1st Prosciutto

[Gonna Smoke]

As my journey into curing continues, I saw this thread by Rich @chopsaw. We eat a good bit of prosciutto and with pork cushion on sale at the time, I decided to give it a try. Back in February, I reached out to Rich and with his help, I got it going.

After a couple of weeks curing in the recipe from Len Poli, the cushion was rinsed and vac sealed in the UMAi bags and into the garage fridge on March 12. Keep this in mind, the Len Poli recipe says to cure for 5 days. I went with the 14 days just like I cure bacon...

After maybe 3 weeks, I weighed the cushion. One was already at 36% weight loss and with the smell in the fridge driving me crazy, I sliced it to try. Great taste, but the other 3 weren't even close to my 40% target, so the wait continued. Why 40%? Because that was Rich's target, so why not?

With Mother's Day coming up and we being assigned to bring charcuterie, I decided slice the rest up regardless. Weighed the packs and one was just over the 40% while the other 2 were close...

Close...

Out of the bags...

The outside was hard so I trimmed them...

The wait is over. Sliced as thin as I could get it...

This stuff is so good and the smell in the fridge was fantastic. I followed this Carne Salata recipe from the Len Poli site that Rich posted. Other than the wait, this is simple enough for anyone with the fridge space, to do.

Question is what to do with the trim? I feel sure there is something I can do with it other than prosciutto jerky that it currently is.

Thanks to Rich for all of his help...

 

[Brokenhandle]

Looks great Charles! I bet it tastes amazing! I know what you mean on how well it smells!

Ryan

 

[chopsaw]

Looks fantastic Charles . Yeah , the smell is insane .
You did a great job , and I appreciate you reaching out . Anytime .
I need to get some going . I have bags and casings that I haven't even opened yet .

I like it all closer to 40 % , but at some point the outside will decide when you open it up .
You can always put it back in a zip lock and let it equalize too . That's a good reason to do more than one , so you have one to slice while you wait for the rest .

Question is what to do with the trim? I feel sure there is something I can do with it other than prosciutto jerky that it currently is.

If it's not to fatty , simmer it in some pasta sauce .
If it's dry enough , run it on a box grater and sprinkle it on pizza or whatever .
Or , take it on the boat and put a pinch between your cheek and gums ,,, lol .

being assigned to bring charcuterie,

Now you need a board ,


Nice work bud .

 

[kilo charlie]

Dang that looks great!

 

[smokerjim]

Looks great

 

[Gonna Smoke]

Now you need a board ,

Nice boards, Rich. We have one that was a present quite a few years ago. 20" in diameter...

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

Wow those look great!

 

[Steve H]

Fantastic job Charles! I got set up once to give it a go. Chickened out. And gave the stuff away!

 

[jcam222]

I need to do this! I have a big pack of pork cushions in the freezer. I also have Umai bags on hand. Have just never ventures into it. Looks awesome Charles.

 

[JLinza]

Heck yeah Charles, that looks great

 

[Brokenhandle]

Fantastic job Charles! I got set up once to give it a go. Chickened out. And gave the stuff away!

Look, we found something Steve needs!

Ryan

 

[indaswamp]

Looks great to me! Congrats on making the Carousel!

 

[Gonna Smoke]

Wow those look great!

Thank you Brian!

Fantastic job Charles! I got set up once to give it a go. Chickened out. And gave the stuff away!

Steve, it's really easy to do. Get back on it! The UMAi bags, fridge room, cure #2, and a slicer is all you really need. I'm sure you've got most of the spices already...

I need to do this! I have a big pack of pork cushions in the freezer. I also have Umai bags on hand. Have just never ventures into it. Looks awesome Charles.

Thank you Jeff. Like I said, we eat a good bit of prosciutto so it just makes sense to make my own. Now that I know I can, I won't buy it again...

Heck yeah Charles, that looks great

I appreciate that John!!

 

[Gonna Smoke]

Time to get some bellies curing now that I've freed up some room in the fridge...

 

[chopsaw]

I need to do this!

You won't be sorry .

 

[Fueling Around]

Awesome Charles
Congrats on the feature ride.

 

[zwiller]

LOOKS GREAT! Congrats! 3 weeks?! For some reason I thought stuff like that took months! COOL. Gonna have to try this.

@chopsaw How long to equalize?

 

[Gonna Smoke]

LOOKS GREAT! Congrats! 3 weeks?! For some reason I thought stuff like that took months! COOL. Gonna have to try this.

@chopsaw How long to equalize?

Total time was closer to 2 months including 2 weeks curing and then the drying time. The smaller one was almost at target in 3 weeks. The other 3 pieces took about another month...

 

[Gonna Smoke]

Awesome Charles
Congrats on the feature ride.

Thank you John!!

 

[sandyut]

Amazing work Charles!