Homemade salami and other cured meats

[stickyD]

Wow, that guanciale is looking fine! After your carbonara quest, maybe just a little left over for a carbonara-inspired pie?

[Bill/CDMX]

Wow, that guanciale is looking fine! After your carbonara quest, maybe just a little left over for a carbonara-inspired pie?

Might not be any left over after the carbonara, Gricia, amatriciana, etc. If there is any excess rendered fat from making these dishes, it might be interesting to drizzle that over a baked pizza. 

[Bill/CDMX]

Next up was American pepperoni - perhaps the most elaborate of the toppings I want to make. Steps include:

Ferment
Smoke
Dry cure
Cook

Here is today's batch just starting the fermenting stage (85F, 90%RH). Aiming sometime tomorrow AM for a pH of 4.6 (the lower the tangier). Then it will get hit with a light cold smoke in the pit for a couple of hours. Then into the curing chamber to dry for about a week till 20% weight loss. Then cook till 135F internal. Then remove the beef middle casing, slice, put on a pizza, bake, eat. 

[NickTheGreat]

My wife and I stayed at a swanky hotel in Portugal the year after getting married, and the year before having our first kid. 

So much high quality cured meats.  So much I almost got tired of it.  Almost. 

I'm going to follow this thread intently.  I need another hobby like a hole in the head, but I think this would be fun. 

[Bill/CDMX]

I'm going to follow this thread intently.  I need another hobby like a hole in the head, but I think this would be fun.

It's a great hobby, which I liken to gardening, as an exercise in delayed gratification. The big payoff is at the end of the process, but all along the way there are frequent spurts of pleasure as you witness the steady progress and make adjustments to give whatever is needed to ensure the best results.

[Bill/CDMX]

Latest progress of the American pepperoni. After fermenting for about 24 hours, pH reached about 4.6. Then into the pit to be bathed in smoke from a small live fire of pecan wood, keeping the temp in the smoking chamber at around 85F for a few hours. So fermentation would have continued for a further reduction in pH and a tangier flavor. Then into the curing chamber (along with salami and guanciale in the back) for a few weeks.

[stickyD]

Next up was American pepperoni - perhaps the most elaborate of the toppings I want to make. Steps include:

Ferment
Smoke
Dry cure
Cook

Here is today's batch just starting the fermenting stage (85F, 90%RH). Aiming sometime tomorrow AM for a pH of 4.6 (the lower the tangier). Then it will get hit with a light cold smoke in the pit for a couple of hours. Then into the curing chamber to dry for about a week till 20% weight loss. Then cook till 135F internal. Then remove the beef middle casing, slice, put on a pizza, bake, eat.

Fantastic work. Please would you share the recipe? Is it all beef or a mix?

I imagine American commercial pepperoni is not dried or smoked--what you get in a package in a supermarket. So would this be more like a natural cupping pepperoni or...?

[Bill/CDMX]

Here is the method I am using for the pepperoni. This channel is highly recommended. Everything you see in my curing chamber right now is based on his videos. I haven't heard him utter anything about sausage making that conflicts with what I have learned over the years. His recipes are great, but even better are the methods he demonstrates to ensure safety and quality.


https://youtu.be/N5oOij2R6A4

[stickyD]

Here is the method I am using for the pepperoni. This channel is highly recommended. Everything you see in my curing chamber right now is based on his videos. I haven't heard him utter anything about sausage making that conflicts with what I have learned over the years. His recipes are great, but even better are the methods he demonstrates to ensure safety and quality.

Thanks!

[02ebz06]

Good video Bill, thanks!

[Bill/CDMX]

Pepperoni is now completely done with 20% weight loss. After fermenting, smoking, and dry curing, it was cooked SV @ 140F for 2 hours. Then the beef middle casing was removed and the pepperoni was sliced. A few pieces flew into my mouth while slicing. Great flavors of fennel, anise, Calabrian chiles, etc. Mild tang and smokiness from pecan smoke. The real test will be to see what it does in the pizza oven. Judging on Sunday with special guest celebrities. We'll be making nduja then.


https://youtu.be/uIuudCrqiN4

[Bill/CDMX]

Made nduja today with Chau and Bruce. Fermenting right now. Smoking tomorrow and then dry-cured for 4-6 weeks.

[stickyD]

Love nduja, a Tbs of it mixed in a mac and cheese sauce is stellar.

[02ebz06]

Bill's Pepperoni was outstanding, as was his hospitality.  [emoji106]
Thanks Bill, we had a great time!!!

[amolapizza]

Bill,

I'm amazed at your work!  One tip, definitely try some guanciale on a Neapolitan pizza.  IMO it's simply delicious when cooked at those temps, and you can see how it gets small blisters from the heat.

[Bill/CDMX]

Bill,

I'm amazed at your work!  One tip, definitely try some guanciale on a Neapolitan pizza.  IMO it's simply delicious when cooked at those temps, and you can see how it gets small blisters from the heat.

Thanks, Jack. Guanciale is still a few weeks out at least before finishing curing. How would you recommend slicing/cutting it for topping on a pizza?

[amolapizza]

I'd cut away most of the fat and then slice the meaty part thinly (like prosciutto).  Maybe 1x2" thin pieces, but do leave some of the fat around the meaty parts as IMO that's where the magic happens.  So definitely thinner and less fat than is used for Carbonara.

I made a really good one with some mozzarella, a truffle pecorino, guanciale and post bake some drizzled truffle oil.

This is the cheese I used: https://dibruno.com/moliterno-al-tartufo/

Though I think the truffle taste probably disappears in the baking and it's the truffle oil that adds the magic, maybe best to eat the Moliterno as is and use some other pecorino on the pizza (it is a wonderful cheese).

But the guanciale gets wonderfully fatty and  crispy and is a real treat on a pizza.

[Bill/CDMX]

Genoa Salami described in the first post of this thread is now complete. 2 months dry curing, 40% weight loss:

[02ebz06]

Bill, my pepperoni went into the drying chamber this morning.  Now the waiting game...

[Bill/CDMX]

Bill, my pepperoni went into the drying chamber this morning.  Now the waiting game...

That's the hardest part! How is your aging chamber handling temp and RH?