(Part 3) Top products from r/Charcuterie

Good god, I love Chicken Paprikash. Personally I like to add some sliced green and yellow bell peppers into the sauce. Rounds out the flavor nicely and adds textural interest. Personally, I've found that bone-in chicken thighs get the best juicy flavor (and the crisp skin!) but obviously use what you have. We often do polenta or mashed potatoes with it but I will have to try it with dumplings some time. Also if you're ever in need of good paprika, I highly recommend this brand. It's Spanish, not Hungarian but has consistently high quality, great smokey body and it seems silly but the tin keeps it fresh tasting for a long time (not that it lasts in my house).

As far as I know, there aren't any mini-fridges specifically designed for curing meats. The closest I have found is a digitally controllable wine fridge. The downside is that it only goes up to 65ºF, but I ferment my salami at 70ºF. I've written a blog post about modifying my fridge for curing.

As for meat grinding, if you already have a kitchen-aid, the best thing to start with is the meat grinder attachment. Don't bother getting the stuffer attachment because it's terrible. It's really worth the money to buy a dedicated stuffer. I use this one, but I'm considering upgrading to the 15lb stuffer.

As for books, I like The Art of Making Fermented Sausages and Charcuterie. But note that The Art of Making Fermented Sausages uses T-SPX bacteria in it's recipes where Charcuterie uses F-RM-52. Curing with T-SPX takes around 30 days, where F-RM-52 is around 2 weeks (IIRC). I haven't tried curing with F-RM-52 yet. The Art of Making Fermented Sausages is very "food science" based, so it contains charts and graphs about pH levels and how they related to humidity and temp, etc. Charcuterie has more recipes than just Salami, and is more similar to a recipe book.

Good luck!

Yeah it's a bit surprising that it's being used up that fast, especially in an enclosed environment... the fridge is well-sealed, right?

My 1.2 gal humidifier in a 24 cubic ft stand up freezer only needs refilling every week or so, and that's with a 4" hole and a fan going on for 15 minutes every other 30 minutes. But, my chamber is in the 55 degree basement, so it literally never cycles on (therefor, humidity isn't as quickly removed). Plus it is pretty full of meat, so that will help.

And now that I type that out, I wonder if that's your main problem, the fridge isn't full enough. When it has a lot of product, the volume of plain air is much lower, and the drying meat adds to the humidity. So the humidifier doesn't have to work as hard. But not in your case.

Regardless, I'd upgrade the humidifier, to something like this Vicks one I currently use with 1.2 gal capacity or this Crane one that I used to have (which worked fine, just wanted something a little bigger), or this huge unit from Honeywell which might actually be too big. Remember it MUST have a switch or a dial, because it needs to come back on when the power switches back on. Push button controls tend not to do that.

Well, your questions are all valid and I can only provide you with what I did in Northern New York, near Lake Placid (Winter Olympics 1932 & 1980).

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Firstly, review this website, which has numerous recipes, and I have have tried three of them. http://lpoli.50webs.com/Sausage%20recipes.htm#DRY

Then to answer your questions:

1. The temperatures where I live range from -30F - 95F. So, I do my sausages, dried and/or smoked during the cooler months. You can optionally use a refrigerator that should be set at 45-48F degrees, for the curing process. Or find a dark, cool place like a basement.
   
2. Use Cure #2, which is recommended for long curing sausages and meats
   
3. My first attempt to make dried sausage was this recipe:
   
4. SAUCISSON SEC RECIPE
   
   📷
   
   PREP: 30 MINS. COOK: 30 MINS. YIELD: 7 SAUSAGES (70 SERVINGS)
   
   This classic French sausage is a great entry point for the novice to charcuterie. The technique is straightforward, the seasonings simple, and the curing can be done in a relatively forgiving environment, like a basement or garage, not requiring specialized equipment.
   
   As with all cured meats, though, some specialized ingredients are involved, like dextrose, curing salt (also known as Insta Cure or Prague powder), and casings. Curing salt contains sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate, which stave off the development of the bacteria that cause botulism, and is therefore essential to the safety of this recipe.
   
   A stand mixer with a meat grinding attachment will work fine for this recipe. Remember to keep everything very cold at all times. The meat should always be cold enough that it hurts your hands to handle too long. If it begins to warm, get everything in the coldest part of the refrigerator or even the freezer for a few minutes, repeating as necessary.
   
   As the sausage hangs, the meat ferments. White mold will form on the outside of the casing. This is normal, and desirable. After about three weeks, you'll have a firm salami-like sausage with balanced flavor and a sour tang from fermentation. Simply slice and enjoy with some crisp French bread and cornichon pickles. The French also enjoy it with very sharp Dijon mustard.
   
   

   What You'll Need
   

   
   

• 4 1/2 pounds/2 kg pork meat
  
• 1/2 pounds/225 g fatback
  
• 2.7 Table Spoons/1 1/2 ounces/40 g kosher salt
  
• 1 Table Spoon/1/4 to 1/2 ounces/10 g black pepper (coarsely ground)
  
• 1 Table Spoon/ ounces/15 g ​dextrose
  
• .4 Table Spoon/1/4 ounces/6 g curing salt no. 2
  
• 1.2 Table Spoon/2/3 ounces/18 g garlic (minced to a paste)
  
• 1/4 cup/59 ml white wine (dry)
  
• 8 feet hog casing (or sheep casing, soaked in tepid water for 2 hours before use)
  
  
  

  How to Make It
  

  
  

1. Set up the meat grinder, all metal parts from the freezer. Grind the pork meat and fatback on a large (¾” [1.9 cm]) plate into a bowl sitting on ice. Use a paddle to mix in all other ingredients.
   
2. Keep the casing wet while you work with it. Slide the casing onto the funnel but don’t make a knot. Put the mixture in the stuffer and pack it down. Begin extruding. As the mixture comes out, pull the casing back over the nozzle and tie a knot.
   
3. Extrude one full coil, about 48 inches (1.3 m) long, and tie it off. Crimp with fingers to separate sausages into 12-inch (30-cm) lengths. Twist the casing once one way, then the other between each sausage link. Repeat along the entire coil. Once the sausage is cased, use a sterile needle to prick any air pockets. Prick each sausage 4 or 5 times. Repeat the casing process to use remaining sausage.
   
4. Hang the sausages to cure 18 to 20 days at 60°F–75°F (18°C–21°C). These can be refrigerated, wrapped, for up to 6 months.

I liked Olympia Provisions by Elias Cairo. Pretty solid % charts from fresh sausage to dry curing.

https://www.amazon.com/Olympia-Provisions-Cured-American-Charcuterie/dp/1607747014/ref=mp_s_a_1_fkmrnull_1?crid=1NZ4Z7P5LD52H&keywords=olympic+provisions+book&qid=1556756181&s=gateway&sprefix=olympic+pro&sr=8-1-fkmrnull

My first pick always is the Marinski Books....


Charcutier. Salumiere. Wurstmeister - Francois Paul-Armand Vecchio
http://www.amazon.com/Charcut.../dp/0615720846/ref=sr_1_1...

The Marinski Books : http://www.amazon.com/.../e/B001JRXURI/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

In the Charcuterie from The Fatted Calf: http://www.amazon.com/.../dp/B00C0AO18U/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1

Pig Perfect - Peter Kaminski: http://www.amazon.com/Pig.../dp/1401300367/ref=sr_1_1...

Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery - Jane Grigson : http://www.amazon.com/Charcut.../dp/B004SHJJ44/ref=sr_1_6...

The Art of Charcuterie - John Kowalski: http://www.amazon.com/Art.../dp/0470197412/ref=sr_1_sc_1...

Professional Charcuterie: Sausage Making, Curing, Terrines, and Pates - John Kinsella & David T. Harvey: http://www.amazon.com/Profess.../dp/B0032UXZ4S/ref=sr_1_1...

Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing - Rytek Kutas : http://www.amazon.com/Great.../dp/0025668609/ref=sr_1_1...

Bruce Aidells's Complete Sausage Book: http://www.amazon.com/Bruce.../dp/B007WKE2J6/ref=sr_1_1...
Patés & Terrines: http://www.amazon.com/Pat%C3.../dp/0688038964/ref=sr_1_2...

Hank Shaws Page: http://www.amazon.com/Hank.../e/B004OBEILI/ref=sr_tc_2_0...

I'm having a similar issue of my 7 cu ft chest freeze being about 85% humid. I'm looking into buying a passive dehumidifier that, according to the reviews, should work great in a small space. Check it out on amazon. I know you didnt want to buy a dehumidifier but 't's pretty inexpensive and it's renewable.

http://www.amazon.com/Eva-Dry-E-333-Renewable-Wireless-Dehumidifer/dp/B000H0XFCS/ref=sr_1_5?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1449439693&sr=1-5&keywords=dehumidifier

Hank Shaw has a really easy-to-follow, detailed recipe on his website. Pretty sure it, and a few other easy curing recipes are in his book.

My mother-in-law got me both of these books.

I can't remember the changes I made, but this is the book I've been using.

I have not made anything out of this book yet, but like the writing style. I am still trying to figure out why he adds powdered milk to his recipes. Any ideas?

Edit: I should say that when I make different kinds of brats, I just use my intuition on amount when adding chopped habenero, onions or chipotle powder. If it says add water, add beer. :)

I think your best bet is to get a jerky cannon, make some sausage sticks and smoke them. These are casingless sausages, and they're cooked with the smoke, so they are pretty easy to make.

Alternatively, you could make some landjager, but that's a much more involved process. They are a cured sausage, and you'll need casings, and a sausage stuffer, and a curing chamber wouldn't hurt.

You should be safe rounding down to 3.3. If your cheapass scale doesn't do tenths, there's cheapass ones on Amazon that do. :) The one I use set me back $8 USD.

Your recipe is calling for a maximum of 150 ppm. Rounding down to 3.3 gets you to 147.3 ppm. You should be good there. If you round up to 3.4, you're at 151.8 ppm, which is also fine (US standards allow a max of 156 ppm, while your European standards allow a max of 150 ppm. You'd be slightly over, but none of us would tell).

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004HI7950?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title

That is the one I have. I don't have it pointed on the meat, and it is on low 24/7 and my chamber has been great since. So I'd say your fan would probably not be overkill (from my experience)

Cooking by Hand - This is another excellent read when it comes to all things Charcuterie.

It's a little $15 Amazon fan: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004HI7950/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The humidifier I stole from my son's room. I live in Southern California so it is not very humid at all... ever...

If you'd like a physical copy instead...

https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Meat-Curing-Sausage-Making/dp/1333066058/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522524906&sr=8-1&keywords=the+secrets+of+meat+curing+and+sausage+making

I keep this book on top of my chamber.

shoot okay, i just ordered this guy, if it doesnt work might have to do what you did as well

Haven't used it, but amazon brings up Curing and Smoking Fish. Not sure if it covers much of shellfish, or any sort of fermented seafoods.

this

Art of Charcuterie by Jane grigson.
https://www.amazon.com/Art-Charcuterie-Jane-Grigson/dp/0880012722

I bought an Extech hygrometer a couple of years ago and haven’t had any problems with it.