Lonzino

Cabonaia · Post by **Cabonaia** » Wed Jul 18, 2012 05:39

Made some Lonzino - cured pork loin. Kind of the pork version of bresaola. Sorry for the crummy pictures.

Shot at 2012-07-17

Shot at 2012-07-17

It tastes great. Can't really describe it. I keep making stuff I've never tasted before! I keep making stuff I could never afford! This piece is about 2 months old. I made four chunks. Ate a couple pieces at 1 month and they were good, but another month made a big difference. More complex, mysterious flavor, and a better feel in the mouth. I got the recipe from Matt Wright's website. Recommended!

http://mattikaarts.com/blog/charcuterie ... pork-loin/

He takes beautiful photos. Unlike some.

BTW, next to the lonzino in the second picture is some Spanish chorizo, made with Stan M's recipe. It tastes great, just don't look right. You can see a dark ring around the outside, which is the result of a curing fridge mishap I will not go into. Luckily it still dried on the inside. It's better than my first try. Maybe my THIRD try at this recipe will be the charm!

Post by **redzed** » Wed Jul 18, 2012 20:45

The Lonzino looks great! I am envious. Sure wish I had a curing chamber!

Devo · Post by **Devo** » Wed Jul 18, 2012 23:20

That looks very good. I too visit and enjoy Matt Wright's website. Kinda funny but he has post on here also when he was learning.

Cabonaia · Post by **Cabonaia** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 04:38

Thanks guys for the encouragement. Redzed, I hope you can put together a curing fridge soon. I was waiting till I found a free fridge. Keep your eye out for ladies getting their kitchens redone. I think a lot of working fridges go to the landfill.

Devo - not surprising that he got his start on this site, huh? I found that site before this one, and I enjoy it. But nothing beats the depth of knowledge here IMHO. It is quite incredible.

Post by **redzed** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 06:25

Well I'm looking at a small fridge right now, 34.5 inches high, 20 wide, 20 deep, and if I can get a compact humidifier, I might get it.

Cabonaia · Post by **Cabonaia** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 14:56

Cool (haha). I imagine you have seen Uwanna's great illustrations for his setup.

Chuckwagon · Post by **Chuckwagon** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 07:08

Dang Jeff! Your lomo just takes the rag off a tall hog at the trough!

Nice going pal.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

Cabonaia · Post by **Cabonaia** » Sat Jul 21, 2012 04:01

Thanks CW. Coming from you, that is a true compliment!

Post by **redzed** » Sat Nov 03, 2012 17:42

Jeff, I have two loins currently in my chamber a lonzino and embuchado. After 3 weeks the lonzino has lost 20% and the embuchado 13% after 2 weeks . My concern is that both are still very soft when squeezed, unlike my salamis that have firmed up nicely. Is this normal? How long does it take before there should be a noticeable difference?

Maybe I'm just going through beginner's impatience, but your advice would be appreciated.

Chris

crustyo44 · Post by **crustyo44** » Sat Nov 03, 2012 20:37

Hi Red,
On E-Bay there are some compact humidifiers that actually fit in fridge door shelves. All around
$ 20.00. I am going to get one shortly for a planned curing chamber.
Regards,
Jan.

Cabonaia · Post by **Cabonaia** » Sun Nov 04, 2012 01:22

redzed wrote:Jeff, I have two loins currently in my chamber a lonzino and embuchado. After 3 weeks the lonzino has lost 20% and the embuchado 13% after 2 weeks . My concern is that both are still very soft when squeezed, unlike my salamis that have firmed up nicely. Is this normal? How long does it take before there should be a noticeable difference?

Maybe I'm just going through beginner's impatience, but your advice would be appreciated.

Chris

Hi Chris - How long did you cure them before hanging them, and are they cased, and if so, what with?

Cheers,
Jeff

Post by **redzed** » Sun Nov 04, 2012 01:49

Lonzino cured for 12 days, cased in a fibrous Novatone brand casing. Lomo Embuchado cured 8 days cased in a collagen middle, Naturin brand.

Thanks,

Chris

Post by **redzed** » Sun Nov 04, 2012 01:54

crustyo44 wrote:Hi Red,
On E-Bay there are some compact humidifiers that actually fit in fridge door shelves. All around
$ 20.00. I am going to get one shortly for a planned curing chamber.
Regards,
Jan.

Sounds like a bargain, but check how much water it will hold. You don't want to keep refilling it every day. I also use distilled water in mine, hopefully it helps in preventing the nasties and calcium build-up. Hope you get your chamber going soon. It is a bit of fun and a learning curve. (keeps the grey matter around for a bit longer)

Cabonaia · Post by **Cabonaia** » Sun Nov 04, 2012 06:51

redzed wrote:Lonzino cured for 12 days, cased in a fibrous Novatone brand casing. Lomo Embuchado cured 8 days cased in a collagen middle, Naturin brand.

I think you're stuff is doing fine. I've used fibrous casings and found weight loss to be slow as well, but nothing went wrong. Never tried drying meat in a collagen casing so I can't comment there. I imagine they already firmed up somewhat during the cure time. So long as you are not seeing anything nasty growing, I'd say you are in good shape.

Post by **redzed** » Sun Nov 04, 2012 22:55

Yeah, maybe I'm getting a bit impatient and today I uncased one of the loins beacause I thought that there were air pockets an something was growing in there, but I fact it looks fine. I laced it and will let it mature uncased. Also today I placed a coppa into the chamber. Did not have any suitable casings on hand, so will have to also hang it uncased. Will be ordering some beef middles soon.