UMAi dry bags that is.
I have wanted to make some dry cured sausages for a long time, but haven't had the time nor money to get a curing fridge set up. So I decided to try the UMAi bag method.
I ordered their salumi and charcuterie kits.
(http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b476/gusrobin/IMG_1248.jpg) (http://s1047.photobucket.com/user/gusrobin/media/IMG_1248.jpg.html)
(http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b476/gusrobin/IMG_1247.jpg) (http://s1047.photobucket.com/user/gusrobin/media/IMG_1247.jpg.html)
I wanted to do pepperoni, Genoa salami, soppressata salami, and capicola. I was going to start with a small amount of one of these to see how it worked. But then I realized that the directions said it could take 3-6 weeks. I don't think I could wait that long, have it taste good, and then have to wait another 3-6 weeks for the next batch. They say go big or go home. So I decided to make 2.5 lbs of each except the capicola. That I would start with 4 lbs.
First I mixed the spices, meat, and cure for all the ones that I would stuff. As I completed each I bagged it and put in the fridge while I was working on the others. Here they are all bagged.
(http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b476/gusrobin/IMG_1251.jpg) (http://s1047.photobucket.com/user/gusrobin/media/IMG_1251.jpg.html)
Next I took the UMAi bags and stuffed and vac sealed.
(http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b476/gusrobin/IMG_1257.jpg) (http://s1047.photobucket.com/user/gusrobin/media/IMG_1257.jpg.html)
Tied some string and an ID card with the name of the sausage and its starting weight. Hanging to ferment for a couple of days.
(http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b476/gusrobin/IMG_1258.jpg) (http://s1047.photobucket.com/user/gusrobin/media/IMG_1258.jpg.html)
I am using a boneless butt for the capicola. Mixed the spices and put the butt in a zip lock bag. Into the fridge for a week.
(http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b476/gusrobin/IMG_1260.jpg) (http://s1047.photobucket.com/user/gusrobin/media/IMG_1260.jpg.html)
More to come as things progress.
While these are doing their thing, I'll be out looking for a green ham to make proscuitto.
Sounds and looks great.
Looks good. I will be watching this.
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Gus, I have the charcuterie kit. The bags work! I may order the salumi kit too.
Quote from: KyNola on October 28, 2013, 07:36:15 AM
Gus, I have the charcuterie kit. The bags work!
Never underestimate my ability to screw something up. ;D
looks interesting! now I can't wait for follow up pics !! ;D
I'm very interested in hearing about the results ;)
So the Soppressata, Genoa, and Pepperoni were hung in the pantry to ferment for 3 days.
Took them down today, weighed them and into the fridge for 3-5 weeks or so. Here they are, tagged and on the racks.
(http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b476/gusrobin/IMG_1261.jpg) (http://s1047.photobucket.com/user/gusrobin/media/IMG_1261.jpg.html)
The Capicola has 4 more days curing in the fridge before I bag them.
Here is a weight table for the sausages.
(http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b476/gusrobin/table.jpg) (http://s1047.photobucket.com/user/gusrobin/media/table.jpg.html)
More to come in 3-5 weeks.
Looks like it will be well worth the wait, I'll be watching this one for sure
After a week, here are the weights of the sausages. They have lost about 4-6%. Goal is 30% loss so about 4-5 more weeks.
(http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b476/gusrobin/Measurement.jpg) (http://s1047.photobucket.com/user/gusrobin/media/Measurement.jpg.html)
After a week in the fridge, I took the butt out to make the capicola. Per directions, I was supposed to use the coppa muscle from a pork shoulder. The cut along the dotted line meat carvers at the local Publix didn't have a clue to what I wanted so the best I could do was a boneless butt. It was basically flat so I had to roll and tie it. Not perfect but the best I could do with what I had.
Here is the butt with the salt and cure washed off and then rubbed with paprika. Into the fridge for 3-5 months.
(http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b476/gusrobin/IMG_1263.jpg) (http://s1047.photobucket.com/user/gusrobin/media/IMG_1263.jpg.html)
(http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b476/gusrobin/IMG_1265.jpg) (http://s1047.photobucket.com/user/gusrobin/media/IMG_1265.jpg.html)
Here they are rolled, tied, and bagged and into the fridge.
(http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b476/gusrobin/IMG_1267.jpg) (http://s1047.photobucket.com/user/gusrobin/media/IMG_1267.jpg.html)
More to come in about a week or so.
Gus
Looking good.
Looks like it will turn out good for you.
Two weeks into it and here is where it stands.
(http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b476/gusrobin/weight.jpg) (http://s1047.photobucket.com/user/gusrobin/media/weight.jpg.html)
More to come .
Latest update as of 20 days. the Biggest Loser (%) is Capicola #2 followed by Pepperoni # 2
(http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b476/gusrobin/wgt11-16-13.jpg) (http://s1047.photobucket.com/user/gusrobin/media/wgt11-16-13.jpg.html)
Since they were doing well, they asked for a team picture. So here are the players.
(http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b476/gusrobin/IMG_1278.jpg) (http://s1047.photobucket.com/user/gusrobin/media/IMG_1278.jpg.html)
Everything's looking mighty fine Gus. Good work.
This is a great post, thanks for posting it. I've wanted to try dry cure for quite a while, didn't realize they had these systems out there.
Weekly update:
Here are the latest numbers.
(http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b476/gusrobin/wgt11-24-13.jpg) (http://s1047.photobucket.com/user/gusrobin/media/wgt11-24-13.jpg.html)
Seems to be losing weight steadily, but most are still on the soft side. We'll see where this goes.
So I just bought some Umai bags and am going to give this a shot. Question for you, where did you get those charts you are posting? I'll try to post some pics of my progress here.
It is just an excel sheet I made. PM me your email and I will send you a copy. (I haven't figured out how to add an attachment to a PM)
Thanks for the Excel sheet Gus, mucho appreciate it! What recipes did you use? I have a few more bags and would like to get them going too.
I used the recipes from the UMAi site.
Weekly Update:
(http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b476/gusrobin/wgt11-30-13.jpg) (http://s1047.photobucket.com/user/gusrobin/media/wgt11-30-13.jpg.html)
Pepperoni #2 reached its goal of 30% weight loss. So I decided to slice and try it.
(http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b476/gusrobin/IMG_1304-1.jpg) (http://s1047.photobucket.com/user/gusrobin/media/IMG_1304-1.jpg.html)
(http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b476/gusrobin/IMG_1303.jpg) (http://s1047.photobucket.com/user/gusrobin/media/IMG_1303.jpg.html)
It had a nice firmness to it. Most of the pepperoni I have made had a "soft" texture. This time I didn't smoke it, but will try it next time. The taste was good, so it was a winner.
Latest update:
(http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b476/gusrobin/wgts12-8-13.jpg) (http://s1047.photobucket.com/user/gusrobin/media/wgts12-8-13.jpg.html)
So I decided to cut open all but the genoa 3 and sopressata 2
The top piece is the genoa. The sliced pieces left to right: sopressata, pepperoni, genoa.
(http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b476/gusrobin/IMG_1322.jpg) (http://s1047.photobucket.com/user/gusrobin/media/IMG_1322.jpg.html)
Close up (blurred) pic of the pepperoni
(http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b476/gusrobin/IMG_1325.jpg) (http://s1047.photobucket.com/user/gusrobin/media/IMG_1325.jpg.html)
Capicola
(http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b476/gusrobin/IMG_1328.jpg) (http://s1047.photobucket.com/user/gusrobin/media/IMG_1328.jpg.html)
Verdict:
1)Genoa salami- came out great, texture was like what you would buy in the store, flavor was intense. A++
2) Pepperoni - the first was was good, the second was a little dryer. But both were keepers. A
3) Soppressata salami- I have never had it before so I don't know what to compare it to. It was good. Not as intense flavor as the genoa, but I like it. A- (only because I don't know what is supposed to taste like)
4) Capicola - I wasn't too impressed. The outer skin was dried and bit tough. The inside probably needed another week. But then the edge dryness would be have been wider. Now part of the problem may be that the UMAi recipe says to use the coppa muscle. I couldn't get one so I just used a small rolled de-boned butt. C
Would I do it again.? Yes. But not the capicola unless I got a coppa muscle.
GR,
I did a Coppa using the dry bags on a pork collar which I was told was a part of the Coppa muscle.
I don't know if that was true but it turned out very tasty, fat but good.
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=33478.msg390447#msg390447
I agree Gus....on the Copa...Liked the flavor tho. Pepperoni looks great tho!
They all look great, how was the flavor on the capicola?
Quote from: NorthShoreMN on December 08, 2013, 04:57:45 PM
They all look great, how was the flavor on the capicola?
I wasn't that impressed. It could be that the middle part was still kind of "soft".
thanks for the post, do you think the coppa should've been in the bag longer?
Quote from: Griffen on December 08, 2013, 09:45:55 PM
thanks for the post, do you think the coppa should've been in the bag longer?
Not sure. The middle definitely needed longer but I had about a 1/4 of case hardening (for lack of a better term) along the edges. I think you need to start with the coppa muscle like they say in the instructions.
Hmm, I couldn't find one of them. Guess I'll see what happens. Thanks !
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I couldn't find one either. The UMAi instructions say it is part of the shoulder. So I asked the butcher at the local supermarket if I bought a full shoulder could he cut it out for me. He looked like I was from Mars or something. These guys are more cut along the dotted line meat cutters than what I consider a butcher.
Quote from: GusRobin on December 08, 2013, 10:05:10 PM
I couldn't find one either. The UMAi instructions say it is part of the shoulder. So I asked the butcher at the local supermarket if I bought a full shoulder could he cut it out for me. He looked like I was from Mars or something. These guys are more cut along the dotted line meat cutters than what I consider a butcher.
I don't know if this will help but I found this on Youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utfdbqCVmyE
or this
http://curedmeats.blogspot.com/2007/10/coppa-butchery-how-to-harvest-one.html
Quote from: Gafala on December 08, 2013, 10:41:11 PM
Quote from: GusRobin on December 08, 2013, 10:05:10 PM
I couldn't find one either. The UMAi instructions say it is part of the shoulder. So I asked the butcher at the local supermarket if I bought a full shoulder could he cut it out for me. He looked like I was from Mars or something. These guys are more cut along the dotted line meat cutters than what I consider a butcher.
I don't know if this will help but I found this on Youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utfdbqCVmyE
or this
http://curedmeats.blogspot.com/2007/10/coppa-butchery-how-to-harvest-one.html
thanks- maybe I'll take it on an iPad and show the "butcher" at the supermarket ;D ;D
Quote from: GusRobin on November 27, 2013, 04:20:13 PM
I used the recipes from the UMAi site.
I may have not have been looking in the right spot for the recipes. I only saw sopressata, chorizo, and venison salumi. Were these recipes in the forum? I am very interested in the genoa salumi recipe.
Quote from: Northern_Smoke on December 13, 2013, 04:03:25 PM
Quote from: GusRobin on November 27, 2013, 04:20:13 PM
I used the recipes from the UMAi site.
I may have not have been looking in the right spot for the recipes. I only saw sopressata, chorizo, and venison salumi. Were these recipes in the forum? I am very interested in the genoa salumi recipe.
Genoa Salami LBs 2.5lean pork or beef lb 2.125
back fat lb 0.375
salt tbs 1.75
corn syrup solids tbs 0.75
whole black pepper tbs 0.25
ground white pepper tbs 0.25
garlic powder tbs 0.25
dry red wine cup 0.0825
cure # 2 tsp 0.5
powdered dextrose tbs 0.75
Bactoferm T-SPX tsp 0.125