Lachsschinken

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Butterbean
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Lachsschinken

Post by Butterbean » Fri Feb 08, 2019 19:37

Never made lachsschinken before and thought I'd give it a try. Couldn't find much information on it (in English) but what I did find varied considerably in how it was prepared. Many english recipes called for hot smoking and this seemed similar to making Canadian Bacon which I've made plenty of so I didn't want to go this route. Some called for brining but this seemed contradictory in that I had plans on cold smoking and drying.

With these things in mind and my ignorance I chose to use use the following dry rub mix and equilibrium cure the meat.

Salt 2.3%
Cure 2 0.25%
Black Pepper 0.3%
Turbinado Sugar 0.5%
Ground juniper berries - um - didn't measure this. Just put enough to where it seemed right.

Cured meat in fridge for three weeks.
Removed and hung to dry for a day in smokehouse
Smoked using heavy cold smoke for 12 hours or till the fire went out.
Let hang without smoke for a day and then repeated smoke again.
Hung meat for a couple three days in drying room at 70% humidity and 60'ish temp.
Small amount of mold growth began to appear so I gave it another day in the smokehouse with heavy smoke. (I have white mold growing everywhere now)
8th day into drying/smoking cycle I'm at 8% loss and curiosity got the best of me and I had to give it a taste. Flavor is excellent. Salt seems spot on and the pepper is on mark as well. Just a hint of juniper but what I really like is what seems to be a faint tartness in the meat which I suspect is from meat fermentation which the addition of the sugar has encouraged. I am pleased with this because I know this isn't anything like Canadian Bacon.

My plan is to take it down to 30% weight loss then start sampling it regularly because with such a lean cut of meat as loin I fear I could dry it out too much but then again I plan on slicing it very thin so this may not matter that much. I don't know but if this first taste is anything like what the end product is going to taste like I can't wait till its finished.


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Bob K
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Re: Lachsschinken

Post by Bob K » Sat Feb 09, 2019 14:40

That looks good. it's amazing how the simple, few spices added recipes can taste so good.
Its looks as if some are coated with a "fat sheet" or what looks like a thin layer of lard to prevent drying so quickly
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Re: Lachsschinken

Post by Butterbean » Sat Feb 09, 2019 20:23

Nothing on it at all other than elastic netting and spices and some fat as I didn't trim it at all. The weather has been rainy so the humidity has been bumping in the mid seventies on some days. I'll just continue to smoke it if the mold persists. Or maybe not. :oops:

The simplicity of this is delicious. You can really taste the meat and the pepper and juniper just seem to compliment. This reminds me of what Stephan made a while back. Maybe not exact but similar I think.
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Re: Lachsschinken

Post by Shuswap » Mon Feb 11, 2019 16:30

So no rinse or soaking in water after the cure?
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Re: Lachsschinken

Post by Butterbean » Mon Feb 11, 2019 17:14

Phil, I used an equilibrium cure on this so I didn't see the need in soaking or rinsing. May have been a mistake but this is uncharted waters for me so I'll have to wait and see. However the test piece I tasted was spot on so things are looking good but I do expect the saltiness will increase with further drying but I think I have plenty of room for this.
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Re: Lachsschinken

Post by redzed » Tue Feb 12, 2019 04:53

Looks quite tasty! You did well in deciding to cold smoke the loin. Lachsschinken is always cold smoked, albeit lightly so by the time it's eaten it has only a mild smoke flavour. Usually it's dried to only about 20% moisture loss and has the texture of pork carpaccio. Lachs means "salmon" in German, so the name suggests that it's similar to cold smoked salmon. Stefan made a Polish version (polędwica łososiowa) a little while ago but I couldn't locate it.
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Re: Lachsschinken

Post by Butterbean » Tue Feb 12, 2019 05:22

I remembered seeing Stefen's polish version and it inspired me to try this. Probably would have followed his recipe but I couldn't find it either. :oops: I checked the weight today and its at 10% so it shouldn't be much longer now. 20% would seem to be practical with such a lean cut of meat. I would imagine going to 30-40% would make it too dry. Gave it another taste today and its really nice. Even had a visitor who was a food critic for an outfit from California and he really enjoyed it as well. He liked the simplicity of spices and the complexity of flavors. (his words not mine)
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Re: Lachsschinken

Post by Bob K » Tue Feb 12, 2019 15:16

redzed wrote:
Tue Feb 12, 2019 04:53
Stefan made a Polish version (polędwica łososiowa) a little while ago but I couldn't locate it.
You may have been thinking of Maxels https://www.wedlinydomowe.pl/wedzonki/p ... at-50-tych
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Re: Lachsschinken

Post by Butterbean » Tue Feb 12, 2019 16:23

No, I'm pretty sure it was something Stefan made. I may not have the name of the product right but it looked to be something very similar. Looked good anyway.
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