Coppa progress report:
After 15 days in a fridge cure:
(http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab19/rickrick949/th_HPIM0138.jpg) (http://s845.photobucket.com/albums/ab19/rickrick949/?action=view¤t=HPIM0138.jpg)
Out of the bag and drying:
(http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab19/rickrick949/th_HPIM0145.jpg) (http://s845.photobucket.com/albums/ab19/rickrick949/?action=view¤t=HPIM0145.jpg)
Seasoned up and into a veil casing which is a sheep casing that is 'wrap around", really easy to use
(http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab19/rickrick949/th_HPIM0146.jpg) (http://s845.photobucket.com/albums/ab19/rickrick949/?action=view¤t=HPIM0146.jpg)
17 more days and this baby will be done. I think I will start another one while the weather is still cold
Looks good. I'm not sure I can wait either.
FLB
I could slice you some very thin and mail it to you LOL
Update
Its been way over the 17 days called for in the recipe
The coppa still feels a little soft when squeezed so I am holding off slicing it open
Its is drying out for sure, the string is not nearly as tight as it was when it was originally tied around the coppa
I am not sure if its supposed to get really hard
I might be waiting for something to happen that is never going to happen
I know I dont have ideal drying conditions in the garage but its the best I can do
I have another one of these babies in the fridge right now, 9 days today, re spice tonight and then 9 more days still stuffing
I have a piece of Coppa in a similar condition: started early January, cold smoked early Feb. and drying in the garage. Still a bit softer than I think it should be but should be ready in the next week or so. Keep us posted on how yours turns out.
Waltz
Coppa update # who knows what
Captains log 02 24 10
Year of the smoker
I gave my coppa a squeeze last night ( I know already that this will cause me grief here ) and it was firm
I am not sure what its supposed to feel like ? Hard as rock, firm with a bit of give ? Obviously not mushy.
I am really tempted to cut this baby open and give it a try as I have convinced myself in what is left of my
little twisted mind that it must be done.
If I do bust it open and it turns out that it is not done ( not sure how I will tell that either ) have I arrived at the
point of no return or can I keep aging it somehow hoping it does not go bad ?
This is becoming stressful ! LOL i have a piece of pecarino romano in the fridge that is dying to meet this coppa
I feel your stress OS (poetry)!
Some of the best cured meat I have done has been the stuff I forget about and rediscover weeks (or even months) later. By that time it is either spoiled or wonderfully cured. I haven't checked my Coppa for about a week but will give it a squeeze tonight, should be approaching ripeness. Like you I am not sure what constitutes 'done' but I think and hope if I cut into it too early and find it is not the way I want it, it should go on curing if I leave it a while longer.
Waltz.
Just be thankful you're not making prosciutto.
I hear that takes anywhere from 7 months to 2 years. :o
Waltz
I am going to hang on another week, as big a challenge as that might be
My pancetta will be hanging until at least late spring and I think I can deal with that
But damn I want to slice into this coppa so bad
For now I will be conent with my well cured salami
Hi OS,
I am going to cut into my Coppa this weekend. I checked it last night and it seems about as firm as I would expect, may be a little soft in the very centre but the extra few days will help that. I will let you know how it turns out.
Waltz.
Its Ready ;D.
I cut into my Coppa yesterday and found it is good, a little soft in the middle at the thickest part but all edible and nearly finished as I write this. Pictures below.
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s267/Kishmul/IMG00116.jpg)
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s267/Kishmul/IMG00115.jpg)
It was a fairly small piece of coppa I had trimmed from a fairly small shoulder joint, only about two inches in diameter at the tickest part when dried. It has been in production for approx 10 weeks. It shows a little bit of a darker ring on the outside quarter inch so may have benefited frrom slighly longer drying but the results are so good I have another larger piece going into cure this afternoon, unfortunately I expect it will take longer.
Waltz.
Waltz
How did it taste ???????
I am slicing into mine this afternoon
When I slice it, I will pop some pics and post
I just finished stuffing a new one into a beef bung and its tied with the casing drying out
I expect this will be done late June
i just hope it does not warm up too much in the next couple of months
Sorry OS, I should have said. The taste was excellent, so good it is now all finished. The spices had penetrated all the way through the meat. I had added some cloves so ocassionally there was a burst of mild clove flavour when you encountered a piece of that, which added to the flavour (flavor).
The next piece of coppa, which is much larger, is in the cure now.
Waltz.
Congrats Waltz. Happy is always good, tasty is even better
I did not cut into mine yesterday although I did intend to
I think Wednesday will be the day ;D
Now I am looking forward to this. I think mine was a touch bigger than yours and it makes me wonder if I should wait
Hi OS,
The best piece of mine - the piece which I felt was the way it really should be - was like a hard dry salami texture when I pressed it. That was the thinnest part and had the same texture all the way through. The thickest part had a bit more give to it and felt like it was hard on the outside but had a softer core and that is the way it turned out when I cut into it. It was still as good if not better flavoured than any I have bought. It started to firm up a bit after leaving the cut end in the fridge overnight but it didn't get the chance to fully firm up as it all got eaten the next day.
Waltz
OS, tell us, tell us, tell us, is it nearly done yet, is it, is it, eh, eh? :D
I keep holding off cutting this baby open
I am thinking one more week could not hurt
Stay tuned.... this is worse than waiting for Santa when you are 6 years old
OK
I have a responsibility to complete this post and update it
On Sunday I finally decided to cut my coppa open, it felt firm enough that I thought the risk was minimal
Here is how it went
Visual:
It looked like coppa ( sound dumb but I was not sure what I was expecting)
I had an "air hole" in one section and the meat went a touch rancid but was still edible
No pictures here but I will snap a couple and post them later
Texture:
Outer texture was very hard,almost difficult to chew
I may have actually hung it too long
I would say the outside 1/4 inch was a touch tough, very hard and chewy
I will be watching the one hanging now and not letting it go as far
The meat inside of that was moist and tender, reasonable marbling to keep things moist
Taste
A little disappointing
I followed the Poli formulation as close as I could
It called for nutmeg as a spice and I find its a little over powering
I have another smaller coppa hanging now and I am hoping I did not put any nutmeg in it, in fact I am sure I did not, only time will tell
Not sure what taste I was expecting but next time I will use more pepper and garlic and no nutmeg
My slicer does not cut quite thin enough and that could be part of it as well
So all in all the texture overall is pretty good. Probably hung too long. Nutmeg is very over powering
I will have to remember this for next year when I do it again
Interesting results OS. I am looking forward to the pictures.
So exactly what is this Coppa ??? I have never heard of it before. It looks interesting and something that I might want to make.
Slider
It is made from the whole muscle of the neck of pork
Kind of like cappicollo
It is sort of a salami but made from solid meat as opposed to ground
It is flat and rolled and tied
When it has no nutmeg ( LOL ) and is sliced nice and thin, its delic with some fresh bread and nice chunk of sharp cheese
Well Waltz sure does look good and I am used to making things that take a long time. I am a home wine maker and most of the time I let my wine stay in the carboy racking it for 2 or more years.
Thanks for the post OS can,t wait to see the pics.
OS could you be so kind to direct me in the right direction for information and complete instructions on making this so interesting piece of meat ?
Thanks for the update OS. Its a pity it didn't turn out quite as expected but it doesn't sound like it will go to waste. The one I did had cloves in it and they were the main flavour but not unpleasant. I had also smoked mine but did not detect much smoke flavour so probably won't do that again.
For the benefit of Slider, here is a link to one recipe site:
http://curedmeats.blogspot.com/2008/01/coppa-v2.html
and another:
http://lpoli.50webs.com/index_files/coppa.pdf
Take your pick.
Waltz
Thank you very much Waltz !!!!