Pastured Berkshire Culatello 2021 Second Winter Fog...

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indaswamp

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Apr 27, 2017
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So, the Culatello I started back in February is at 24.5% weight loss right now. Should be ready sometime April 2022. My chamber is starting to smell really good with the complex sweet aroma of Culatello! Everyone says to start the next one about 7 months after the one you have drying so....here we go!!!

Picked up a really nice Pastured Berkshire ham from my butcher.
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Broke it down and extracted the Culatello. Got it trussed tight and shaped...
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Trimmed the bottom at an angle to shape it properly.
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Weighted it for calculating the salt,cure and black pepper. Did not realize the scale does not show up on camera, but it weighed 5.6kg.
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Cure mix...
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Garlic infused wine to rub the culatello for the cure to stick...
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And inda bag. I used a 2 gallon ziplock. It barely fit. I placed it in a sink full of water to press all the air out. I will case and truss it in 36 days.
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I have about 2kg. of trim and fat. I also bought 3.4kg. of Berkshire back fat for making salami while at the butcher. Will be making salami tomorrow. I thawed out 2kg. of Canada goose and 6kg. Wild hog to make salami. Trimmed it all up tonight and will be grinding and stuffing tomorrow.
 
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Man you are the salumi king!! Looking forward to pics. I had to Google this one, made me laugh that the name means little ass. Quite a history on this.
 
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Man you are the salumi king!! Looking forward to pics. I had to Google this one, made me laugh that the name means little ass. Quite a history on this.
Thanks jcam222. You are too kind. I'm just getting started in this hobby of dry cured meats. I don't know about me being the king, but Culatello IS the King of Italian salumi! I have been wanting to do a Culatello for 20 years or more.

Anyone wanting to get started in dry curing- don't wait as long as I did. Get the knowledge that is readily available and get started! Though salumi does not use cultures, salami does. I had no idea about the availability of salami starter cultures when I looked at it way back then.
 
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Hog bladder, hemp twine, and charcuterie needles are on order...going traditional old school with this one, no collagen sheet.
 
I am with jcam222 jcam222 you ARE the salumi king! WOW. Big foodie and well read but never heard of it either and had to google. Do you have a book on this stuff? Looking for more info on hams too.
 
Not only are you knowledgeable and good at what you do, you have a ton of patience!

Ryan
 
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I have used the Extra Large Heavy Duty Storage Bags with Zip-lock that people use to store clothes before. They work great for large pieces of meat. Used to use them a lot for curing bacon when I did lots of bacon.
I have done a few dry aged hams. Way to much waiting for me to even bother again.
Good luck on yours.
1.5 years of waiting. Clean off and ready for slicing. It was good but not that good LOL
 

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Jeez Keith, you have me wanting to get back into curing meats. Been a while and we are out of a lot of stuff but my food hobbies have just gone different directions and I've kinda gotten away from it. It may be time to revisit an older hobby now.

Robert
 
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WOW Man!
Can’t wait to see this when you do the sliced shots!
Al
Thanks Al! I will definitely post it!

Great Start Inda!!
This is gonna be Tasty!!
Be Back!

Bear
Thanks Bear!

I am with jcam222 jcam222 you ARE the salumi king! WOW. Big foodie and well read but never heard of it either and had to google. Do you have a book on this stuff? Looking for more info on hams too.
Thanks zwiller...It's all about attention to detail. I've watched some true masters of the art and the skill set they have is jaw dropping. What blows me away is no weighing anything, they go all by eye and it's always perfect. Most of my ideas for salamis have come from tourism websites of all places. Each region in Italy has one and they all have a salumi section for local dried whole cuts and salami. It takes a lot more digging if the salami does not have P.D.O. (Product of Designated Origin Regulations) status.

Not only are you knowledgeable and good at what you do, you have a ton of patience!

Ryan
The wait on large cuts is tough...but that's why god created small diameter casing that dries fast! LOL!
I have used the Extra Large Heavy Duty Storage Bags with Zip-lock that people use to store clothes before. They work great for large pieces of meat. Used to use them a lot for curing bacon when I did lots of bacon.
I have done a few dry aged hams. Way to much waiting for me to even bother again.
Good luck on yours.
1.5 years of waiting. Clean off and ready for slicing. It was good but not that good LOL
Thanks for the tip on the large ziplock bags...I had not thought of that. What kind of hams did you make? Country ham?

Jeez Keith, you have me wanting to get back into curing meats. Been a while and we are out of a lot of stuff but my food hobbies have just gone different directions and I've kinda gotten away from it. It may be time to revisit an older hobby now.

Robert

Jump back in Robert! I don't think I will ever give it up. I've been looking forward to dry curing for so long, now that I'm doing it I am really having a lot of fun creating edible masterpieces!
 
Man you are the salumi king!! Looking forward to pics. I had to Google this one, made me laugh that the name means little ass. Quite a history on this.
I am with jcam222 jcam222 you ARE the salumi king! WOW. Big foodie and well read but never heard of it either and had to google. Do you have a book on this stuff? Looking for more info on hams too.
Here ya go...from the King of Culatello himself, Mossimo Spigaroli, the secret to good culatello is the mold and very slow drying...


I would love to have just 1/4 tsp. of the mold scraped off the side of his 700 year old cellar to innoculate my chamber!
 
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Thanks for the tip on the large ziplock bags...I had not thought of that. What kind of hams did you make? Country ham?

Yes, basically followed this when I first started getting into it.
My first one I did

 
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Box from Craft Butchers Pantry arrived today....
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4-6kilo hog bladders. Just in time for casing the Culatello, which will be done curing Dec. 1st. I went ahead and ordered some Bactoferm B-LC-78 whole muscle surface culture in the hopes that it will help contribute to more flavor development.
 
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