versus replacement, it is by far the most cost effective tool for home charcuterie.  Also, it is small enough to easily slide into your freezer so it can properly chill before any grinding occurs.  I've used it to grind meat for fresh sausage, but I've also ground my own meat for hamburgers or tacos.  At a cost of $45, it is well worth it.

The opposite is true of the Kitchen Aid stuffer attachment.  If you are an occasional sausage maker, you can get by with it (however, any softer sausage like a chicken sausage or turkey sausage were a real pain to stuff through the narrow tube that feeds into the stuffer).  The main drawback with the stuffer attachment is time. Sausage making is a lengthy process, so by the time you are actually ready to stuff the sausage, you find yourself waiting for the machine to catch up.  Plus the filling tube and top reservoir are very small, so you have to constantly add meat from your mixing bowl, onto the reservoir, then use the stuffing tool to push it down the tube, while holding and guiding the casing with your other hand.  I used mine for the first three or  four times I made sausage, but once sausage making became a regular occurrence, I knew I had to upgrade.  I purchased a 7lb vertical stuffer (about $115 on sale from Cabela's) and am extremely happy I did.  I can now stuff 7lbs (I actually think it holds closer to 10lbs) in no time.

I've been making fresh sausage for almost three years.  I started off with basic sweet italian sausage recipes and a chicken sausage from Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn's Charcuterie.  They turned out fantastic.  I had never had such a juicy and flavorful sausage from the supermarket.  The flavor convinced me that the time, effort, and money were well worth it.  I've made about five or six different sausages from Charcuterie, along with a few others.  I've also designed a couple of  homemade recipes based on the 70/30 ratio of meat to fat (the "chili" sausage was a huge hit).

Reading Charcuterie made me realize that I was only scratching the surface of the art with fresh sausage making.  I've also made one attempt at smoking sausage with a friend of mine and it turned out ok (I will be attempting a second round in early April).  But ever since I picked up the book, I've wanted to cure and air dry meat and sausage.  I've read Ruhlman suggest that you could cure meat in a standard mini-fridge, and I always kept that in the back of my mind as I made excuses for why I couldn't do it.  "I don't have the time" or "We just don't have the room" were the two most common.

As I was shopping one day at Costco, I saw that they had a Vinotemp 27 bottle wine fridge for $200.  I always thought a wine fridge would be perfect for home curing because it has a built in thermostat, and optimal wine storage conditions are usually ideal for drying meat as well (think basements and cellars).  Still, I was reluctant until my wife finally encouraged me to do it, plus she cleared a space for the fridge in her crafting section of our small dinner table nook.  After we got some extra money from the our tax return, I finally made the leap and purchased the Vinotemp fridge.

I plugged it in and set the thermostat for 60 degrees Fahrenheit.  I then purchased an indoor/outdoor temperature and humidity meter and placed it inside the running fridge to gauge the temperature but also to get an idea of the relative humidity.  After thirty minutes in the fridge, the gauge measured 60 degrees and 70% humidity-the ideal environment!

Now let the fun begin!

SALAMI

THE SALAMI PLATE AT CHRISTMAS DINNER (I KNOW, CHRISTMAS AGAIN) IS ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE MEMORIES.  THE SALAMI PLATE WAS A MAJOR EVENT.  FROM MY GRANDFATHER METICULOUSLY SLICING AND ARRANGING THE DIFFERENT TYPES ON THE PLATE, TO TRYING TO SNEAK LITTLE BITES ONLY TO BE TURNED AWAY (GRANDPA ALWAYS WOULD SLIP A FEW SLICES MY WAY THOUGH, THAT'S WHAT GRANDPAS ARE FOR, AREN'T THEY?), THE SALAMI PLATE WAS ALWAYS A CROWD FAVORITE DURING THE ANTIPASTO COURSE.  IT IS MY OLDEST MEMORY OF CHARCUTERIE.

HAVING NO REALIZATION OF HOW IT WAS MADE OR HOW NUANCED IT WAS, I LABELLED EVERYTHING THAT APPEARED TO BE SALAMI SALAMI.  I DIDN'T CARE ABOUT THE PAINSTAKING PROCESS OR THE HISTORY BEHIND IT.  ONE OF MY GUILTY PLEASURES IS THIN CUT SALAMI STRAIGHT OUT OF THE DELI BAG.

ON A FAMILY TRIP TO ITALY, I REMEMBER MY MOM FINDING THIS SALUMERIA NEAR THE PANTHEON IN ROME.  EVEN THOUGH I'M SURE IT CATERED MAINLY TO TOURISTS, I STILL WAS ENCHANTED BY THE HANGING MEATS AND SAUSAGES.  THE OWNER WAS INCREDIBLE, VERY CHARISMATIC AND FRIENDLY.  I WAS LIVING IN TURKEY AT THE TIME, SO I RELISHED ANY CHANCE AT PORK.

ALONG WITH THE CHRISTMAS SALAMI PLATE, THE THIRTY MINUTES IN THAT SHOP WAS THE BEGINNING OF A LOVE AFFAIR WITH SALAMI THAT IS FINALLY TAKING THAT NEXT STEP.  I HAVE SOME EXPERIENCE WITH FRESH SAUSAGE MAKING, AND, BASED ON THE REACTIONS OF THOSE WHO HAVE TASTED IT, I'VE BEEN SUCCESSFUL.  THE LOGICAL NEXT STEP IS TO ATTEMPT TO MASTER THE ANCIENT ART OF CURED AND AIR DRIED MEATS IN MY 1000 SQUARE FOOT GARDEN CONDO IN CHICAGO.  I'LL KEEP YOU POSTED.