Capicola

[smoke ninja]

^^^ thats ok.

Everything i know about capicola i learned from this thread :becky:

 

[ShadowDriver]

That is a thing of beauty... and that sammich... man, oh man.

 

[rookiedad]

hide it in the vegetable draw and run around the house going "who ate all the @#$%^& gabagool?"!!! :grin: looks great though!

 

[NickTheGreat]

I'm going to have to quit coming to this damn site. Too many posts like this make me hungry, and end up costing me money and time in the end!

Seriously good looking eats. Well done! :eusa_clap

 

[KevinJ]

Probably a stupid question but what is cure #1? Fantastic post I love making pressed sandwiches with Capicola.

 

[CakeM1x]

^^^ thats ok.

Everything i know about capicola i learned from this thread :becky:

Capicola is the money muscle.

Probably a stupid question but what is cure #1? Fantastic post I love making pressed sandwiches with Capicola.

It's a pink salt. #1 is nitrite only and is used for shorter cures that are cooked. You'd use pink salt #2 which has nitrates and nitrites for longer cures like sausage that is hung.

 

[Grimm5577]

that looks great! good job! thanks for sharing!

 

[CakeM1x]

My last 2 coppa's got case hardening around the 27% mark and was shooting for 35%. Does anyone know if they need to be tossed?

 

[Fatback Joe]

My last 2 coppa's got case hardening around the 27% mark and was shooting for 35%. Does anyone know if they need to be tossed?

Vacuum pack and put in the fridge and leave them alone for a few weeks, the hardening will ease up. Won't fix it completely, but will make it better.

 

[CakeM1x]

Vacuum pack and put in the fridge and leave them alone for a few weeks, the hardening will ease up. Won't fix it completely, but will make it better.

Yeah I did that and after a couple weeks it seemed slightly softer but still hard...I have both coppas still in there from months ago vac sealed. Are they junk by now or is it worth throwing back in?

 

[Fatback Joe]

Yeah I did that and after a couple weeks it seemed slightly softer but still hard...I have both coppas still in there from months ago vac sealed. Are they junk by now or is it worth throwing back in?

I'd throw them back in.......you have nothing to lose IMO.

Did you figure out what caused the hardening? Too much air flow?

 

[garyk1398]

Very nice! :eusa_clap

 

[CakeM1x]

I'd throw them back in.......you have nothing to lose IMO.

Did you figure out what caused the hardening? Too much air flow?

That's my guess. I had a small fan in the constantly running and then a fan to kick on if the humidity got too high on the first coppa.

The second one I removed the constantly running fan which reduced the pressure in the chamber. So when the dehumidifying fan kicked on the dampers didn't open as much so that ran a lot longer than it should. So I'm going to add another fan to kick on or just make the hole bigger at the inlet side to help speed up the dehumidifying stage if that makes sense.

 

[Fatback Joe]

So I'm going to add another fan to kick on or just make the hole bigger at the inlet side to help speed up the dehumidifying stage if that makes sense.

Makes sense, it is tough getting everything dialed in. I had my set up running perfectly then the fridge I was using died. Got a new.....well, different fridge, used the exact same set up, but wasn't getting the same results. think I have it to where I want it now, but it took a fair bit of tweaking.

The failures are frustrating, but I learn more from those than from the successes.

Good luck!

 

[oifmarine2003]

Very nice!

 

[airedale]

That's my guess. I had a small fan in the constantly running and then a fan to kick on if the humidity got too high on the first coppa.

The second one I removed the constantly running fan which reduced the pressure in the chamber. So when the dehumidifying fan kicked on the dampers didn't open as much so that ran a lot longer than it should. So I'm going to add another fan to kick on or just make the hole bigger at the inlet side to help speed up the dehumidifying stage if that makes sense.

I am about where you are in learning to do this. I have a couple of lonzino affumicato vacuum sealed and sitting on the kitchen counter waiting for some patches of case hardening to be softened before I slice them.

My understanding is that the case hardening comes from drying too fast, so "speeding the dehumidifying stage" is the wrong tactic. The water from the inside can't diffuse to the surface fast enough and the surface hardens. Higher humidity slows the surface drying as does casing the salumi. (Reference: Dry-curing Pork by Hector Kent) In my case, I ran my drying chamber at 55 degree temp with a controller, put in a pan of salt water, and let the humidity fall where it chose. It chose about 50% and that was too low for my uncased salumi. They took less than 30 days to dry to 70%.

So now I have two coppas curing. I will case one and leave the other one only in netting. I have also added a small automatic humidifier to my fridge, so I can set the humidity at the recommended 70-80%. We'll see.

Re your meat being "ruined" why do you say that? Sliced paper thin with a commercial slicer it may be edible. If not, cook with it like bacon.

 

[Big George's BBQ]

I have got to try this. Thanks

 

[gtr]

Well this thread cost me some $ :doh: I should have that book on Monday. :whoo:

Looks fantastic, and I'm looking forward to finding out I need to set up another fridge and get some more gadgets and chit. :doh: :doh:

Love you charcuterie threads - I've been meaning to catch up on your other one - thanks for posting!

 

[JimmyDAL]

Awesome job Jimmy! And let's not forget Mel's Bagel.

 

[CakeM1x]

I am about where you are in learning to do this. I have a couple of lonzino affumicato vacuum sealed and sitting on the kitchen counter waiting for some patches of case hardening to be softened before I slice them.

My understanding is that the case hardening comes from drying too fast, so "speeding the dehumidifying stage" is the wrong tactic. The water from the inside can't diffuse to the surface fast enough and the surface hardens. Higher humidity slows the surface drying as does casing the salumi. (Reference: Dry-curing Pork by Hector Kent) In my case, I ran my drying chamber at 55 degree temp with a controller, put in a pan of salt water, and let the humidity fall where it chose. It chose about 50% and that was too low for my uncased salumi. They took less than 30 days to dry to 70%.

So now I have two coppas curing. I will case one and leave the other one only in netting. I have also added a small automatic humidifier to my fridge, so I can set the humidity at the recommended 70-80%. We'll see.

Re your meat being "ruined" why do you say that? Sliced paper thin with a commercial slicer it may be edible. If not, cook with it like bacon.

Yeah, I think I figured out why I had some issues. I did some modifications last night and it seemed to be more stable. It's alive! Throwing some pork jowls in a couple days from now for some guanciale.