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Another trip down the charcuterie path

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    Another trip down the charcuterie path

    This past weekend, I got together with a good friend of mine who enjoys all things food and cooking as much as I do. We have talked about making charcuterie for a few years now. I even went as far as buying the Umay Dry "Artisan Meat Kit - Dry Sausage Kit" last year. But, we just never picked a date and did.

    Well - Sunday was the day - and after a bit of discussion and researching, we chose three types of charcuterie to see if the process and results would be something we will continue on with in the future. The three types we chose were traditional pepperoni, salami finocchiona, and salami soppressata. The first two are a mix of lean beef (sirloin in this case), lean pork (Tenderloin steaks is what we could find) and pork back fat. The last is all pork shoulder. Each has a different flavor profile with the various spices used.

    Neither of us had ever made/stuffed sausage prior to this. We've both used different types of grinders, but stuffing sausage was another story. So, that was one thing we worried about. Our plan was to grind all the meat needed to make the three different types of charcuterie first then add the spices/seasonings. Then we would go back and stuff the Umai Dry casings, trying to keep the process as smooth as possible. We used my buddies Waring grinder/sausage stuffer, I think it was one of the basic models.

    So, first we gathered up the cut beef, pork and back fat that had been in the freezer for about an hour or so to ensure a good grind. Started grinding away and learned as we went to try and mix the three together to try and keep a good mixture.

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    It went smoothly, as we ended up with a great grind, meat and fat that should produce great results, similar to those photos you see of charcuterie boards online!

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    After the grind was done, we added the spices and once all was incorporated, added BactoFerm T-SPX, which tightened up the grind and helps with the dry-cure process. We then wrapped the mixed grind and put it back in the refrigerator to keep it as cold as possible.

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    We then completed this exact process for the Salami Finocchiona and Salami Soppressata. Below are a few photos just to try and show the difference in colors and grind, especially for the soppressata since it is pork shoulder only.

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    Once we had all of the meat ground, seasoned and chilled, we moved on to the stuffing. With the Umai Dry kit I purchased, we would be stuffing 50mm casings. Which, we felt would be perfect for the types of charcuterie we were making. So we measured out what we felt was going to be enough casing for 5lbs of meat (which is what we were making for each of the three), slid the casing over the stuffing tube attachment, tied off the end with small zip ties and made a plan of me working the filling/casing and my buddy working the grind into the hopper as steady as he could. As we began, the speed of the Waring machine actually made it pretty easy and as we went along, we were able to get full casings with no air pockets.

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    Once we got to about 10" links, we stopped the machine, twisted the casing and added two more zip ties, 1" apart. The first to seal the first link and the second to began the next link. We then continued on with the process for the second link. 10" and zip tied the end and an 1" apart and then cut in the middle so we would have two attached links.

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    So on we went with this process for the rest of the grind. It all went smoothly, no issues and after we were done, we had some great looking links that were ready for the next step! Once we were completely done stuffing, we weighed and labeled each pair so we had our starting weight.

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    The next step in this process was to hang the links in a dark, dry area that stayed in the 65-72* range for up to 72 hours. So, into the oven at my house for that time period, as I was on my way out of town for a short spring break trip. I had a little trouble with hanging, as I had to rig up a few things to provide enough space to the links weren't touching the bottom. Not the best solution, but it worked out. Next time, lesson learned is to make these about 6-8".

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    I arrived home today to find that the Umai Dry bags had great adhesion, there was some color change to the sausage and they had a bit more firmness to them then Sunday. So, they are on their way in the process. The lighting in the photos is a bit different, so it may not show the color change very well, but the other thing I noticed was the aroma starting to come through as well.

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    The last step in the process is to place in the refrigerator allow to dry cure until a weight loss of 35-40% has been achieved. Umai says this takes about 4 weeks. So we shall see how that goes. For the mean time, I'll be trying not to open my refrigerator door every time I walk by to see how this 15lbs of soon to be charcuterie as well as the ribeye and pancetta are doing

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    As for recipes, we followed the recipes that Umai Dry provides in the kit. The kit included everything needed for this project but the meat and spices, so made it very easy to give this a try. Bactoferm T-SPX, Powdered Dextrose, Instacure #2, and zip ties are all included and if needed, you can purchase spice kits from Umai, but that was not needed, as I have spices coming out my ears! In all, this kit should be enough to make 25-30lbs of sausage.

    The flavor profiles for each sausage are:

    Pepperoni - black pepper, paprika, fennel powder and cayenne pepper
    Salami Soppressata - black pepper, red pepper flakes, whole peppercorns, ancho chili powder and garlic powder
    Salami Finocchiona - black pepper, white pepper, fennel powder, garlic and red wine

    A few observations from this project -

    1. it will be interesting to see the texture of the soppressata, as we could definitely tell the difference in using pork shoulder only. The fat was different, almost looked smeared compared to the fat back pieces that we can see in the casings. The meat was still very cold when we stuffed into the casing, so I don't know if that was partially why it looked this way.

    2. If we enjoy the results, we will most likely get a dedicated stuffer, one that is crank assisted vs the motor. Although we didn't have any issues with this grinder/stuffer, we feel we would get better results with less moving parts. Especially with the texture - but we are hopeful it won't be an issue.

    3. As with the other Umai bags I've used, these were great to work with. And, they don't require a vac seal for this type of use. So, that has been very nice to have had success with multiple types of bags.

    4. I have elevated my food geekyness a whole 'nother level

    I hope you enjoyed yet another post of my adventures in charcuterie. I will continue with some updates as time goes and of course, final photos and thoughts once that lovely day gets here!
    Attached Files
    Last edited by barelfly; May 7, 2019, 10:38 AM.

    #2
    Wow awesome write up, definitely gotta make me some sausage !!!

    Comment


    • Sfdrew28
      Sfdrew28 commented
      Editing a comment
      Did you once post a recipe for andouille sausage? I made it once from a recipe here and can’t find it. I loved it.

    #3
    Looking good. Please be sure to follow up on this when the load is done. Looks like a good bit of work too.

    Comment


      #4
      Lookin' forward to the results.

      Comment


        #5
        Fun. Looking forward to seeing the final product!

        Comment


          #6
          I want to follow in your footsteps.

          Comment


          • barelfly
            barelfly commented
            Editing a comment
            Follow along. Order the bags, I figure there will be two weeks worth of foot steps between us!

          #7
          Super Great!

          Comment


            #8
            Great writeup, thank you for sharing. I've been wanting to try charcuterie myself, so I'll be looking forward to hearing how this turns out for you.

            Comment


              #9
              Great write up. Sausage is near the top of my to do list.

              Comment


                #10
                UPDATE #1 FOR CHARCUTERIE

                Well, it's not exactly a week into the charcuterie experiment, but with my schedule the next week, and since I was weighing the pancetta, I decided to weigh a link of the sausage just to see what was going on. And, to my surprise, there was actually quite the weight loss!

                1. weight of link 1 - I grabbed a soppresatta link that was right on top of the shelf. Took it in and could definitely feel the difference in firmness. Perhaps some of this was due to it being cold now compared to Wednesday when I removed it from the oven. But original weight was 901g and today already at a 9% weight loss, coming in at 814g. I was a bit skeptical at how the weight loss would work here - and maybe the front end loss will be quick and then painfully slow - but, glad to see there is some color change, firmness and weight loss just a week in.

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                But, even with the one weight, I thought - any good food geek would weigh another pair, just to see if results would be replicated so, I went and grabbed one more to see

                2. weight of link 2 - this link was pepperoni, just to see if different types were drying at about the same rate. Original weight was 721g and today again, about a an 8% weight loss with a weight of 661g. The color has deepened compared to Sunday and has also firmed up.

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                So - after the two weights - I'm hopefull that this will only take 4 weeks for the 35-40% weight reduction.

                And like my other post - please ask any questions that I may have not answered with this update. Hope you enjoyed the info.

                Jeremy -
                Last edited by barelfly; March 29, 2019, 06:07 PM.

                Comment


                  #11
                  Killing it!

                  Comment


                    #12
                    WEEKLY UPDATE - WEEK #2

                    Just about to get to the 2 week mark for these, so got another weight to see how things are going.

                    1. link 1 - same as above, soppressata

                    After the initial weight loss, I wondered if it would sustain that same percentage of loss. To my surprise, it has - so at this pace, 4 weeks should be when these are ready for some homemade spicy mustard! Initial weight was 901g, week 1 weight was 814g and week 2 weight came in at 751g, so right at 17% loss. Feel has firmed compared to last week, not hard, but that is what is wanted here. If the outside gets too hard too quick, then you will not get the proper weight loss from what I have read. So I think this is moving along just fine!

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                    2. link 2 - same as above post - pepperoni

                    Original weight was 721g, week 1 661g and week 2 597g. Again, right there with a 17% weight loss. Like the other, this had a nice firmness and you can see that the links have started to shrink, as the casing has begun to pull away from the link a bit. Most of the links have started to this as well. I've moved the links around to ensure even airflow in the refrigerator. The color here is great! These will be great on their own, or spread out on a homemade pizza!

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                    3. link 3 - finochionna

                    I didn't grab a weight on one of these last week, but just to check I did this go. Original weight here was 837g and today came in at 705g. This was also about 17% weight loss. So, I'm liking the consistency of the weight loss in the three types of charcuterie that we made. The meat is different for one of the three, and some differences in ingredients. Casing is the same of course, but this shows that our process of grinding and stuffing seems to be pretty good.

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                    So that's it for this week. Hopefully this weight loss continues at the same pace and the week of April 20 there is a charcuterie party!

                    Comment


                      #13
                      One heck of a great write-up. Maybe I can get to something like this. I wonder if there is any charcuterie in The "kids" freezer... Click image for larger version

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                      Comment


                      • barelfly
                        barelfly commented
                        Editing a comment
                        ha! that's a side or two of something in the "kids" freezer

                      #14
                      Super interesting post and great story telling! I have a few questions:
                      Are the casings the umai bags, or are they intestinal casings that you then put inside the bags?
                      if the casings are the bags, do you just cut them off once the process is done?
                      What stops the process? Do you keep them outside the fridge and they don't cure or dry out anymore?
                      How long does it last? It seems like it would take a long time to go through that much charcuterie.

                      Comment


                      • barelfly
                        barelfly commented
                        Editing a comment
                        Thanks! Yes, casings are the umai bags. Nothing else. Once the links lose 35-40% weight, they come out of th casings and store in zipper tops in the fridge or vac seal and freeze. You could continue with the process, but once they are out of the umai and vac sealed, they can’t lose moisture I am guessing. This is the first time of done this project, but at the rate of weight loss, it should be 4 weeks total. And each batch was 5lbs, and will be split up between my friend and I.

                      • barelfly
                        barelfly commented
                        Editing a comment
                        Plus we will have a big charcuterie party to celebrate our successes, hopefully!

                        In regards to the intestinal casings, I could try to dry that way, but it’s too dry where I live, so I think they would dry out and harden on the outside which would not allow for the correct process, so these bags seems like a great way to get around that. Once these are done, I’ll try some other types, would like to do chorizo and bracciola and capicolla.

                      #15
                      Looks like you did a great job! I've done tons of fresh and smoked sausage, but haven't done much dry aged. The one pancetta I did was excellent and I used the Umai bags for that.

                      Comment


                      • barelfly
                        barelfly commented
                        Editing a comment
                        Did you eat the pancetta raw? I’m also doing pancetta, have that in another post. Was just curious?

                      • Dr ROK
                        Dr ROK commented
                        Editing a comment
                        barelfly sorry I didn't see your question. Yes, simply slice thin and serve.

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