Tonight's Board...

[tbern]

that looks so delicious, bet it tastes great!! thanks for sharing!

 

[indaswamp]

Awesome presentation! I would dig into that!

Thank you Steve! It did not last long!

Good gosh man, that ain't right of ya.
My mouth is watering so hard after looking at that board if my lips weren't tight going, "Mmmm, Mmmm" I'd be drooling on my keyboard.

You are too kind Chile. Thank you my friend.

IDS, You are the man ! The spread looks divine !

Thanks crazymoon! I keep getting better with each piece I make...All the little small details make a huge impact on the flavor profile.

Now that's a board meeting I would love to go to.

Nice presentation

David

HA! Thank you David!

Looks great

Thanks Newglide!

that looks so delicious, bet it tastes great!! thanks for sharing!

Thanks tbern! It was good...Gotta eat it if I make it....and I been making A LOT of salumi!! LOL!!!

 

[indaswamp]

The salami rose is easy, and really makes the board eye catching...

 

[tbern]

very cool!!

 

[tx smoker]

Keith...that is truly amazing!! I'm up for adoption if you need a potty trained son with a nice supply of steaks that he can bring to the table No doubt you've mastered the charcuterie and I'll be honest, it's been a lot of fun following your evolution. I remember back to you doing uncased breakfast sausage and now you're turning out world class stuff. A lot of time and work but some amazing goodies.

Robert

 

[indaswamp]

Keith...that is truly amazing!! I'm up for adoption if you need a potty trained son with a nice supply of steaks that he can bring to the table No doubt you've mastered the charcuterie and I'll be honest, it's been a lot of fun following your evolution. I remember back to you doing uncased breakfast sausage and now you're turning out world class stuff. A lot of time and work but some amazing goodies.

Robert

Thank you Robert. Though I have been making both fresh and smoke sausages for about 30 years, I could not work up the courage to take the dive into raw dry cured meats. I had a solid foundation, but was missing the big picture. I was introduced to dry cured meats back in my college days. A college friend knew I was a foodie and his Dad made salami the old school traditional method-no culture, no nitrates or nitrites. I was invited to Salami day at his house one winter and helped out. At the time, it was hard to follow along with all the steps and why it was done that way. I got to sample some of the creations from previous batches and the flavor was life changing for me. I have been on a quest ever since...

I did not know about the availability of meat starter cultures as they have only recently become available to the home producer. I have rapidly expanded my knowledge and skill set in this craft thanks to the books by the Marianski brothers. As well as Gerhard Feiner and Fidel Toldra'. Plus the time I have spent online digging into Italian sites and the D.O.P. regulations. I am a man on a mission, but I feel this will be a lifetime of learning as the craft is so huge!

I am most proud of the new Maturing chamber that I built. The drying is 70% of the success of dry cured meats. It must be done properly. I have confidence that case hardening will be a thing of the past for me...I truly am in Norcini Nirvana!!

 

[checkdude]

Looking great,right up my alley! Some olives, nice crusty bread, bottle of red wine .....I would be a very happy man. Can't beat that! I might even share lol.

 

[SCBBQ]

It’s nice to have a whole board full of the stuff you do - not mixing commercial with the good stuff ! Looks awesome!

Question- Did you cube the fat up separate or grind it on a different place size ?

 

[indaswamp]

Question- Did you cube the fat up separate or grind it on a different place size ?

So for the Calabrian and the Fennel, I played around with hand cutting the Pastured Berkshire fat. That is one tedious process! I thought I cut the pieces small enough...I was shooting for 8mm, ended up with between 10-12mm. Next time, I will run the fat on the slicer first I think for a more uniform dice.

The others, I used a grinder. Different size plates for the lean and fat. I only do this when I want the fat a different size than the lean. One tip I will give you is to grind the lean first, then change to the proper plate for the fat. Mix about 20% of the lean back into the fat cubes for grinding. This will help give the grinder better grab, And prevent fat smear. It will also help keep the fat particles separate and easiaer to blend evenly into the mince. Also, whatever the gap is for your auger head, that is the size cubes I recommend you cut for grinding to prevent bogging down the grinder with super cold hard fat....it will also help keep the auger head from getting hot from friction.

 

[indaswamp]

....and I've stopped buying the commercial stuff made in the U.S.... If I don't have it, it just won't be included on the board.

 

[boykjo]

Awesome board. Now what are you going to eat.....

 

[CTXSmokeLover]

Beautiful looking board!