Coppa (Cured "Money Muscle" from Pork Shoulder)

xutfuzzy · May 7, 2013

I finally found a butcher would knew what I was talking about when I asked for a cut of coppa. I read how to cut one myself from a shoulder, but preferred someone who knew what they were doing instead.

Here are the ingredients: coppa muscle, salt, pepper, juniper berries, thyme, bay leaves.

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xutfuzzy
May 7, 2013

I prepared my "salt box."

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xutfuzzy
May 7, 2013

Whatever sticks is the "right amount."

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xutfuzzy
May 7, 2013

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xutfuzzy
May 7, 2013

It went into the ziploc bag.

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xutfuzzy
May 7, 2013

I combined the aromatics in the grinder.

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xutfuzzy
May 7, 2013

Here's what they looked like afterwards.

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xutfuzzy
May 7, 2013

They went into the bag along with the salted coppa.

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xutfuzzy
May 7, 2013

They did not get weights. The weights are for the bresaola (another post).

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xutfuzzy
May 7, 2013

After a couple of days, here is what it looked like.

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xutfuzzy
May 7, 2013

I was rinsed off.

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xutfuzzy
May 7, 2013

It then got a fresh round of aromatics.

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xutfuzzy
May 7, 2013

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xutfuzzy
May 7, 2013

I found its weight, and calculated a 30% weight loss target.

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xutfuzzy
May 7, 2013

A few weeks later, it was ready!

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xutfuzzy
May 7, 2013

This one is my favorite so far.

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xutfuzzy
May 7, 2013

I can't wait to slice this up for a party!

avclub · May 8, 2013

That looks delicious! Nice job

steve-o90 · May 8, 2013

What's tht sopose to be? I've never heard of tht. What's it taste like?

chef jimmyj · May 8, 2013

That looks great. Coppa is by far my fav cured Italian meat. Well I love Prosciutto too but it's consumption is limited by cost. Talk to Shannon127, he makes some Great Coppa. He made three for me as I don't have a Curing Cabinet...YET!...JJ

diggingdogfarm · May 8, 2013

Looks great!!!!

The collar is easily cut out of the shoulder butt, I use them all the time for cottage ham, coppa, etc.
Here's a great step-by-step of Brican's way:

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=8603

~Martin

woodcutter · May 8, 2013

Nice!

chef willie · May 8, 2013

Yeah, looks great.....would like to see some pics of the curing cabinet or setup you use in general....very curious about all this. Growing up in NYC all the Italian delis had coppa hanging...But, we all pronounced it as 'gabba-ghoul' like gangster speak.....LOL......thx, Willie

snorkelinggirl · May 8, 2013

Hi fuzzy,

A question for you. I notice that your recent posts on curing all mention doing curing for only a couple of days before the cure is rinsed off and the meat is hung in your curing chamber. Would you mind sharing the source for your recipes? I'm curious as I've never before seen mention of such fast curing times. I've cured duck prosciutto using the salt box method in a day or two (followed by hanging for a week or two), but I'm really surprised to see larger pieces like coppa and bresaola curing in only a couple of days. Also, does your recipe call for using cure #2?

Just curious. Thanks for any recipe info you are willing to share.

Clarissa

xutfuzzy · May 18, 2013

SnorkelingGirl said:
Hi fuzzy,

A question for you. I notice that your recent posts on curing all mention doing curing for only a couple of days before the cure is rinsed off and the meat is hung in your curing chamber. Would you mind sharing the source for your recipes? I'm curious as I've never before seen mention of such fast curing times. I've cured duck prosciutto using the salt box method in a day or two (followed by hanging for a week or two), but I'm really surprised to see larger pieces like coppa and bresaola curing in only a couple of days. Also, does your recipe call for using cure #2?

Just curious. Thanks for any recipe info you are willing to share.

Clarissa

I apologize for the late delay...been crazy busy. I am using the new Salumi book by Ruhlman, the same guys who brought us Charcuterie. From my understanding it has some typos and whatnot, but this is the method pretty much described in all of their recipes.

xutfuzzy · May 18, 2013

Chef Willie said:
Yeah, looks great.....would like to see some pics of the curing cabinet or setup you use in general....very curious about all this. Growing up in NYC all the Italian delis had coppa hanging...But, we all pronounced it as 'gabba-ghoul' like gangster speak.....LOL......thx, Willie

Here's the write-up I did for my build.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...-curing-chamber-massive-amounts-of-build-view

snorkelinggirl · May 18, 2013

xutfuzzy said:
I apologize for the late delay...been crazy busy. I am using the new Salumi book by Ruhlman, the same guys who brought us Charcuterie. From my understanding it has some typos and whatnot, but this is the method pretty much described in all of their recipes.

Thanks, fuzzy! I own "Charcuterie" and have been planning to buy "Salumi" too. I hope that things settle down for you soon, so that you can get back to the fun stuff!

Clarissa

jeremy pettibon · Jul 22, 2013

Yeah, I was curious about the "couple of days" curing time as well. I have done two prosciutti in the past in a salt box, but have my first two equilibrium cuts in the fridge right now - two 3-lb loins (a six-pounder cut in half). I was thinking the ideal curing time would be about 10 days, but I'll be out of the country at that point, so I'm looking at 16 days by the time I get back, plus a couple to finish my curing fridge (awaiting parts). I'm not too worried about it since they're pretty thick and I went lower (3%) on the salt. From what I understand, using the equilibrium method, the meat can only get as salty as the amount you put in...

Anyway, I'm wondering if I should accelerate my curing fridge build and put the loins in before I leave the country... any advice? Thanks a ton!

xutfuzzy · Jul 22, 2013

On one hand, I always fully encourage everyone to "accelerate" their plans on a curing chamber. But, I will say this instead: It took me a while to figure out the long-term eccentricities of my chamber. I ran it for a couple of weeks without any meat in it just to make sure the fluctuations were minimal and under control. I've also noticed that my temperature and humidity meters (I've since added a second just in case my first one was "off" and to give me peace of mind about the readings) took a couple of days to acclimate themselves, and you may not want meat curing in that unsteady or unreliable environment.

Just my two cents.

xutfuzzy · Jul 22, 2013

Oh, and just as a follow-up...I've since sliced and served this to friends, and the reviews were full of praise and smiles.

jeremy pettibon · Jul 22, 2013

Thanks for the quick reply. Good point about acclimating - I'm actually hoping my temp controller (STC-1000) shows up before I leave so I can wire it up and let the fridge run and equalize while I'm gone. For now, I'm going with the tub of watery salt (salty water?) in the bottom to maintain humidity, but I'll come up with a better solution over time...

Anyway, I'm going to leave the lonzini (lonzinos :) in the cure while I'm gone and hope for the best. Thanks again!

lolo31 · Jan 8, 2014

It looks good. But you know the original copa is only cured with salt and pepper.
Post from a French charcuterie lover.

daveomak · Jan 8, 2014

lolo31 said:
It looks good. But you know the original copa is only cured with salt and pepper.
Post from a French charcuterie lover.

Yep..... they didn't know there was some stray nitrate hanging around in their salt....

DanMcG · Jan 8, 2014

What temp and humidity are you running in you chamber?

xutfuzzy · Jan 11, 2014

DanMcG said:
What temp and humidity are you running in you chamber?

Sorry to get back to you so late...anyway, I was running the chamber at 55-58 degrees and about 70% humidity, as those were the directions in the book. Currently, I have some salami going (post coming eventually) and it is running about 80-85% percent humidity, as those are the directions there.

Coppa (Cured "Money Muscle" from Pork Shoulder)

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