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Pure Charcuterie: The Craft & Poetry of Curing Meat at Home

Page 9

by Meredith Leigh


  I like to check the temperature of my koji every few hours. It will take 36–40 hours at 88–90 degrees before the barley gets its fluffy white mycelial mat. For the first 24 hours, I keep the barley bundled in the towel, temping it with a meat thermometer every few hours to ensure it is keeping around 85–90 degrees. After 24 hours in the towel, I pull it out and dump the barley directly into the casserole pan, spreading it into an even layer. At this point, you may want to make a couple of furrows in the barley, to prevent the mix from overheating. Cover the pan with a towel and put it back in the incubator; then when you check the temperature every few hours, you can move the furrows to different places.

  What you are watching for is a thick, fluffy, white or slightly yellow coverage of mold. After about 24 hours it will look lightly dusted, and after 36–48 hours you will see the thicker coverage. Leaving the koji to incubate longer will cause it to mature to the point where it wants to produce spores. You can tell this is happening if the mold begins to turn olive green. If you want to use it for miso or sake, try to harvest it before it gets to this point. If it does start to turn green, that’s OK. You can still harvest it and use it to seed a future batch of grain.

  To harvest, just pull the barley from the incubator and spread it out to let it dry and cool, then put it into a nonreactive container and store it in the fridge. Most recipes that use koji to ferment will have you pulverize the barley with the mold on it before adding it to other ingredients.

  So what does all this have to do with meat, again? Well, now that you know how to grow koji on grain, you simply use the same principles to grow koji on meat. I’m not even kidding. The first time I did this, I was absolutely sure it was going to rot, but it didn’t. The process is outlined in more detail in the two recipes for koji charcuterie included in this chapter, but the basic process is to salt cure the meat, adding any other flavorings you want, just as you normally would (see Chapter 4 for details on salt curing, if you need to brush up on this). After the meat has cured in salt, you’ll dust it with a flour/koji mix just as the barley was, and then place it in the casserole pan in the koji incubator. It might seem incredibly wrong to be putting a piece of meat into a 90-degree bin, but trust me, it works. The koji will colonize the meat’s surface, and when you’re satisfied with the mold growth you see, it’s time to weigh the meat, record the weight, and then hang it in your charcuterie cabinet. It will hang there until it has lost 40–50% of its weight. Jeremy’s work over the last two years has shown that it will reach this finished weight in drastically less time than a piece of meat you’ve simply salt cured and hung to dry.

  With all this info at your fingertips, you may well ask, Why do anything BUT koji charcuterie? Well, to that I have a few answers. First and foremost, koji has its own complex and distinctive flavors, and just as you wouldn’t want every cured meat project to include anise or paprika, you may not want every project to include koji. Additionally, it may outcompete other microbes that you’d like to favor, so doing projects without koji from time to time can enrich diversity in your cabinet and your biological arsenal. That being said, koji is addictive. I won’t lie. The first time you smell its sweetness, you may be inclined to disagree with me.

  CHILE, MUSTARD & PICKLED CELERY SALAMI

  INGREDIENTS

  4 lb. pork lean trim (80%)

  1 lb. pork back fat (20%)

  2.5 oz. salt

  0.2 oz. Cure #2

  1.6 oz. organic dextrose

  0.5 oz. black pepper

  1.5 oz. pickled celery leaves, minced (See page 128)

  0.3 oz. ground guajillo chile pepper

  0.2 oz. onion powder

  0.1 oz. ground mustard

  0.5 oz. minced garlic

  T-SPX starter culture

  1 cup red wine

  12–14 feet of beef middle casings

  Penicillium nalgiovense culture

  This is the craziest thing I have ever made. It blooms on your tongue with layers of umami, and is truly unlike any other salami I have ever had.

  Method

  1. Mix about 2 tsp of the starter culture into ¼ cup of room-temperature water. Set aside.

  2. Combine the lean trim with all the seasonings and grind through the fine die of your meat grinder. Set aside. Next, grind the fat through the coarse die of your meat grinder. Combine the lean meat mixture with the fat, using your gloved hands, then add in the wine and the starter culture. Mix with your hands or in a stand mixer for at least a minute, then transfer the entire mixture to the refrigerator for 24 hours. This will increase bind and meld flavor.

  3. The next day, prepare beef middle casings and stuff the salami mixture into them, stopping every foot to 18 inches and tying off the ends. Link each 12–18-inch sausage in the middle, to form two salamis, each 6–9 inches long. Tie twine at each end and in between the links. Prick the salamis thoroughly, then weigh them and record their weight.

  4. Spray the salamis with Penicillium nalgiovense, diluted according to package instructions.

  5. Hang to ferment and dry, aiming at 60–65 degrees and 65–75% humidity. Don’t worry if humidity increases at first, while fermentation is happening. The salami is done when it has lost 30–40% of its starting weight.

  CALABRESE-STYLE SALAMI WITH VANILLA & LARDO

  INGREDIENTS

  4 lb. pork lean trim

  1 lb. pork back fat

  1 lb. cured lardo, cubed into

  ¼-inch pieces (see page 73)

  2 oz. salt

  0.2 oz. Cure #2

  1.6 oz. dextrose

  0.2 oz. black pepper, ground

  0.3 oz. white pepper, ground

  0.2 oz. anise seed, ground

  ¼ cup white wine

  0.1 oz. cinnamon, ground

  0.2 oz. pure vanilla extract (I make my own by steeping vanilla beans in Kentucky bourbon)

  0.5 oz. garlic

  T-SPX

  12–14 ft beef middle casings

  Penicillium nalgiovense culture

  This salami is beautiful, sweet, and mild. A crowd-pleaser and a kidpleaser. You’ll find the ratio of salt decreased slightly to account for the saltiness of the lardo.

  Method

  1. Mix about 2 tsp of the starter culture into ¼ cup of room-temperature water. Set aside.

  2. Combine the lean trim and the pound of back fat with all the seasonings and grind through the fine die of your meat grinder. Set aside. Combine the lean meat mixture with the cubed fat, using your gloved hands, then add in the wine and the starter culture. Mix with your hands or in a stand mixer for at least a minute, then transfer the entire mixture to the refrigerator for 24 hours. This will increase bind and meld flavor.

  3. The next day, prepare beef middle casings and stuff the salami mixture into them, stopping every foot to 18 inches and tying off the ends. Link each 12–18-inch sausage in the middle, to form two salamis, each 6–9 inches long. Tie twine at each end and in between the links. Prick the salamis thoroughly, then weigh them and record their weight.

  4. Spray the salamis with Penicillium nalgiovense, diluted according to package instructions.

  5. Hang to ferment and dry, aiming at 60–65 degrees and 65–75% humidity. Don’t worry if humidity increases at first, while fermentation is happening. The salami is done when it has lost 30–40% of its starting weight.

  NDUJA

  INGREDIENTS

  5 lb. of pork jowl, trimmed to 1-x-3-inch strips

  Or

  3 lb. pork fat (60%)

  2 lb. pork lean trim (40%)

  Plus

  2.2 oz. salt

  0.2 oz. Cure #2

  0.32 oz. organic dextrose

  16 oz. Calabrian chilies in oil, or any mix of hot & sweet peppers from your garden

  T-SPX

  1 hog bung, also called a hog middle cap

  Nduja is a meaty adventure, from its spice to its texture to its complex processing. As such, it is for the more adventurous salumists. It is spreadable salami tra
ditionally made with pork jowl, and aside from smearing it on breads, it is useful for adding to sauces, broths, brown butters and roux. To be quite honest, this application was what got my imagination running wild, and compelled me to make it in the first place. Pronounce it IN-DOO-YA.

  Method

  1. Rinse the hog bung thoroughly and allow it to soak.

  2. Freeze your grinder parts and your bowl. Mix the peppers with the jowl trim and open-freeze.

  3. Mix about 2 tsp of the starter culture into ¼ cup of room temperature water. Set aside.

  4. Grind the meat and pepper mixture twice through the coarse plate and twice through the fine plate. It will be very stiff. You may need to stop and chill the mix in between grinder plates, if you find it is rising above 40°F. Combine the salt, curing salt, and dextrose and sieve to remove any clumps. Put the meat mixture in your stand mixer with the paddle attachment and dump the salt mixture in. Add the T-SPX. Mix on low for 3–4 minutes while you wash your grinder parts.

  5. At this point you can stop and chill the meat mix overnight, but it isn’t necessary. When you are ready to stuff, place the largest stuffing horn onto your stuffer and begin to stuff the hog bung as well as you can. The way the bung is built, you’ll notice many chambers, so stuffing requires a watchful attitude (see sidebar, page 110). Once you’ve stuffed all the meat in, tie the opening of the bung with the slip knot, then tie according to the instructions in the sidebar on page 80. You can use this same technique for tying roasts, salamis, coppa, or any other meat product.

  Nduja, ready for tying

  6. Hang the stuffed nduja to ferment for 36–48 hours at 80–90°F and about 90–95% relative humidity. After this time, remove the nduja from the cabinet and cold smoke it (smoke at temperatures less than 80°F; see Chapter 6 for more info on smoking) for 3–4 hours. After smoking, allow to rest slightly, then return to the charcuterie cabinet to cure.

  7. It is helpful to have a pH meter to determine when nduja is safe to consume, as weight loss is not as reliable a marker for this product. The pH should be 4.2–5.0. I have had nduja ready after 3 months of aging, after it has cold smoked. Hana is the most reliable producer of pH meters; see the Resources section for links.

  Stuffing Large Sausages

  For nduja, mortadella, and other recipes that require stuffing ground meat into a large casing or bung, here is the technique:

  • Load the entire length of the casing onto the horn, so that the tied or closed end is flush with the end of the stuffing horn.

  • Begin turning the crank, and let the casing fill slowly.

  • Keep a firm hold on the casing as it fills, to ensure you are packing the meat mixture in as tightly as you can. Stop if you must, and distribute the ground meat as needed with your hands, to ensure it is filling the casing completely.

  • When you’ve stuffed as much as will fit with room to tie off, or if you’ve run out of meat mixture, remove the casing from the stuffing horn while introducing as little air as possible into the sausage. Tie off with twine or a bubble knot.

  A hog bung, loaded completely onto the stuffing horn

  KOJI VENISON BRESAOLA

  RECIPE COURTESY CHEF JEREMY UMANSKY, LARDER, CLEVELAND, OH

  INGREDIENTS

  2.2 lbs. venison top round (from the outside of the leg)

  Cure

  0.08 oz. Cure #1

  0.7 oz. sea salt

  0.5 oz. turbinado sugar

  0.35 oz. dark cocoa powder

  0.35 oz. ground coffee

  0.35 oz. dried chaga mushroom, powdered

  0.25 oz. dried chili flake

  0.1 oz. ground cinnamon

  Culture

  3.5 oz. brown rice flour

  0.5 oz. dispersed koji spores

  Method

  1. Grind all cure ingredients in a spice grinder and generously apply the cure mixture to the meat. Vacuum seal the meat and allow it to cure, in the refrigerator, for 5–10 days. Remove the meat from its packaging and place in a large bowl. Be sure to include any of the purge that accumulated during the curing time, as it will help the koji adhere to the meat.

  2. In a separate bowl, mix the rice flour and spores together. Heavily dredge the cured meat with the flour.

  3. Weigh the dredged meat and record. Place the meat in your koji incubator, and culture at 85°F and 90–95% relative humidity for 48 hours, or until the koji is clearly established. It will appear stark white and have a downy texture.

  4. Hang the meat in your charcuterie cabinet at 50°F and 65% relative humidity until it loses 35% of its weight. Slice thinly to serve.

  FIVE-SPICE KOJI LOMO

  INGREDIENTS

  5 lb. Danish cut pork loin (boneless, with skin on)

  Cure

  3.5 oz. sea salt

  1.75 oz. Chinese five spice

  0.2 oz. Cure #2

  Culture

  2 oz. flour

  0.5 oz. dispersed koji spores

  Homemade Chinese Five Spice

  6 tsp ground cinnamon

  6 tsp crushed anise

  1.5 tsp crushed fennel seed

  1.5 tsp fresh ground black pepper

  ¾ tsp ground clove

  Method

  1. Combine all five spice ingredients and grind together well. Store in a cool place in an opaque bottle.

  2. Combine all the cure ingredients and use half of the cure mixture to cover the surface of the loin. Seal and cure in the refrigerator for 9 days, then remove and add the remaining cure mixture to the loin. Seal again and cure for another 9 days, overhauling at even intervals.

  3. Remove the lomo from the cure and place in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the koji spores and the flour, then cover the meat generously with the flour mixture. Culture in your koji incubator at 85–88°F and 90–95% relative humidity for 48 hours, or until the koji is established.

  4. Hang the loin in your charcuterie cabinet at 50–60°F and 65% relative humidity until it has lost 40–50% of its weight. Slice thinly to serve.

  ON CULMINATION

  A woman opens a window — here and here and here —

  placing a vase of blue flowers

  on an orange cloth. I follow her.

  She is making soup from what she had left

  in the bowl, the shriveled garlic and bent bean.

  She is leaving nothing out.

  NAOMI SHIHAB NYE Half-and-Half (1994)

  WHAT IS MADE of a farmer’s work, the animal’s life, or the butcher’s thrift, if we do not finish the piece, and finish it well? It is forgotten, as we have seen, in seventy or more years of industrialization and monopolization, of blandification and additive addiction. The essence of the life that made the food that makes us alive is snuffed out. As it deadens, we deaden. As you craft real food, food that brings you back in touch with the truth of life and death in their poetic, fragrant, and useful dance, you must strive for a finished product that is surprising, exhilarating, substantive. Right. As I carefully waxed philosophical and parsed through processes for the grinding, mixing, seasoning, salt curing, fermenting and drying of meats in this volume, my inner voice has itched to sew it up roundly. If we must take the craft apart to understand it, we must, at some point, put it back together, to truly see it for what it is.

  On left, Miso & Pickled Ginger Sausage. On right, Rabbit Andouille.

  COOKING SAUSAGES

  You’ve made the fresh sausage, so how shall you cook it? The absolute best way to is to poach it first (that’s cooking in water under boiling temperature, around 170°F) and then sear it off in a hot pan or on the grill to brown the outside. This method prevents you from overcooking the outside of the sausage while you’re waiting for it to cook through. It also has the added advantage of allowing you to poach, save in the fridge, and then quickly cook off on the stove or grill later. Other cooking methods include smoking (see below) or baking. Baking sausages is usually reserved for recipes that call for combining them with other ingredients, and generally some added
moisture is advised.

  SMOKING MEAT

  Smoking foods, working with fire and wood, is an entirely exhilarating realm, and I trust that anyone who dabbles in the practice of flavoring, cooking, or merely drying meats, cheeses or vegetables with wood smoke will find themselves slowly and subconsciously tantalized by the challenge of patience and balance it evokes. Some skills in smoking are essential to a full-scale charcuterie practice, the most sacred being cold smoking, which is chiefly a form of preservation and not a form of cooking.

  Smoking is not barbequing, though barbequed food can be, and most often is, smoked. Smoking is not the same as grilling. Wood smoke has antioxidant properties, antimicrobial properties, and a low pH, so it is a preservative. Properly there are three types of smoke: cold, warm and hot.

  Cold smoking is applying light, intermittent smoke to a food at temperatures between 68–80°F in the smoking chamber. This almost always requires indirect heat, as in, the fire located away from the meat itself. The smoke from that fire is directed toward a separate chamber, where the meat hangs or rests. Cold smoking is associated with long smoking times, although the smoke need not be constant. Cold smoking woods are beech, alder and birch.

  Warm smoking is achieved by applying intermittent smoke, using either indirect or direct heat, with temperatures ranging between 80°F and 140°F in the smoke chamber. The food is sometimes cooked as it is smoked, but this is variable. Warm smoking woods are woods like apple, maple and pecan.

  Hot smoking is almost always achieved with direct heat (the smoldering fire is close to or right under the meat), thicker, consistent smoke, and temperatures from 140°F to 200°F in the smoke chamber. The smoking time is almost always determined by how long it takes the food to cook, as cooking to temperature is always possible with hot smoke. Hot smoking woods are hickory, oak and mesquite. I hot smoke using my Big Green Egg ceramic grill, and have also achieved hot smoking on CharGriller and Weber grills.

 

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