Culatellos 2020

[BrightonCorgi]

Made some Culatellos over the weekend.  They had been salted in my fridge for about 3 weeks and this weekend we put them in the hog bladder's, sewed and tied them.  They take about 1.5 years to cure.  Each one is about 14 lb.

 

[Puros Y Vino]

Looks like you have all the essentials to survive a Pandemic in there.  Wine? Check! Cured Meat? Check!  Dried Chillies? Check!  Where are the cigars? 

 

[BrightonCorgi]

1 minute ago, bundwallah said:

Looks like you have all the essentials to survive a Pandemic in there.  Wine? Check! Cured Meat? Check!  Dried Chillies? Check!  Where are the cigars? 

I started vacuum sealing boxes and storing in the cellar.  Have about 10 boxes right now down there.  The humidity gets around 70% in the winter with use of that humidifier.

[Puros Y Vino]

1 minute ago, BrightonCorgi said:

I started vacuum sealing boxes and storing in the cellar.  Have about 10 boxes right now down there.  The humidity gets around 70% in the winter with use of that humidifier.

That's one clean "Cantina" you have there. For a moment I thought it was an industrial walk in refrigerator.     My uncle's Cantina has about 80 Soppressatas' 50 Capicollos and 5 legs of prosciutto curing/hanging.  When my father was alive, we had a similar setup.  I miss those days.  

[BrightonCorgi]

2 minutes ago, bundwallah said:

That's one clean "Cantina" you have there. For a moment I thought it was an industrial walk in refrigerator.     My uncle's Cantina has about 80 Soppressatas' 50 Capicollos and 5 legs of prosciutto curing/hanging.  When my father was alive, we had a similar setup.  I miss those days.  

I hope to get to that amount of salami by end of April. 

[BrightonCorgi]

As of today:

 

[BrightonCorgi]

there was mold solution with water in the red bucket (in first photo).  The mold has started all the culatello's so I can get rid of it now.  Basement is 57F and 70-80%rh.

[BrightonCorgi]

The mold is started to spread.  They should eventually be nearly covered.

 

[Shrimpchips]

Wow, nicely done. That cantina is drool worthy. Do you have an updated pic with all the salami as well? I got into home curing five years ago, but sadly no walk in cantina...just a small fridge setup doing a few salami and whole muscle cures at a time.  How’s the progress on the culatellos? What pork did you use?  So many questions...

[BrightonCorgi]

8 hours ago, Shrimpchips said:

Wow, nicely done. That cantina is drool worthy. Do you have an updated pic with all the salami as well? I got into home curing five years ago, but sadly no walk in cantina...just a small fridge setup doing a few salami and whole muscle cures at a time.  How’s the progress on the culatellos? What pork did you use?  So many questions...

Culatellos were done a while back.  They get rinsed off in water, wine and vacuum sealed.  The seal evens out the dryness inside.  I made them with a friend and split them.  Down to the last two.  We plan to make them again next month.  It's a month in salt and then sewn up in the hog bladder to hang.

This is what's drying right now.  4 different types of salami and two cured pieces of pork belly.   They were hung on 2nd of December.  Most should be ready I think by the end of this month?  It's about 70% RH in the basement.

All the pork we use is of "local" pigs from Whole Foods.  They are quire accommodating and helpful when buying $500+ worth of hams.

 

[Shrimpchips]

Do you let them rest longer in the wrap? 9 months seems short for something that size, but I guess it probably doesn’t take that long to get to your target weight loss.  
 

also...those are some big salami. Must smell heavenly in there.

[BrightonCorgi]

45 minutes ago, Shrimpchips said:

Do you let them rest longer in the wrap? 9 months seems short for something that size, but I guess it probably doesn’t take that long to get to your target weight loss.  
 

also...those are some big salami. Must smell heavenly in there.

Once vacuum sealed, that can sit a year or more no problem.  How long they take to dry up depends on temp and humidity.  We started hanging the Culatelo's later into the year than ideal.  The salami's pictured are rocking.  The smaller one's will be ready by Feb I think.  I bought a better humidifier with a 4 gallon tank.  Keeping it even and in the 70's rh is no issue.  Crazy to think the walk in's people build when you big humidifier and basement is all you need if it's just about utility.  Max temp for the year which is in Sept is touching 70f.  Most of the year low 60's.  Low 50's right now.

[Shrimpchips]

Yeah, considering a lot of the older generations just have a damp basement and seem to get along fine, there sure are a few that go above and beyond to have an industrial quality curing room for their home made meats.  I suppose there’s always those people in every hobby/interest.

I bet the salamis will be delicious when they’re ready. With the drinks you have In the cellar too, what fun it must be to be your guests!

[BrightonCorgi]

8 hours ago, Shrimpchips said:

Yeah, considering a lot of the older generations just have a damp basement and seem to get along fine, there sure are a few that go above and beyond to have an industrial quality curing room for their home made meats.  I suppose there’s always those people in every hobby/interest.

I bet the salamis will be delicious when they’re ready. With the drinks you have In the cellar too, what fun it must be to be your guests!

The basement is normal humidity without humidification, but I also took steps to hold the humidity like not painting the concrete floors.  Part of the reason buying the house was solely for the basement.  We I bought it was end of summer and was amazed how cold the basement felt.   Originally it was just for wine.  Make salami wasn't a priority.  Having a slicer is a mandate if you really want to be into salami, prosciutto and the like. 

I know a bunch of Italian's in Newton that make pressed Soppressata annually, but they are smaller salami in size and won't get case hardening in a drier cellar than the size stuff I am doing.

 

[Shrimpchips]

17 hours ago, BrightonCorgi said:

The basement is normal humidity without humidification, but I also took steps to hold the humidity like not painting the concrete floors.  Part of the reason buying the house was solely for the basement.  We I bought it was end of summer and was amazed how cold the basement felt.   Originally it was just for wine.  Make salami wasn't a priority.  Having a slicer is a mandate if you really want to be into salami, prosciutto and the like. 

I know a bunch of Italian's in Newton that make pressed Soppressata annually, but they are smaller salami in size and won't get case hardening in a drier cellar than the size stuff I am doing.

 

That’s awesome that the basement cellaring was a big part of the motivation for the purchase.   My only ask for our basement was a space for my reef aquarium equipment, so sadly no walk in cellar for now. 
 

My folks place where I grew up is in a neighborhood with a lot of first gen Italian immigrants.  Yards full of gardens, homemade wine stocked in the cantina, and salumi made at the start of every winter like the old country.  Slow food, good life.  Hopefully your salamis all turn out great - my next project is to make a good nduja. 

[BrightonCorgi]

8 hours ago, Shrimpchips said:

That’s awesome that the basement cellaring was a big part of the motivation for the purchase.  

That and a two car garage with 12' ceilings. 

[BrightonCorgi]

Here's a picture of what the Culatello looks when sliced along with a picture of mixed salami's I cut for dinner last night.

[BrightonCorgi]

Another batch of salami ready to dry.  This one was coated with mold and doing well.  The far right is pancetta that's been hanging for weeks.

 

 

[BrightonCorgi]

The two large fennel ones weight 3.5 kg each.

[Shrimpchips]

Man, those are beefy!  I bet that cold room smells fantastic. What’s the slicer setup you use? 

[BrightonCorgi]

6 hours ago, Shrimpchips said:

Man, those are beefy!  I bet that cold room smells fantastic. What’s the slicer setup you use? 

Thanks!  When they are first hung, they smell like a sweaty sock, but after a couple of weeks, they have a lovely salami smell.  I'll go down to the cellar just to get a whiff!  Maintaining humidity around 70rh is critical as the cases can harden and then the meat will rot.

I have a Berkel slicer from Italy.  Berkel invented the the slicer as we know it.  One of the best things I have ever bought for the kitchen.  I use it several times a week. 

 

 

[Shrimpchips]

Yeah, those beef middles are pretty smelly until they start drying out a bit.  
 

Nice setup! I looked into a slicer, but in our tiny place, I’m pretty sure if I bought one I’d be the one getting chopped up. I guess if you’re doing culatelos you really do need a good slicer though.  
 

whats that espresso setup you’ve got? 

[Nevrknow]

I don’t know what all that is but I want some? 😂😂

Looks absolutely fascinating!  👍🏻

[BrightonCorgi]

On 4/21/2021 at 12:15 PM, Shrimpchips said:

Yeah, those beef middles are pretty smelly until they start drying out a bit.  
 

Nice setup! I looked into a slicer, but in our tiny place, I’m pretty sure if I bought one I’d be the one getting chopped up. I guess if you’re doing culatelos you really do need a good slicer though.  
 

whats that espresso setup you’ve got? 

I bought the slicer before I started making salami and culatello.  Even for a boneless Jamon or Prosciutto it's great.  Cooking an eye roast and then slicing for sandwiches the next day.  Plenty of uses for the slicer.  The other key is a professional vacuum sealer.  They work in tandem with the slicer if you are not a restaurant.  Jamon or culatello can go over a year with vacuum sealing between cuts.

The espresso setup is a Rancilio Silvia/Rocky set up.  I bought both back around '98 runs great.  Replaced burs on the Rocky and a thermostat on Silvia.  I don't use espresso machine much.  Espressos are too hard on the tummy unless for after dinner.  Plus, I just like french press coffee better in the morning. 

Ironic since I've introduced several friends into espresso making and was their inspiration to buy machines for themselves.