What Charcutier are we making for Xm,as this year.

No Charcutier, but I am gonna do some tamales this year! I think that calls for a new thread Brother! Show me yours!

RIP Big Mick I hope this part of the forum gets dedicated to you with your great recipes

Yeah, I hope this thread lives on...

Let me know if I can do anything...

Forgot about this thread, what a great place to post...RIP my Brother!

Had never had Sopprasota until I saw some at RD a couple of years ago and bought it, that is it on the left. Can't tell from photo and I simply don't remember name brand. Boy Howdy was it good! I think it was about $7.99/lb. A little steep for me, but after eating it, well worth it. I just like to eat slices of it, forget the sandwich. I have not really looked for it in local market or Wal-mart, maybe they have it. I was in a Wegmans the other day, a higher end supermarket, but not outrageous, just lots of departments, cheese, deli, bread, etc. They had some, $19.99/lb. I had to pass. Right!

So The Cheap Screws mind says I have to find a way to beat this. I have stayed away from Charcutier because I was under the impression you need curing and dying chambers. According to UMAi Dry (the Dry Aging Bag folks) you do not. I guess we will see. So I got the meat, I bought a kit from UMAi with the bags, the Bactoferm T-SPX starter culture, some #2 Cure and some dextrose powder. Followed instructions to the T! 72 hours of Fermentation, then about 2-3 months of drying in the fridge at about 38°. That is the step I am most concerned about as I have been told they should cure at about 55° and 75% RH. The 5 chubs are each about 32oz (kilo each). They will lose 30-40%, so we will see. Should be ready about Christmas.

If it works and I lose 40%, I would still have 6lbs. of Sopprasota. At Wegmans pricing that is $119.94, not bad for a $66 investment that will make much more IF it works!

I hate waiting 2 months to see if I failed!

I guess if changing color means it is going smoothly I am Golden! It is even starting to smell like Salami!

[size=18pt] Start.[/size]

[size=18pt]24 Hours.[/size]

[size=18pt]36 Hours.[/size]

You start to realize that you need equipment you do not have. Like a Ph meter, and an aw (water activity) meter. But you are told if you do X & Y you will get Z and you hope that is accurate info. These were fermented for 60 hours. They will now go in the 38° fridge and we just keep checking weight loss for "doneness". The temp and RH gauge is off a tad due to the fridge being open 3 times getting the Salami in there. It was reading 37.8° and 75% RH the 1st time I opened it.

Since they are 70mm casings and UMAi was using 50 for their video, I am gonna assume that my drying time will be about 25% longer then theirs. I am figuring 1st of the year, although with my internet research, it appears that the UMAi bags seem to dry faster then a collagen or similar casing using a curing chamber. I will have no date for the chamber curing.

Looking good Bentley Meredith

I've used these charcuterie bags quite a few times with great results. I always found it was best to vac seal my salami once it had lost enough weight, which helps even out the moisture levels from the outside to inside. So that might be an extra bit of time to factor in.

Thanks.

So after 1 week they have lost appx 7% weight.

#5 original weight 34.8oz. After 10 days 30.3oz., loss of 4.5oz. or 13%. Starting to get frim like you would expect a hard salami to get. On the left, you can see the bag pulling away from the drying.

16 days.

27.8=5.4oz or 16.4%

26.9=5.6oz or 17.6%

27.7=6.1oz or 18.3%

29.3=6.9oz or 19.1%

28.6=6.2oz or 17.8%

Starting weights.

#1 33.2oz

#2 32.5oz

#3 33.8oz

#4 36.2oz

#5 34.8oz

I have learned the recipe I used called for about 5X the amount of dextrose it needed. I am told I will have a very "tangy" salami. I am not even sure what that will be!