1st Attempt at Lonza

[wyogoob]

Lonza is dry-cured pork loin.  This is my first attempt making it.  It is somewhat similar to prosciutto and coppa in flavor but is much more tender and cures in a very short time frame.

Trim any lose muscle, the silverskin, and most of the fat off of the loin.  Make a rub with 1 cup of non-iodized salt and a tbsp of freshly ground black pepper.  Throw in some peppercorns if you like.


Rub one-half of the cure into the meat and wrap with Saran wrap, removing all the air.  Store for 1 week in a refigerator.  Turn the loin every couple of days.  Liquid with be forced from the loin as it cures.  Remove the loin, rinse in cold water, and rub in the other one-half of the cure.  Store in the refigerator for another week. 


The lonza has been curing for a couple weeks now it is ready to hang.


The meat loses moisture, loses weight, as it cures.  After 2 weeks curing in the fridge remove the lonza and rinse in cold water.  Wiped the loin down with red wine and then coated it with black pepper.  Wrap it in paper, weigh it and hang it in a cool place.


Hanging out.


Weigh the lonza.  It is ready when it has lost at least 33% of it's original weight.  I took mine down when it had lost 50%.  (I forgot about it.   :()


A nice white mold growth was starting to form.  Notice how small the loin is after curing compared to the original photo. 


Sliced the lonza about 0.025" thick.


Don't care for the big layer of fat in the middle of the loin.  Should have used the loin section further back on a hog.

[3rensho]

Good looking salumi.  I've got some hanging in the wine cellar too.  I wouldn't worry too much about the fat.  It's a good flavor carrier. 

[Bear1968]

Looks GREAT!
Now that is "Old School" ... I can appreciate that!
:)
I also noticed we use the same knives  ;)

[devo]

Why would you not use cure #2. ???  It's not like its hard to get a hold of and insures you have a safe product. Curing meat for long periods of time with out it is just crazy. The 1 cup of salt helps but just don't cut it for being a safe way of curing meat. I would have used 1/2 a cup of salt and 2 tsp. of cure #2. The old ways are in the past and that's where they should stay. I would hate to see someone new to dry curing come along and think all you have to do is hang salted meat  :o :o :o  Way more to it than that.

[NePaSmoKer]

Why would you not use cure #2. ???  It's not like its hard to get a hold of and insures you have a safe product. Curing meat for long periods of time with out it is just crazy. The 1 cup of salt helps but just don't cut it for being a safe way of curing meat. I would have used 1/2 a cup of salt and 2 tsp. of cure #2. The old ways are in the past and that's where they should stay. I would hate to see someone new to dry curing come along and think all you have to do is hang salted meat  :o :o :o  Way more to it than that.

Im with you on this.

[wyogoob]

Thanks for the advice devo, I have plenty of #2 and the last thing I want is someone to get sick from one of my recipes.

If you read the post the salted meat was wrapped in Saran wrap in the refrigerator for 2 weeks.  Plenty of time to properly cure a cut of pork loin that's less than 2" thick.   I kept track of the weight as the curing process progressed.  Normally at 30% weight loss an adequate amount of moisture has left the meat to prevent "bad" bacteria from thriving.  This loin lost 50% of it's original weight, has no rind, and the flavor and color is consistant thru the cured meat.

This Lonza is easier to make than bacon and is a great addition to any antipasto tray. The recipe was taken from The Craft of Italian Dry Curing Salumi by M. Rulman and B. Polcyn

[ExpatCanadian]

Looks pretty darn tasty...  cure 2 or no cure 2.