Prosciuttini

[Walt]

Bone in Boston butts were on sale for $.99/lb, so I picked up two totaling 23lbs.  I deboned one and removed a roast to use for this.  The roast was 3lbs 10oz (1738.8 grams).  I used 3% of meat weight of salt (52 grams), 1 Tbsp black pepper (6 grams), .25% of meat weight instacure#2 (4 grams).  Combined ingredients and thoroughly rubbed ensureing complete coverage.  I then vac sealed it.  It will remain like this for 2 weeks (12/31/14).  I will then remove, rinse, dry & put in an UMAI drysteak bag for evaporative weight loss.  I will be looking for a 35 - 40% reduction in weight.  This should take 4 to 8 weeks. 

The remainder of the butt, as well as the unmolested butt, went into an equilibrium brine as follows:

8455 grams of meat
6.25% cure = 21 grams instacure#1
2% salt = 149 grams kosher salt
1% sugar = 85 grams brown sugar

1 Tbsp black pepper
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 tsp cayanne
1 tsp ancho chile powder
1 tsp chipolte chile powder
1/3 cup cider vinegar

All was disolved in two cups of water then ice was added to cool.  Total amount of ice & water amounted to 8500 grams.  The weight of the meat & spices should equal the weight of the water & ice. I will let this brine for 3 - 5 days.  It really doesnt matter, as long as it gets a few days, because it can not be overbrined since this is an Equillibrium brine.  Pulled pork next week!

 

[BedouinBob]

Walt, can't wait! Will you smoke the Prosciuttini after the cure?

 

[Walt]

Thats a good thought.  Maybe I'll cut a piece off & give it a try for both the Bresola & this.

 

[DivotMaker]

Way to branch-out, Walt!  Nice job.

 

[Walt]

Today was 2 weeks in the dry cure.  Opened her up, rinsed & dryed, then into the drybag.  I will open her up around Feb 25.  Looking to drop 35-40% in weight.

The smell was amazing.

1st photo is in drybag
2nd photo is drybag in pantyhose to assist in the drybag forming a bond with the meat
3rd photo is my meat fridge, venison bresaola, new york strip & this prosciuttini dry ageing.

 

[BedouinBob]

Looks great Walt! Expected more color from the chilies but maybe it's a result of the brine. Really looking forward to the results.

 

[Walt]

The Prosciutini only has salt, pepper & instacure.  The rest of the butts went into the brine with the Chile's.  Cooked one of them a couple days ago, outstanding!.

 

[DivotMaker]

Looking outstanding, Walt!

 

[Walt]

Martin, Brian or Greg,

If I were to cold smoke the meat candy, should it be done after the dry-ageing or between the dry-cure & the dry-ageing?  Or, does it really matter when the smoke is introdued?  When done, how long should something like this cold smoke for?

 

[Pork Belly]

When you say "Meat Candy" are you referring to the hunk of pork shoulder? Looking at your numbers I am wondering if there is enough sugar to get a sweet note. I am thinking it is going to be taking the edge off the saltiness than being sweet.

I have prepared pork bison and venison like this but I use less math. I make a batch of my basic dry cure and scoop some into a baking dish. I then roll and rub a hunk of meat in it until no more cure can stick. That is called the salt box method and gives great result. After you coat the meat in that manner you bag it up with what ever added flavorings or spices you want. I typically do hunks of flesh of four pounds or less. I do not cure more than seven days.

Now as to the cold smoking...
The few times I have cold smoked meat that was being dry cured I smoked it after the cure but before the aging. Rinse and pat it dry then allow it to fully dry for a few hours uncovered in the fridge or 20 minutes in front of a fan. Cold smoke at 100 or less for 6 or 8 hours. After smoking throw away your fancy bags and hang that meat up Old School, in your basement with some butchers twine.

 

[DiggingDogFarm]

You're probably going to get lot of different answers because we all do things differently. 
For the most smoke penetration, I smoke before aging.
I never rinse when dry curing and aging because it rinses away the salt exuded proteins that form a great pellicle.
I cold smoke at no more than 75 degrees.
Before smoking I bring the meat temperature up to the ambient temperature of the smoker and form the pellicle. This prevents condensation on the surface of the meat during smoking.
Length of smoking is a matter of personal preference...some folks smoke a few hours...some smoke for days.
In a case like this, at a minimum, I go with two sessions of 12 hours of smoke over two days or three sessions of 8 hours of smoke over three days.
Thin blue smoke.
I have a couple curing chambers for drying and aging.

HTH

 

[Walt]

Great info.  Both of ya'll are a wealth of knowledge.  The consensus appears that the smoke should be applied between the dry cure & the dry ageing.  Next piece I'll apply smoke.

Brian,  there was no sugar used in the prosciuttini.  The particular recipe used this time did not call for any.  The roast used was 3#10oz so it sounds like it was in the right ballpark size wise.  I would be a little nervous (mostly due to my limited knowledge) to throw out the fancy bags.  No basement here, dig down 2 ft & we hit the water table.  High humidity & generally high heat down here so I would be afraid of the outcome.  I am not opposed to trying that method but would need more guidance WRT hot, humid southern conditions.

Martin, i figured the art side of this would definately cause for many stylistic changes between methods.  That is definatly the case.

I do, sincerely, appreciate the knowledge both of you share with us.  I would like to pick up a book giving more detail.  Is there one or two you guys would recommend?

 

[Walt]

I went with the following:

Charcuterie by Ruhlman & Polcyn
Salumi by Ruhlman & Polcyn
In the Charcuterie by Boetticher

So far the 1st one is great. Lots of great info.

Missing anything?

 

[Pork Belly]

Those are the same books I have.

 

[McKay]

So if I understand correctly, you cured a pork butt then smoked it until pull?

 

[Walt]

My original post may have been confusing because I had a couple of butts that I was working with doing multiple things.

For the proscuittini, I removed the copa muscle from one of the butts & placed in a dry brine as per the 1st paragraph of the original post.  Stayed in the dry brine for 2 weeks, then rinsed & dryed & put in a special vacbag made by UMAI drybag steak.  This bag allows moisture to evaporate from the meat but does not let bacteria in. It's like Gortex for food.  I allowed it to dryage for 6 weeks loosing 40% of its original weight through evaporative weight loss, thus intensifying flavors, as well as tenderizing.  This is NOT cooked but eaten sliced paper thin.  Usually accompanied with assorted cheeses, pickled vegetables, jams, etc for a 1st course of appetizers.

I did not smoke it this time. However, next time I will COLD smoke after the cure but before the dry ageing.  This is not a cooked product, it is eaten in a cured and aged but raw state.

As a bonus, while inspecting the Breasola, I noticed the 6 lb strip loin that has been ageing reached 50 days old today.  Sounds like dinner today or tomorrow.  Its like Gortex for food.

 

[McKay]

Oh, I thought you smoked some cured butts in there somewhere.

I did the UMAI with a $170 rib roast for 45 days. While very tasty when we cut it, the steaks we packaged and vag bagged froze did something nasty. When thawed there was an 'off' odor, not spoilage but not appetizing, and the edges turned a dark grey. We tossed all of it  :-\

Hoping yours comes out better.

 

[Walt]

Odd!  I vac seal the steaks individually before freezing after ageing them with great results. I have one steak left in the freezer but should get 4 or 5 more out of the strip lion that just ripened.  The aged steaks & charcuterie fold perfectly in to the smoking passion.

After removing the copa muscle & preparing the proscuittini, I placed the remainder of the shoulders in an equillibrium brine for a few days, removed, rinsed & injected, slathered with cane syrup & mustard & rubbed with my favorite rub then smoked. 

 

[DivotMaker]

Oh, I thought you smoked some cured butts in there somewhere.

I did the UMAI with a $170 rib roast for 45 days. While very tasty when we cut it, the steaks we packaged and vag bagged froze did something nasty. When thawed there was an 'off' odor, not spoilage but not appetizing, and the edges turned a dark grey. We tossed all of it  :-\

Hoping yours comes out better.

Odd, indeed!  Never a problem with individually vac-packing the cut/trimmed steaks, and then thawing in the fridge.  Just curious - what was your process for handling the steaks after removing from the UMAi bag?  What you're reporting is very uncommon.

 

[McKay]

We were  about as sterile as one could get. Its not rare actually the UMAI Forum has many cases of the off smell. The coloring is odd though.