First try at Charcuterie

[Dr ROK]

Made some capicola with an Umai kit. Turned out pretty good. Great taste and fat just melts in your mouth.

[Breadhead]

Wow, just Wow... That looks fantastic!

For those that don't know what Capicola is...

Capicola [kapoˈkɔllo], also known as capocollo, coppa, gabagool, capicollo and capicollu,[1] is a traditional Italian and Corsican pork cold cut (salume) made from the dry-cured muscle running from the neck to the 4th or 5th rib of the pork shoulder or neck. The name capocollo comes from capo ("head") and collo ("neck"). It is a whole muscle salume, dry cured and, typically, sliced very thin. It is similar to the more widely known cured ham or prosciutto, because they are both pork-derived cold-cuts that are used in similar dishes. However, coppa is not brined as ham typically is.

[fzxdoc]

Breadhead I remember gabagool as Tony Soprano's fav snack from the fridge. That series often made me hungry, especially the Sunday dinner scenes.

Kathryn

[Dr ROK]

Breadhead, the Umai bags make it a very simple process. Tough part will be deciding what I want to try next.

[Breadhead]

That was a stellar cook! Was there a rub involved?

[Dr ROK]

Not really a cook. More of an extended time of dehydration in the fridge using an Umai charcuterie bag.

[Jerod Broussard]

So what part of the meat in the picture is edible?

[Breadhead]

Jerod... Your boss taught us, fat is flavor.👌

[Breadhead]

Dr ROK ...

This guy will help you with your Charcuterie journey...

https://stellaculinary.com/cooking-videos/house-cured-charcuterie

[Dr ROK]

That guy knows his stuff. Didn't know he did charcuterie too!

[Strat50]

Very nice! I love the Umai system. Try making some pepperoni for your next pizza. You will have a tough time buying commercial stuff again, I can assure you! Again, a very good effort on your part, and many kudos!

[Dr ROK]

Thanks for the recommendation Strat50. I'll give that a shot.

[Dr ROK]

Here's the process I used. The instructions came with the kit.

4.8 lb. (2187 g) pork butt (9.48 Lb butt roast sliced through the top fat line separating the money muscle side from the other side.) 66 grams Morton kosher salt (3%)
6 grams Cure #2 (.25%)
1 TBS juniper berries - crushed in mortar and pestle
2 TBS sugar
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
2 TBS black pepper
3 bay leaves crumbled
3 sprigs thyme
2 average sized cloves garlic chopped

April 13 - Added all spices to mini blender and blitzed till evenly ground.

Separated money muscle side from entire butt and trimmed excess fat and squared/rounded it up. Rubbed the entire amount of dry rub over butt and put into foodsaver bag and sealed.

April 23 - Rinsed cure off meat, patted dry and rubbed with 1/2 cup paprika and 1/2 TBS Chipotle powder. It was more than what the video show using, so next tie cut this in half. Website video noted that the moisture in the meat is needed to bond to the Umai bag. Tied and put in Umai bag and set on cookie cooling rack in basement fridge. Added weight and target weight sticker. 45 day drying period will end on June 4.

[MBMorgan]

Very, very nice indeed!

[Potkettleblack]

Mmmmm... gabbagool! So tasty.

[Thunder77]

If that's your first try, I can't wait to see subsequent ones!! Nicely done!

[Jerod Broussard]

I better leave this thread, someone mentioned pepperoni.

[HorseDoctor]

That looks awesome!!! I've used the Umai bags to dry age ribeye's & have looked at their charcuterie stuff but not tried any of it, UNTIL NOW. Love some coppa!!!!