Coppa, Next Project

[oakville smoker]

I de boned a butt this morning





I am goingto use Poli's recipe for coppa
Only drawback right now is I cannot find Juniper berries anywhere around here
Will it serioulsy affect my outcome?

[NePaSmoKer]

Just slightly.

Go to the store where the spices are, Get pickling spice. It has juniper berries in it.

[KevinG]

That's good to know, I can't get them by me either.

[Ka Honu]

Substitute a teaspoon of gin for every two juniper berries.  If you absolutely must have dry ingredients, use equal parts of crushed bay leaf and caraway (but the gin is a better option and gives you something to drink while prepping).

[oakville smoker]

I am not a gin drinker and I have had a bottle in the cupboard for a long, long time
I finally have a use for it
I got really drunk and terribly hung over drinkin that stuff and I swore I would never drink it again
That was 35 years ago and I am still good on my promise to myself

[KevinG]

That gin thing sounds even better!

[anderson5420]

I could not get the Poli pages to open for some reason.  The sweet coppa spice combination in Ruhlman and Polcyn is great, I use it for lonzini as well. But really any nice spice mixture will be fine, it is still coppa whether it has juniper berries in it or not.  You can get a pound of juniper berries (about a lifetime supply) here for $21.  I think I got mine at Market Spice in Seattle, but really don't remember.  

For coppa, you really want to use clear protein lined casings because they shrink as the meat dries. Be sure not to make your chunks too big.  It is also really important to use a good ram of some kind to pack the meat in the casing really tightly.

Then you need a really good slicer, like the little Chef's Choice 610, probably the best one under $100, so you can slice really thin. Yummo!

Good luck!

[oakville smoker]

Anderson

I am using Polis recipe, the idea of cubing the butt just seems weird to me
have you cubed before with success ?
That is the only whacky thing I find with Ryteks book
I have a slicer that does a decent job and I note what you said about the casings

[lumpy]

Try Whole Foods for the Juniper berries

Lumpy

[oakville smoker]

Thanks Lumpy
There is one just down the street that I will stop into tonight