Richard - The New Sausage King of Chicago

[CharredApron]

^^^^^What he said^^^^^

 

[chicagokp]

Nicely done Shaggy!

 

[bluetang]

Beautiful!

 

[Single Malt Slacker]

Great thread! Thanks for updating, Shagdog. Bookmarked for future project (long list...)

 

[oifmarine2003]

The chorizo was awesome! The fat just melts in your mouth. My wife asked why I hadn't made that one yet! I guess it is on the list now. Great job, Shaggy!!

 

[Sausage Warrior]

Good lord. You better keep an armed guard on Richard. I don't there's a judge that would throw anybody in jail for raiding that fridge!

 

[CakeM1x]

Latest goodies from Richard. Some Portuguese Chorico and a spicy bresaola of my own recipe, made from a chuckie.

Just built a chamber out of a wine fridge that looks like it'll hold ideal conditions well. I'm actually stopping by the butcher to grab a pork loin for some lonzino and the coppa cut from a shoulder after work to start the curing process. Have any tips/suggestions? That Portuguese Chorico looks fantastic!

 

[Backman0001]

Wow! Great setup and the meat looks awesome

 

[Shagdog]

Just built a chamber out of a wine fridge that looks like it'll hold ideal conditions well. I'm actually stopping by the butcher to grab a pork loin for some lonzino and the coppa cut from a shoulder after work to start the curing process. Have any tips/suggestions? That Portuguese Chorico looks fantastic!

Thanks!

Don't get freaked out if your Lonzino dries out quickly. Like a week or 2 and it's done. As a rule, the leaner the meat, the quicker it drops moisture. Fatty cuts and sausages take forever. The other thing I learned that should just be added as a step in the procedure is vacuum sealing/equalization. No matter how good your chamber is, your meat will dry more on the edges than the middle. To fight this, after your meat is done drying, vacuum seal the meat whole, and place in fridge for 4-6 weeks. The moisture equalizes and texture/flavor improves. The longer it sits, the better. I cut mine into 4-6" chunks and vac seal those. That way even if I want some, the majority continues to age. Hope this helps

 

[T-Man]

WOW !! Crazy good

 

[CakeM1x]

Thanks!

Don't get freaked out if your Lonzino dries out quickly. Like a week or 2 and it's done. As a rule, the leaner the meat, the quicker it drops moisture. Fatty cuts and sausages take forever. The other thing I learned that should just be added as a step in the procedure is vacuum sealing/equalization. No matter how good your chamber is, your meat will dry more on the edges than the middle. To fight this, after your meat is done drying, vacuum seal the meat whole, and place in fridge for 4-6 weeks. The moisture equalizes and texture/flavor improves. The longer it sits, the better. I cut mine into 4-6" chunks and vac seal those. That way even if I want some, the majority continues to age. Hope this helps

So once it hits the moisture loss you need for your meat you seal and wait so the internal moisture starts to relax outwards?

Also for the lonzino I've read 85%ish humidity for a week or 2 then dropping it to 75%ish. That's suppose to help combat the outter meat from drying to hard. Do you bother with that much detail or just set it at 75ish and fly til % moisture drop?

 

[Shagdog]

Yea, Once your meat reaches the desired Moisture loss, Vac seal and leave in a regular fridge for a few weeks. The moisture will redistribute and your end product will be much better for it.

The humidity thing may help, I don't know. Never tried it. Without doing it we've been fine, that's all I can say. With Lonzino in particular you will see case hardening. There is hardly any fat there, BUT letting it equalize still results in a killer end product with no evidence of it. Once you start curing more, you probably won't have the luxury of changing your settings every time you add something, as there will always be something in there at a different stage of curing. At least that's how it is for us

 

[sam3]

Outstanding job Matt!

 

[oifmarine2003]

So once it hits the moisture loss you need for your meat you seal and wait so the internal moisture starts to relax outwards?

Also for the lonzino I've read 85%ish humidity for a week or 2 then dropping it to 75%ish. That's suppose to help combat the outter meat from drying to hard. Do you bother with that much detail or just set it at 75ish and fly til % moisture drop?

As soon as you put fresh meat in your chamber, the humidity is going to be in the 80-88% range, even if you have it set on 70%. Happens every time with Richard. It is a good thing. It slows the drying time down. As the person who monitors Richard, my advice is not to adjust your humidity up or down a lot. We have it set at at 70-75% and leave it alone. It will be higher initially but as the meat dries, the humidity will drop into your desired zone.

You are in Madison, WI? Swing on down and take a look sometime if you have any questions. We are not that far away.

 

[CakeM1x]

Yea, Once your meat reaches the desired Moisture loss, Vac seal and leave in a regular fridge for a few weeks. The moisture will redistribute and your end product will be much better for it.

The humidity thing may help, I don't know. Never tried it. Without doing it we've been fine, that's all I can say. With Lonzino in particular you will see case hardening. There is hardly any fat there, BUT letting it equalize still results in a killer end product with no evidence of it. Once you start curing more, you probably won't have the luxury of changing your settings every time you add something, as there will always be something in there at a different stage of curing. At least that's how it is for us

Exactly what I was thinking. Might have the luxury now but not later.

Havne't read a ton yet on curing ground up meats/sausages but I've read about a fermentation chamber. Do you bother with one of those or just use your main unit like always? Promise last question but your chorico makes me want to speed up me giving it a test.

 

[CakeM1x]

As soon as you put fresh meat in your chamber, the humidity is going to be in the 80-88% range, even if you have it set on 70%. Happens every time with Richard. It is a good thing. It slows the drying time down. As the person who monitors Richard, my advice is not to adjust your humidity up or down a lot. We have it set at at 70-75% and leave it alone. It will be higher initially but as the meat dries, the humidity will drop into your desired zone.

You are in Madison, WI? Swing on down and take a look sometime if you have any questions. We are not that far away.

True, I'm only a couple hours away. I rigged up an exhaust fan to dip my humidity too since my wine cooler is thermometric so no way to get that extra humidity out without it. This is a pic of my chamber when I was testing it.

I float 73-80% humidity so pretty decent control.

 

[Shagdog]

Yes, we have a fermentation chamber, Walter. It is important when using cultures to use one. You will find most salamis will call for some fermentation, and it's not really a step you can skip. Sam3 would be a good source for info too. He makes a lot of gorgeous sausage. I don't typically ferment whole muscles, as there is not a culture involved.

 

[CakeM1x]

Yes, we have a fermentation chamber, Walter. It is important when using cultures to use one. You will find most salamis will call for some fermentation, and it's not really a step you can skip. Sam3 would be a good source for info too. He makes a lot of gorgeous sausage. I don't typically ferment whole muscles, as there is not a culture involved.

Looks like I'll be building a fermentation chamber in a month or two.

 

[oifmarine2003]

Looks like I'll be building a fermentation chamber in a month or two.

It is pretty basic. I can take a picture of ours when I get home tonight and post it on here for you. Chicagokp built it so if you have any questions, he is the man to PM.

 

[CakeM1x]

It is pretty basic. I can take a picture of ours when I get home tonight and post it on here for you. Chicagokp built it so if you have any questions, he is the man to PM.

Is it more temperature control than humidity? I have a temp probe that I could hook up to a light for heat. But yeah a pic would be great. I imagine it's less work than the curing chamber.