Casing whole whole meats

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stonerdd
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Casing whole whole meats

Post by stonerdd » Tue Jun 14, 2016 12:07

I am new to making charcuterie and having a blast. One thing I am curious on is regarding putting whole muscle such as Coppa or Bresoala in a casing such as beef bungs. What is the purpose and has anyone tried drying them without casing them? Just curious. Cheers
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redzed
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Re: Casing whole whole meats

Post by redzed » Wed Jun 15, 2016 00:55

stonerdd wrote:I am new to making charcuterie and having a blast. One thing I am curious on is regarding putting whole muscle such as Coppa or Bresoala in a casing such as beef bungs. What is the purpose and has anyone tried drying them without casing them? Just curious. Cheers
Hello stonerdd and welcome to the forum! You are in the right circle of friends who are all charcuterie addicts!

Casing whole muscle cured meats is not always necessary and you can made a decent product without using casings such as beef bungs, bladders or collagen sheets. And products that are cured, cold smoked and dried usually are not cased. However, traditional Italian products, (other than hams) especially those that will be aged for extended periods of time, (months, not weeks), are almost always cased. The casing slows down the drying and and to a degree, prevents case hardening. Uncased products often form a bit of crust, and there may be mould and yeast growth which will need to be trimmed off. With a cased product you simply peel of the coat, slice and enjoy.
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