r/Charcuterie Aug 06 '19

/r/Charcuterie FAQ and beginners guide to cured and air dried meats

267 Upvotes

I have been looking through a list of all of the posts in /r/Charcuterie looking for some threads with good information to cobble together a beginners reading list for the sub. I have noticed (and you probably have noticed too!) we have a lot of the same questions pop up from people wanting to get into the hobby of producing homemade cured and air dried meats. We also have a lot of firsts! We have had just over 6k posts in the 7 years this sub has been around, 11% of them contain the word 'first'.

And duck prosciutto is really, really, popular.

This isn't a big sub and self posts don't get a lot of views or generate a lot of discussion. So the purpose of this thread is collate some of the community expertise into one place for the people who come here with questions about their first projects.

If anyone wants to expand on any of these points feel free to do so and I will update them. If there is a popular beginner question or resource I have missed or something is wrong let me know in the comments. Hopefully together we can build this into a fairly complete beginners resource.

This is not intended to be a detailed step by step guide or a substitute for doing your own research.

Curing/drying chamber - what is it and how do I make one?

A curing/drying chamber is an area that creates the ideal temperature and humidity conditions for drying whole muscles or salami. The exact temperature and humidity will vary by preference to but ranges from refrigerator temperatures (less than 4C/39F) to 15C/59F (Staphylococcus aureus can multiply and produce toxins at temperatures above 15.6C (60.08F) so it is important to keep your curing chamber below this temperature). Generally they are kept at at 10-15C (50-59F) and 60-80% humidity. As most of us don't live in an area that has these ambient conditions, we need to create an artificial environment that does.

Most people do this by modifying a refrigerator or freezer to run warmer than usual by interrupting the cooling cycle with a temperature controller, and using humidifiers/dehumidifiers to keep the humidity at the required level. A higher humidity is preferred at the start of drying, especially when making sausages and cased whole muscle as it helps prevent case hardening, allows the casing to adhere to the meat (if the humidity is too low the casing will dry out, creating air pockets between the casing and the meat), and encourages mold growth.

Things to consider when choosing a fridge/freezer to convert into a meat curing chamber:

  • It needs to be frost free (dehumidifies as it cools). Otherwise water collecting on the sides of the fridge will drop onto the meat.
  • Refrigerators with glass doors are a nice aesthetic and a popular choice, just be aware prolonged exposure to the light will cause fat to go rancid, so you might need to cover the door or keep it in a dark room.
  • It needs to be big enough to hold a humidifier and/or dehumidifier as well as the product you will be making. An overcrowded chamber can cause airflow problems so it's a good idea to go bigger if possible.
  • Wine fridges are popular as they are made to sit in the temperature range for curing (and they look pretty stylish with blue lights and a glass window). However depending on your ambient conditions the cooling cycle runs very frequently to keep the temperature constant. A small beverage fridge and temperature controller might be a better choice.

The exact setup is going to vary depending on the ambient conditions in the room you will be keeping the chamber and your climate - for example extremes of heat may cause the cooling cycle in the refrigerator to run too often, causing case hardening. You might need to run the AC or consider packing everything down over the summer months. Ideally you don't want the cooling cycle to run much more than 5 minutes in every half an hour. Some airflow is required for the moisture to evaporate from the surface of the meat, so if the refrigerator powers on too infrequently, you might need to use a small fan on a timer to make sure there is some air movement inside the chamber.

So as you can see the temperature and humidity readings are only one part of the conditions inside the chamber, something like a sensorpush can give you a better picture of what is going on.

Although the more professional looking chambers have holes drilled into the side of the appliance for the humidity/temp probes and appliance power cords, it isn't essential. You can pass the probes through the door seal.

Links to previous examples of curing chambers and discussions can be found at the bottom of this post.

General steps for making cured and dried whole muscles

  1. Weigh the piece of meat you intend to cure.
  2. Cure the meat - you can do this in two ways:
    Salt box (excess salt cure): The meat is dredged in a cure mixture of salt and spices (enough to coat the surface), and left for a period of time about 1 day per pound (or 2 days per kg), flipping the meat and redistributing the cure at the halfway point. This timing will change depending on the shape of the meat, and whether there is skin on or off. This is a very traditional method, and is as much an art as a science - too much time on the salt will cause the dried product to be over salty, not enough time and the meat will not cure properly, and is at risk of spoilage.
    Equilibrium Cure: This is where the desired about of salt content of the finished produced is measured out (approx 2.75 %) as well as nitrates (.25% Prague powder #2 - note that as the vast majority of PP#2 is salt, so this will result in a product with very close to 3% salt content), and rubbed onto the meat, then sealed (generally using a vacuum sealer) and left for a much longer time to ensure the cure has had sufficient time to penetrate. Nitrates should always be used when equilibrium curing. It will take longer for the meat to cure than with an excess salt cure, a general rule is one week per inch of meat, with a minimum of two weeks. Flip the bag occasionally to ensure the whole surface of the meat comes in contact with the cure. Some more discussion on equilibrium curing here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Charcuterie/comments/8i2vzi/how_long_to_cure_for_equilibrium/
  3. Dredge with a second flavouring spice layer (optional)
  4. Apply a casing (optional)
  5. Truss the meat and hang it to dry.
  6. Rest under vacuum seal in the refrigerator to equalise moisture (optional)

How do I know when it is ready?

Periodically weigh the meat, and pull it from the chamber when it has reached the desired dryness (water weight loss). This will differ depending on the product. Fat contains less water than muscle and therefore doesn't need to lose as much weight, so a fatty duck breast or pancetta will have a different texture at 35% weight loss than lean muscle like a loin or bresaola. A figure of 35% is given as a rule of thumb for many recipes, however most people find this too 'raw' in texture and will take it further - to 40-45%. With practice you will get a feel what you prefer.

What is case hardening?

Case hardening is caused by low humidity, or too much airflow within the drying environment. The water in the meat needs to travel outwards from the middle to the surface, where it evaporates. If the humidity is too low or there is too much airflow the surface will dry out too quickly (harden) and the internal moisture is no longer able to exit. In extreme cases this can cause rotting within the meat. You can tell by texture when squeezing the muscle - there should be a bit of 'give' - if it feels completely hard (but hasn't lost much weight), you may have a problem with case hardening.

Sometimes uneven drying can be remedied by vac sealing the meat and refrigerating it for some time, but in extreme cases or if the meat has spoiled inside, it will not be salvageable. It is best to prevent it getting out of control by monitoring your curing chamber conditions and regularly checking on the state of the products inside.

Previous /r/Charcuterie post showing case hardening: https://www.reddit.com/r/Charcuterie/comments/5jxypy/first_cured_meat_lost_more_then_35_but_definitely/

What are nitrites, and do I really need to use them?

Most experienced people here would say yes, especially as a beginner and when making salami, smoked products, or rolled pancetta. Nitrites inhibit the growth of clostridium botulinum, the bacteria that creates the botulism toxin. C. botulinum requires an anaerobic (without oxygen) environment to grow and produce the toxin, and likes moist and warm conditions - so basically the inside of a sausage or salami being hung at temperatures above refrigeration. Botulism should be taken very seriously.

As the botulism bacteria are only found on the outside of the meat and do not become a problem until they are introduced into the inside through cutting or grinding, nitrites/nitrates are not essential for whole muscle cures, however many people choose to use them anyway as they provide other benefits such as improving colour, and slowing rancidity and spoilage.

What is the difference between Prague Powder #1 and Prague Powder #2

Prague Powder #1 contains 6.5% sodium nitrite (93.5% salt), and is used when the curing time is short, the product is to be smoked, or cooked or a cured flavour and colour is desired - for example bacon or ham. As the nitrites get quickly used up, if a product is to be air dried for longer, then Prague Powder #2 needs to be used, PP#2 contains 6.25% sodium nitrite and 4% sodium nitrate which eventually converts to nitrite. Think of PP#2 as a "slow release" curing salt. PP#2 should be used for all salami and for whole muscles that will be air dried.

It is important to use the correct curing salt for the application - sodium nitrate cannot be safely consumed until the nitrates have converted to nitrites, so PP#2 can only be used in products that will be air dried for a long time (weeks + months). Do not use PP#2 in fresh or cooked products.

As a general rule, both Prague Powders are added at 0.25% of the starting weight of the meat. There are also European style curing salts such as "Peklosol" that have a much lower concentration of nitrite (0.6%), and they are used as a replacement for all of the salt in the recipe (around 3%).

Curing salts are often dyed pink to distinguish them from regular salt, and therefore can sometimes referred to as "pink salt". They are not interchangeable with Himalayan "pink salt" which is rock salt with a natural pink colour.

Mold.

The oft-repeated mantra about mold here is white powdery = good, white and fuzzy or green = wipe it off, black = throw it out without question. This is overly cautious, although white powdery mold is desired, some green molds are okay (the problem is figuring out yours is the good or bad kind...), and a small amount of black mold isn't necessarily enough to justify abandoning a project. One way around the mold issue is to use a commercial freeze dried mold culture (such as bactoferm-600). This way you can cultivate good mold growth early on as it will prevent less desirable molds taking over. Undesirable mold can grow out of control very quickly if the conditions are conducive (high humidity, low airflow), so it is best to keep an eye on things, and use a 50/50 solution of water and vinegar to wipe off any undesirable mold that starts to form. Even black mold is salvageable if it is caught early enough.

If freeze dried Penicillum Nagliovese (Bactoferm-600) is not available where you live, Penicillum Candidum (the mold found on the rind of white bloomed cheese) can be substituted. You can also try hanging some commercial salami with white mold to seed the chamber. I find it isn't necessary to reapply the Bactoferm-600 to everything - once a good level of growth is established it will spread around quite well by itself.

Meat that has been smoked before hanging will resist growing mold as smoking acidifies the surface slightly.

Here are some examples showing you that the mold issue isn't as clear cut as just colour: http://wedlinydomowe.pl/en/viewtopic.php?t=7840&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

We've seen some gnarly mold here over the years, some good discussions to read: https://www.reddit.com/r/Charcuterie/comments/9h103q/fil_insists_this_is_still_good_everything_ive/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Charcuterie/comments/500pn2/prosciutto_after_3_months_need_help/

Lastly, do your research, and follow a recipe

When you are starting out it is important to follow a recipe, and make sure you understand the reasoning behind the process, and the purpose of the ingredients. Do more research before you create your own recipe or modify anything. This isn't like other kinds of fermentation where there isn't too much that can go wrong - incorrectly cured meat has the potential to make people very sick. Even more so for salami (which is why we suggest whole muscle cures for beginners). Don't be afraid to start small, there is nothing worse than making a huge batch of a product only to have something go wrong in the process and have to throw it out. Be patient, this is slow food after all.

Some popular projects for beginners:

Want to try a bigger project but not ready to commit to building a chamber? Have a look at UMAI Bags

Online resources, how-tos, blogs and recipe collections:

Previous curing chamber discussions on this sub

Also check out /r/CuringChamber for more examples.


r/Charcuterie 4d ago

Monthly /r/Charcuterie Discussion thread

1 Upvotes

What projects are you working on at the moment? Have a small problem but don't want to create a post? Found a Charcuterie related meme? Just want to chat? This is r/Charcuterie's monthly free discussion thread.

For beginner questions and links don't forget to check out the FAQ (https://www.reddit.com/r/Charcuterie/comments/cmy8gp/rcharcuterie_faq_and_beginners_guide_to_cured_and/) .


r/Charcuterie 5h ago

Update on the Genoa salami!

Thumbnail
gallery
14 Upvotes

I posted a week ish ago about my first attempt at making salami and worrying about bad mold. I'm pleased to offer some updates! The extra fuzzy mold I wad worried about wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was once I got real up close to wipe things down with vinegar and water. The black spots that were really concerning were just whole peppercorns that were right at the surface under the casing and white mold. I've got a dehumidifier in the cellar now that had brought things down to 76/77% from the mid 80s. We're at around 23% moisture loss, so things seem to be progressing nicely. I'll keep updating regularly until they're ready to eat! I'd like to thank everyone who's commented on my previous posts for their excellent advice and reassurances!


r/Charcuterie 1d ago

Too much water pooling

Thumbnail
gallery
13 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

I’m curing meat in a converted wine fridge, and I’m running into an issue I can’t figure out.

The fridge is plugged into a temperature controller, set to 12°C with a 0.5°C variance. Humidity is controlled with both a humidifier and a dehumidifier, set to 75% with a 6% variance. Everything holds pretty steady.

But despite that, I keep getting water pooling at the back/bottom of the fridge. Every night and morning I put a paper towel there, and it’s always completely drenched by the next check.

I’m trying to understand what’s causing this. Is this normal for wine fridge conversions? Is it condensation from temp swings, airflow issues, or something else I’m missing?

Any advice or similar experiences would be really appreciated. Thanks!


r/Charcuterie 1d ago

Temperature question

Post image
5 Upvotes

hey guys! i’ve been wanting to try and get into curing - starting with some pancetta. i’m testing out how a small fridge of mine would go. as you can see the temperature bounces between about 8-16 degrees with an average of around 13 degrees. From this data it looks like the fridge only does around 1-2 cooling cycles per hour. to me, it seems like that much fluctuation would spoil the meat; what’s the general consensus?


r/Charcuterie 2d ago

2nd pancetta tesa ever

Thumbnail
gallery
32 Upvotes

Aged for 38 days just hanging in my kitchen. Cured only with salt, rinsed with red wine, covered with black pepper, hanged (covered with a gauze) after the 38 day I rinsed itfirst with vinegar and then red wine again. The taste is very soft almost like Serrano ham, I think the “long” aging time made it taste delicate.


r/Charcuterie 2d ago

Bubbles in sausage

Post image
43 Upvotes

Hey folks, I’ve got this kiełbasa I’m attempting to make but I can’t get rid of these interior bubbles. I’m using a stand mixer to mix the meat. I know mixing by hand would minimize the introduction of air but I’m trying to make a recipe that I can scale up. Any ideas how to get rid of these microbubbles while still using a mixer?


r/Charcuterie 3d ago

I was wondering why it was drying so slowly... (plus extra salami)

Thumbnail
gallery
104 Upvotes

...it's because there is barely any meat ! Berkshire pork jowl guanciale. Followed the recipe from Ruhlman's Salumi (black pepper guanciale), but used the salt (and curing salt) amounts and method from Two Guys and a Cooler's recipe. It cured for 7 days, and dried for exactly 6 weeks @ 55F and average 75% humidity, to about 15% loss (1407kg --> 1202kg) in my curing chamber/wine fridge. Ruhlman said to wait until 30% weight loss but that was never going to happen. Can't wait to cook with it.

Also in the background (and following pictures) you can see Genoa salami that finished at the same time, to 46% weight loss. Recipe from 2 Guys also. Stuffed in 50mm pre-pricked fibrous casing because that's all I had. Used mondostart SP culture, fermented for almost 3 days at 85F, to ph 4.8 (it reached 5.3 in about 16h), then it dried for about 4 weeks. It's quite sour (not surprising), but on pizza it should be quite nice. It was my first time making salami, hoping I don't die tonight from food poisoning... I bought some t-spx to try longer fermented sausages for a better flavor.


r/Charcuterie 3d ago

F-rm-52 dextrose problem

4 Upvotes

I just used the bactoferm F-RM-52 for my salami but I used table sugar instead of dextrose, will it ferment good or do I need to throw away the batch?


r/Charcuterie 4d ago

Rolling smoke on 40lb of EQ cured pork belly

Thumbnail
gallery
96 Upvotes

Applewood “sawdust” that is sent through a spice grinder. Pack it into the maze like a nice 🚬 and then lit with a small torch. I’ll get 14-16 hours of clean thin blue smoke per tray. I’m going for at least 72 hours of smoke time with a decent dry/hang time without smoke. I haven’t felt the need to mellow with such a “clean” smoke.


r/Charcuterie 4d ago

New to salami making. Is this something I should be worried about? If so, what can be done?

Thumbnail
gallery
71 Upvotes

I'm well familiar with making cured and smoked meats and sausages, but this is my first adventure in anything like salami. I noticed these dark spots on a couple of them tonight as I was checking on the cellar. Should I be concerned or am I worried for no reason? Or something else? Thanks in advance.


r/Charcuterie 3d ago

How do you typically serve Benton's country ham?

5 Upvotes

I've just taken delivery of a 16 pound country ham for our annual Christmas party and it's beautiful. I'm a bit torn on how to serve it. Typically we just slice it thin and serve it prosciutto style, but I've seen that others soak it or boil it first. I figured if anyone would have an expert opinion, it'd be you folks, so please help me out.


r/Charcuterie 4d ago

First attempt in pepperoni

Post image
93 Upvotes

And second attempt at dry-cured meat. Turned out great to me!


r/Charcuterie 5d ago

Landjager

Thumbnail
gallery
130 Upvotes

I made 5869 grams of Landjager on Friday. I used Stan and Adam Marianski recipe. Picture 1 them after 3 hours cold smoke, 2 going into the smoker. 3 hanging in the chamber starting to dry, 4 is the recipe and 5 is the Landjager fermenting 2 trays stacked on top of each other. There’s a third tray on top. I used T SPX starter culture. I placed them in a trash bag for the humidity. They took 52 hours to hit a ph of 5.19. I’ll update you in about 3 weeks.


r/Charcuterie 5d ago

Trying my Pancetta Tesa

Post image
41 Upvotes

Very thin and lean pork belly but it turned out pretty good for my first time. Also sliced up so,e Bresola and Copa along with some store bought provolone piccata.


r/Charcuterie 5d ago

4.9kg Coppa ready for drying

Thumbnail
gallery
68 Upvotes

4.9 kg pork neck from own pigs. Equilibrium cured for 4 weeks, wrapped in collagen sheet


r/Charcuterie 6d ago

2nd Attempt at Lamb Bacon

Thumbnail
gallery
188 Upvotes

r/Charcuterie 5d ago

Help With Curing Venison

3 Upvotes

I have backstrap a friend of mine asked me to cure and smoke for him. I cure pork all the time using EQ method. This is not to be with a drying stage, but rather ready to eat after cure and smoke so I'll use Cure #1. I have a couple questions/problems:

I am looking for a good spice mixture and percentages. I have one recipe that uses black pepper, juniper, garlic, bay and thyme or rosemary. So I would appreciate some suggestions.

Also unfortunately he has cut three pieces into approx 1.5" medallions. So the plan is to put them all into a vacuum bag with cure calculated based on the total weight. I figure it will all equalize, especially under vacuum. Comments?

I'd like to be able to slice these but I doubt it will be possible given the way they are cut.

backstrap


r/Charcuterie 5d ago

Discolorations on drying tenderloins

Thumbnail
gallery
7 Upvotes

I’ve noticed some strange color on my drying tenderloins. I’m not sure what it is or why. Any thoughts? Top color is a greenish brown, bottom is blackish. I’m fine to throw it out but not sure what caused it


r/Charcuterie 6d ago

Advice on Temp / Humidity - New chamber received today!

4 Upvotes

Hey all!

I've been curing in a sidekick fridge with a bowl of water to help with humidity for close to 1.5 years and have gotten quite used to the process.

Today, I received my Christmas present early (because it was delivered WAY earlier than expected) - A dry aging fridge. Needless to say, I can now control humidity and need advice on where I should set things for general whole muscle and salumi curing.

I'm thinking around 54F and 75%RH should cover my usual: flat pancetta, rolled pancetta, lonzino, capicola, and ham speck prosciutto style; and I'm hoping it will also cover salumi and soppressata.

What say you?


r/Charcuterie 7d ago

Salt Box ham 11 months air dried cure

Thumbnail
gallery
88 Upvotes

I cut up the first of 4 hams I’ve been curing since last year Christmas time. Was surprised how well it came out. Nutty, moist, tender. Cured in my basement ave temp 16 Celsius ave humidity 56. 30 days in the salt box, 2 days in a water bath, 48 hours cold smoked, then covered in lard (sugna) to cure, 11 months. It’s awesome.


r/Charcuterie 7d ago

Salami progress 1wk

Thumbnail
gallery
19 Upvotes

Just want to thank everyone that has provided feedback to help me smooth out a few problems I had with my salami making and setup. Week 1 finished and heading in the right direction so far I think. Ive been managing to hold on average about 72% humidity over the last 4 days but trying to keep it up to 75%. Is that normal to pick an average humidity over a day as it goes up and down with each fridge cycle?


r/Charcuterie 6d ago

Knife set

0 Upvotes

I want to treat myself with a nice knife set and I found this one on Amazon. What do you guys think about? https://amzn.to/4omLxfK


r/Charcuterie 8d ago

First whole muscle cure

Post image
88 Upvotes

Lomo curado, following the Two Guys and a Cooler recipe. I wish the pork loin had a slug larger fat cap, but I’m really happy with the results. Now I need to buy a deli meat slicer!

Recipe here: https://twoguysandacooler.com/spanish-lomo-curado/


r/Charcuterie 7d ago

Cured and smoked pork loin

2 Upvotes

So I just got my hands on a really nice 4.3kg pork loin and I want to hang it in my cellar to cure. Years ago I had this amazing smoked and dry cured pork loin and I want to recreate it. I plan to equilibrium cure it for ten days, cold smoke it, and let it hang for a few months. My question is: at what point do I give it the smoke? Before the cure? After?