Where to start learning how to cure meats

[AeonSam]

Hello all,

I was wanting to start learning how to cure and age - long aged meats like prosciutto, pancetta, etc. There's so many people doing it out there that it's hard to know who is credible. Any tips on a source of info that I could use? I'm trying to avoid the "long way" by randomly picking videos that look good.

Sam

[Al Lewis]

Sam, This one is pretty much the bible of those I know curing meats and making sausages, etc.  Kutas is a master of cured meats.  Also this book by Ruhlman, and any other he writes, are excellent.  I have two of Ruhlman's and the Kutas book.  I use them as my sole references.  May I also suggest, if you haven't purchased any of your equipment yet that you shop here.  I have purchased a stainless sausage stuffer and a electric grinder from these folks and got the exact same products advertised at other sites for far less cash and couldn't be happier.  I did not buy my meat slicer from them but instead got a 12" from here.  Well worth the money and will outlast the 2 and 3 hundred dollar models sold other places.  Anyway, not much else I can tell you other than to buy your sausage making supplies from the www.sausagemaker.com, unless you can find the same products cheaper elsewhere.  I know there are several folks on here that are really into this so I expect you'll get lots of advice.  Enjoy!!

[5ittingduck]

Great advice Al!
Reddit have some keen types in there charcuterie sub.
I bought a cheap second hand industrial slicer, which is awesome.
If you want to dabble a bit before investing in curing chambers, UMAI dry bags are expensive but work really well in home applications. I still use the salami tubes, really convenient.

[AeonSam]

Sam, This one is pretty much the bible of those I know curing meats and making sausages, etc.  Kutas is a master of cured meats.  Also this book by Ruhlman, and any other he writes, are excellent.  I have two of Ruhlman's and the Kutas book.  I use them as my sole references.  May I also suggest, if you haven't purchased any of your equipment yet that you shop here.  I have purchased a stainless sausage stuffer and a electric grinder from these folks and got the exact same products advertised at other sites for far less cash and couldn't be happier.  I did not buy my meat slicer from them but instead got a 12" from here.  Well worth the money and will outlast the 2 and 3 hundred dollar models sold other places.  Anyway, not much else I can tell you other than to buy your sausage making supplies from the www.sausagemaker.com, unless you can find the same products cheaper elsewhere.  I know there are several folks on here that are really into this so I expect you'll get lots of advice.  Enjoy!!

Thanks Al, that's really helpful. I was wondering if those are the key pieces of equipment needed for curing meats. Do you use a cave like you do for cheeses? Is there any meat that you'd recommend for a beginner that doesn't require an initial investment? I would like to see how I can do with something simple first.

Great advice Al!
Reddit have some keen types in there charcuterie sub.
I bought a cheap second hand industrial slicer, which is awesome.
If you want to dabble a bit before investing in curing chambers, UMAI dry bags are expensive but work really well in home applications. I still use the salami tubes, really convenient.

Thanks Sittingduck. What are the UMAI Bags used for? How do they work?

[Al Lewis]

Dry curing bacon is a lot of fun as is wet curing hams.  Right time of year for it and very little investment.  If you like you can access my blog, see my signature block, which has my recipes for both.  Just keep clicking on "older posts" at the bottom of the page until you find them.  I think hams are on the last page.  making your own pastrami is also on there.

[5ittingduck]

UMAI bags are selectively permeable polymer membranes which allow the contents to dry without letting nasty bacteria pass through them.
Dry aged steak, breseola, coppa and salami can be dried off in a conventional fridge without requiring a humidity controlled chamber.
Check out their website https://www.drybagsteak.com/ for ideas.

[AeonSam]

Dry curing bacon is a lot of fun as is wet curing hams.  Right time of year for it and very little investment.  If you like you can access my blog, see my signature block, which has my recipes for both.  Just keep clicking on "older posts" at the bottom of the page until you find them.  I think hams are on the last page.  making your own pastrami is also on there.

That's a pretty spectacular blog Al! Do you cook for a living? I got hungry just by looking at your site. It looks like you have that Giant Green Egg smoker/Grill too. I don't have a smoker yet. Would you say that that is the most important first piece?

UMAI bags are selectively permeable polymer membranes which allow the contents to dry without letting nasty bacteria pass through them.
Dry aged steak, breseola, coppa and salami can be dried off in a conventional fridge without requiring a humidity controlled chamber.
Check out their website https://www.drybagsteak.com/ for ideas.

Thanks man, these look very useful. I will look into buying some.

Sam

[jhend]

Hi AeonSam, here is my go to sight for cured and smoked meats there are some very knowledgeable posters.

http://smokingmeatforums.com/index.php

Also here on the cheese forum Al as you already know and Reg are very knowledgeable as well. Remember ask lots of questions.

John

[Al Lewis]

Dry curing bacon is a lot of fun as is wet curing hams.  Right time of year for it and very little investment.  If you like you can access my blog, see my signature block, which has my recipes for both.  Just keep clicking on "older posts" at the bottom of the page until you find them.  I think hams are on the last page.  making your own pastrami is also on there.


That's a pretty spectacular blog Al! Do you cook for a living? I got hungry just by looking at your site. It looks like you have that Giant Green Egg smoker/Grill too. I don't have a smoker yet. Would you say that that is the most important first piece?


Thanks man, these look very useful. I will look into buying some.
Sam

No it's just a hobby.  I did do the video recipes for www.CharGriller.com thus the reason I have three of their smokers/grills.  They refer to me as Chef Lou however i am not a chef and it was a point of contention with me.  If you are going to do smoke cured meats you will need a good smoker.  However, most cured meats in the salumi category are not smoked.  They are simply dry cured and do not require a smoker.  Also, cold smoking, which takes a long time, is difficult in most of the residential off-set stick smokers available and requires a home built unit and a lot of time and patience.  It can be done but true cold smoking is done over months.  Smithfield smokes their hams for 6 months thus the cost.  You can also cure fish without smoking them.  Gravlax is the original way of curing salmon and only requires a cold place to store the fish while it is curing.  Once you get into the basics of Charcuterie you will see that there are many ways of curing meats that were pretty much created through necessity and what was available to the people at the time.  Rather like cheeses.  A great book on butchering, curing and preparation of meats and fishes is this one.  I have owned it for years and love it.  I even take it when I fly to read on the plane. LOL  Bought it back in South Dakota when I use to fill my freezer with game every year and did my own butchering.

[AeonSam]

Thanks for all of the info Al,

You're doing quite a lot of stuff! I will post pics when I start.

Sam

[Gerry]

I have two "caves", and both share cheese and curing meats.  My parmesan and aging gruyere shares a space with whole leg prosciutto and other cured meats that aren't moldy.  Brie often lives with hanging sausages.  Yeah and before anyone says something, I'm not sure if it's Penicillium nalgiovense growing on my brie, or Penicillium candidum growing on my salami, or a mixture of both perhaps?

Your best #1 absolute source for making charcuterie is not in a book, but at Len Poli's website: http://lpoli.50webs.com/index.htm

I've been making charcuterie for more than a decade now, and cheese making is a relatively new addition.  Like cheese, fermented ground meats in particular require live cultures and additives in the right amounts to produce good tasting and most importantly SAFE products.  The bacteria added are similar to those used in many cheeses, and do best at the similar temperatures (10 to 14 degrees Celsius).  I have books, but most recipes included provide ingredients in volumetric measurements instead of percentage by weight, which in my opinion is hit and miss, with "miss" most of the time.  Invest in a scale, as well as a grinder and a separate stuffer.  Meat when ground and mixed should be near freezing, throughout processing.  Unlike cheese, you want the meat to lower in pH quickly which means a warm incubation period, the length and temperature depending on your choice of culture.

UMI bags are okay if you just want to dry meat in an uncontrolled cold environment at fridge temperature.  It's dried meat.  Expensive dried meat.  It's like putting a young vac-packed parmesan in your fridge and expecting a great tasting product in a few months.  These bacteria at 4 degrees or less are just too cold to do their optimal work, and it's unlikely that nitrates will be converted to nitrites over a reasonable time at that temperature.  Plus UMI really inhibits that lovely formation of nalgiovense that you might have looked forward to.  If you already have the know how to control temperature and humidity in a "cave" then go for it and don't look back.

[Gerry]

I make my own cured bacon and regular hams too, and those are super easy even for beginners because you don't have to worry about cultures, fermentation, or special environments.  Just cure (I always use equilibrium dry cure by % weight of meat), dry it enough to form a pellicle , then cold smoke.

As long as you don't live in a condo, smoking can be super easy and inexpensive.  I used to use a Bradley smoker with a cold smoke attachment, but now I just use an AMNPS (A-MAZE-N-PELLET-SMOKER) that can be had for around $30.  You can rig up a small enclosure for it from anything that wont catch fire, and attach it to a smoking chamber (made of anything) with a length of dryer duct.  I've also cold smoked a great deal of salmon that way. Great for smoking cheese as well!

[AeonSam]

Gerry, thanks for all of the great info. I will definitely take a look at all that you sent.

Sam