Culatello

king kabanos · Post by **king kabanos** » Fri Sep 25, 2015 15:44

wow chris very nice!!!!! My mouth is watering for a slice of that

nuynai · Post by **nuynai** » Fri Sep 25, 2015 18:02

Just wondering if it would help to cover the exposed area with bacon or softened lard to slow the dehydration process and avoid the drying of it too fast. Thanks.

Post by **redzed** » Sat Sep 26, 2015 00:04

Hi nuynai, nice to hear from you. And yeah, a nice sugna paste (rice flour and lard) would have most definitely balanced out the drying and allowed me to let the hams hang in the curing chamber for at least another two or three months. The problem is that I followed standard culatello instructions and cased the hams. The proper way is to use hog bladders, but since I did not have any I used pasted hog sheets and then tied them in a stockinette. But I doubt that the bladders would have made a difference. Perhaps next time I won't case them and use sugna on the exposed parts. But I did taste a slice or three after I cut them open and the flavour is great as is the silky smooth texture.

Oh well, live and learn!

Maybe Brican will pipe in here and offer some sound advice.

Saltedtyme30 · Post by **Saltedtyme30** » Thu Jan 21, 2016 21:50

I have a mini culo! 2 months today. Beef bung

Post by **redzed** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 08:17

Philip o'le boy that is looking good! Such nice clean mould and it looks like it will be ready soon. How much weight has it lost?

Below is a pic of my fiochetto, which I made way back in March but pulled it only two weeks ago! It hung in my curing chamber for about 5 months and then another 5 months vacced in the fridge. Wonderful rich flavour, the meat having a softer texture than big brother culatello. And paired with some Brunello, it just doesn't get any better!

Saltedtyme30 · Post by **Saltedtyme30** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 08:47

redzed, that's looking perfect ! Wow! I'm at about 30 percent weight loss, wanna go a touch more ! The mold was a first on this culo, previous ones I did not so much but this one bloomed nice ! Can't wait to cut it open and post pics !

harleykids · Post by **harleykids** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 06:13

Salted, looking great! Post a pic when the day finally comes!

RedZed, 10 months! Fantastic color on the fat and the meat! Looks great! Is that one cased in a beef bung?

Post by **redzed** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 06:24

harleykids wrote: Is that one cased in a beef bung?

Nope, pasted hog casings, a type of collagen sheet, and then netted. There is a pic of it at the start of the thread.

harleykids · Post by **harleykids** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 15:11

After using both, pasted hog sheet and beef bung, do you have a preference for which is better on whole muscle cuts like this?

Thanks!

Post by **Bob K** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 18:05

Beef bungs usually won't work for something that large.

For the US residents pork bladers (traditionally used) are available from Butcher & Packer. Not sure of a Can. supplier. More info on casings on the first page of this thread.

http://www.butcher-packer.com/index.php ... cts_id=970

Post by **redzed** » Sun Jan 24, 2016 05:16

The fiocchetto is not that big, so it could have been cased in piece of beef bung. I would prefer beef bungs when casing whole muscle cuts such as coppa and lonzino, but they are kind of pricey these days, especially with the Canadian peso. The pasted hog sheets are more economical, easy to use and do the job. I have a good sized culatello curing in the fridge at the moment and since I don't have any beef bladders, I will be casing it in a stitched beef bung. Might have to ask for help since I'm not really good with needle and thread.

harleykids · Post by **harleykids** » Sun Jan 24, 2016 07:47

I cased my coppa on Wenesday in a beef bung, and cased my bresoala this morning in a beef bung as well.

Coppa was 2.4lb and the bresoala was 3.9lb

Both fit in the beef bungs perfectly, then I netted them.

The beef bungs I used were from Evan at Craft Butcher Pantry. Very nice bungs, clean and both roughly the same exact size. I bought a 2 pack for $8.50 if I remember correctly.

I probably could have cased both coppa and bresoala using just one bung, but I liked having the closed sock toe end so much that I used a separate bung for each. Ended up only using half the length of each bung, they were about 24" long each!

I would like to try out the pasted hog sheets someday, they seem easy to use with no soaking, etc.

After doing the sopressatta in cut and tied beef middles, the coppa and bresoala in 4.5-5"beef bungs, and the chorizo in 30mm hog casings, I can tell you I sure like working with the various beef casings MUCH better than the hog casings!

The beef casings are silky smooth and stretch great without tearing. Very sturdy casings and easy to prepare.

Post by **Bob K** » Tue Jan 26, 2016 21:28

redzed wrote:I have a good sized culatello curing in the fridge at the moment and since I don't have any beef bladders, I will be casing it in a stitched beef bung. Might have to ask for help since I'm not really good with needle and thread.

You can get Sail needles (triangular tip) large enough for butchers twine...various uses around the kitchen. Work great on thick casings like bungs.

BriCan · Post by **BriCan** » Wed Jan 27, 2016 11:37

I have three that I put down each weighing just under 4kg each, I have used beef caps (5+) -- these was done just before Christmas

BriCan · Post by **BriCan** » Wed Jan 27, 2016 11:43