My house is starting to smell like an Italian meat market!

[SmokinAl]

When I open the curing chamber you can smell all the spices mingling together.
Wonderful smell!!
I just weighed the pepperoni & the lonzino, and I think it may be another week or so for them.
I'm kind of surprised they are drying so quickly. When I used the UMAi casings they took a lot longer to loose the weight.
The breasola, chorizo, & salami were started a little later & will need more time.
They all have a nice coating of white mold & I can't wait to make my own charcuterie board for my neighbors. Here is a couple of photo's of how everything is looking.

The right front is the salami finocciona, and right behind it is the chorizo.
They were the last to go in and aren't quite covered in mold yet.
I'm really having some fun here!
Al

 

[xray]

“Uh yes, I’ll take a half lb of the salami. Oh and can I get another lb of that chorizo? Thanks”

Everything looks great Al! Like!

 

[fivetricks]

I always thought that a beverage cooler would be too small, but after seeing yours, I'm sorta leaning back in that direction. I love glass door coolers!

 

[smokerjim]

looks awesome, bet it will taste even better

 

[KrisUpInSmoke]

Oh, those are going to be some lucky neighbors!

 

[Min]

They look fantastic!!!!!

 

[bluewhisper]

I'm digging a hole under your fence.

 

[creek bottom]

Looks AMAZING! Pretty cool!!!

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

Man that is going to be amazing. I wish I had the time to do this. Maybe after I finish my kegerator!

 

[BGKYSmoker]

Al

Looks fabulous. I know the smell.

 

[meatallica]

One of the greatest smells in the world is an Italian Market. I'm jealous. Great job!

 

[fivetricks]

But even if all you have is a dorm fridge its better then going w/o home cured meats.

^^ I think that says it all right there :-)

In my basement I already have a stand up freezer, a chest freezer, and a full size retailer beverage cooler.

Don't get me wrong, I WANT another beverage cooler, but they're hard to find at a good price, plus the cost of running PLUS the fact that I really don't have the audience to withstand huge batches of delicious cured meats like you must.

But I hear what you're saying. I'd prob end up requiring all 3 extra devices being in my basement.

What's a gal to do I ask? :-D

 

[Bearcarver]

Looking Great, Al !!
Can't wait to see some sliced!!

Bear

 

[hardcookin]

Al
I can smell it all the way up here in Pa.
Thanks for sharing!!

 

[gmc2003]

I can think of worse smells . It all looks good and waiting patiently for the slice shots.

Point for sure
Chris

 

[johnmeyer]

I've seen a lot of "Q" pics and read countless posts about what people have cooked, but every time I read one of Al's posts I want to invite myself over for dinner. He is always cooking incredibly tasty-looking food!

 

[bertman]

Beautiful. And by "beautiful" I mean carousel-worthy.

 

[SmokinAl]

View attachment 395073

“Uh yes, I’ll take a half lb of the salami. Oh and can I get another lb of that chorizo? Thanks”

Everything looks great Al! Like!

Thank you!
Al

I always thought that a beverage cooler would be too small, but after seeing yours, I'm sorta leaning back in that direction. I love glass door coolers!

The cooler works fine for us. I really don't need that much space & I do like the glass door.
Al

looks awesome, bet it will taste even better

Oh, those are going to be some lucky neighbors!

They look fantastic!!!!!

I'm digging a hole under your fence.

Looks AMAZING! Pretty cool!!!

Man that is going to be amazing. I wish I had the time to do this. Maybe after I finish my kegerator!

Thanks fellas!!
Al

Al

Looks fabulous. I know the smell.

I'm sure you do Rick!!
Al

Al,

Looks really good. If they are drying fast the mechanical cooling is running fairly often. In January I hanged a pancetta and since the refrigerator was in an unheated garage the cooling never ran. 5 months later I'm still not to 30% loss but the weather has warmed up and the cooling cycles have increased so its drying out a lot faster. Actually in the last 4 weeks it dried more than in the prior 4 months.

fivetricks,

Beverage coolers can work but are crowded. It looks like Al only has a humidifier in his and that's fine if the surrounding conditions are good enough that a humidifier and the mechanical cooling are enough to keep the chamber within range. Mine I have heating, cooling, humidification and dehumidification so floor space is mostly spoken for. I can also hang full length pork loins or long sausages if desired. Not a huge benefit but for curing if I don't have to section the meat it less cures I have to build and a bit less hassle trussing.

But even if all you have is a dorm fridge its better then going w/o home cured meats.

The fridge is not running hardly at all. I know this because it has a mechanical light switch inside & I have it turned on, so when the fridge goes on it lights up. I also thought about getting a larger fridge, but I like the glass door & this one fits right in the corner & doesn't take up much space. If I needed a heater & a de-humidifier, then there may be an issue with the limited space. But so far neither one is needed. I do have to keep an eye on the length of the meat I hang, but that is easy to do. The other thing is a small setup like this is quite cheap to put together.
Al

One of the greatest smells in the world is an Italian Market. I'm jealous. Great job!

But even if all you have is a dorm fridge its better then going w/o home cured meats.

^^ I think that says it all right there :-)

In my basement I already have a stand up freezer, a chest freezer, and a full size retailer beverage cooler.

Don't get me wrong, I WANT another beverage cooler, but they're hard to find at a good price, plus the cost of running PLUS the fact that I really don't have the audience to withstand huge batches of delicious cured meats like you must.

But I hear what you're saying. I'd prob end up requiring all 3 extra devices being in my basement.

What's a gal to do I ask? :-D

Looking Great, Al !!
Can't wait to see some sliced!!

Bear

Al
I can smell it all the way up here in Pa.
Thanks for sharing!!

I can think of worse smells . It all looks good and waiting patiently for the slice shots.

Point for sure
Chris

Thanks a lot guys!
It is much appreciated!
Al

The one saving grace for aging/drying chambers is they do not cycle on as much as a refrigerator by the nature of it. Especially in a basement where it a constant fairly cool temp to begin with. Unlike a refrigerator that gets opened mutiple times a day a A/D chamber gets opened a lot less frequently + it set to a higher temp. A compressor no matter what size cooling appliance is still an energy consumer.

I've seen a lot of "Q" pics and read countless posts about what people have cooked, but every time I read one of Al's posts I want to invite myself over for dinner. He is always cooking incredibly tasty-looking food!

Beautiful. And by "beautiful" I mean carousel-worthy.

Once again, thank you so much!!
Al

 

[HalfSmoked]

Awesome Al better smell than oranges and grapefruit.
Waiting sliced shots and invite.

Warren

 

[disco]

When I open the curing chamber you can smell all the spices mingling together.
Wonderful smell!!
I just weighed the pepperoni & the lonzino, and I think it may be another week or so for them.
I'm kind of surprised they are drying so quickly. When I used the UMAi casings they took a lot longer to loose the weight.
The breasola, chorizo, & salami were started a little later & will need more time.
They all have a nice coating of white mold & I can't wait to make my own charcuterie board for my neighbors. Here is a couple of photo's of how everything is looking.
View attachment 395070
View attachment 395071

The right front is the salami finocciona, and right behind it is the chorizo.
They were the last to go in and aren't quite covered in mold yet.
I'm really having some fun here!
Al

What a great process. Love the results!