Genoa Salami

Ph @ 5.61 after mix

In the UMAi Salami bags for fermentation. 72 hours @ 85F and R/H @ 90%

28 hours later the Ph has dropped to 4.9

right where it should be. These should have a nice mild tang to them.

After fermentation they have gotten darker. All weighed, tagged and off to the fridge for the long wait. Needs to get to 40% weight lose 

Pastry Crust/Pie Crust

Good pie crust is simple to make, they do though tend to frustrate some people and pie crust is one place I do tend to measure rather than guess like most dishes I cook.   I can make a pie crust with out guessing, but it is better to measure when making them.  

Recipes for the crust vary, but just like many of the baking recipes of mine; it can be built off of a basic recipe.  Pie crust does not do well making it in the heat, you can make a fair pie on a hot day in camp, but the quality will not be as good.   I use lard in my pie crusts, butter can be used also as the whole shortening or as part of it, one should use ¼ to ½ more butter than lard when making pie crust.  The advantage of the butter besides the butter taste is the water that is in the butter turns to steam when baking and puffs the crust up more, the disadvantage is the lower melting point over lard, the melting point of butter is right at 97F, the melting point of lard is 10-20 degrees higher depending on the type of lard (see lard) this gives the cook a bit of an edge on a warmer day.    How the butter or lard is cut in makes a difference in the texture of the crust also, for a flakier crust cut it in with a pastry cutter till it is about the size of peas, for less flaky cut it in till the mixture is like coarse corn meal.  

The type of flour used will also make a difference, lower protein pastry flour will make a flakier crust, and all-purpose flour will be a little less flaky, but this can be controlled by working the dough no more than needed.   Some recipes call for a little vinegar added to the mix, this is not to give the crust a tang, but it helps prevent the gluten from making long matrixes that toughen the crust giving it a flakier crust.   Adding egg will give a more tender crust and will also promote browning, plus give the crust a bit of an egg flavor.   Adding a small amount of baking powder will also help make a flakier pie crust as well as lightly brushing cold water on top just before baking.

Basic crust for 2 crust 10 inch pie

2 ¼ cups of flour

2/3^rd cup lard

1 teaspoon salt

5-7 tablespoons cold water

Mix salt in with flour, cut lard into flour with 2 knives or a pastry cutter, sprinkle with cold water and toss with a fork one tablespoon at a time till mixture slightly sticks to the side of the bowl.  Roll dough into a ball working it no more than is necessary, cover and let rest a ½ hour, place in a cool place if possible.  

When using vinegar, just replace 2 tablespoons of water with 2 of vinegar, either distilled or apple cider, the cider type being the most common in the 19^th Century.

For adding baking powder use 1/4^th to 1 teaspoon per cup of flour, this will fluff the crust slightly.

If the butter used for the crust is salted butter, omit the salt in the basic recipe or reduce it by half if using a lard butter mixture.

For adding egg, one large egg is too much for the 2 crust recipe, before adding, beat the egg and remove 1/3 of the beaten egg, then adjust the water to give the same results.    For a shiny crust you can add the excess egg to a little milk and brush the crust just before baking..

When rolling the pastry a muslin cloth lightly floured laid out on the rolling surface will help keep the dough from sticking with out adding much extra flour that will toughen the crust, a floured rolling pin sock will help also and these can be found in kitchenware stores.   Baking the pastry at a higher temperature will give a flakier and tenderer crust; this should be a hot (around 425F oven)  if the filling will need cooked longer than normal, then reduce the heat after 10-15 minutes to keep from burning the pastry, do not just bake it at a lower temperature.  

OK after these instructions it would seem that making a decent pie on the trail with out refrigeration or even an ice chest would be an impossible task on a hot day, yet we read accounts of pies being made on the overland trails and the cattle trails in summer.   The solution is simple, but not one you will find in a modern cookbook, instead of lard or butter the shortening used in the crust was chopped suet, true suet being the fat found in the body cavity of a beef, not the fat attached to the muscles, like on a good T Bone.  

Suet from modern grain fed beef has a melting point similar to lard, the suet from strictly grass fed beef is higher about 122F and suet being the fat with the tissue in it, it holds together well when mixing the pastry.   The beef of the overland and cattle trails was grass fed and even if they meat sold in butcher shops and butchered for home use on the farm was finished with grain, it was not as grain finished as most today.   

Most of us know, suet was a common fat for use in boiled and steamed puddings (see puddings) that were popular at Christmas time, such as fig and plum puddings as well as others.  The tissue helps keep the fat where you want it at the lower temperatures these are cooked at, lard would toughen  the pudding by allowing the fat to flow freer.

If one wants to duplicate this, then today it is easier than it has been in the recent past, contact a supplier of grass fed beef about buying suet.  Remove any connecting tissue and blood vessels and chop fine, then using the same or a slightly higher volume (1 extra teaspoon per cup or lard called for) compared to the volume of lard.    This will allow you to make a very decent quality pie with out the bother of having to keep the ingredients as cool as possible. 

PIZZA BRATS

8.33 lbs of Pork butt
2 TBLS & ¼ tsp fennel (Roasted and grind to powder)
8 tsp Salt
2 TBLS & ¼ tsp Black Pepper
4 TBLS Chopped Parsley
1 big bag of pillow packed Pepperoni
1/3 Large Onion
1 Green Bell Pepper
11 oz of Mozzarella cheese shredded
1 14.5 can of diced tomatoes. (I used Aylmer Accents Petite Cut Tomatoes with SPICY RED PEPPER. Heat level MEDIUM. )
½ cup Cold Water
Grind Pepperoni and Pork using medium plate. Grind the tomatoes & green pepper with the
meat. Mix the dry ingredients with the cold water and add the onions. Mix the wet ingredients
into the meat along with the cheese. Stuff into 32 mm Hog Casings.

Roasting The Fennel

Fennel All Ground Up

My Main Players

Pepperoni Getting Ready For The Grind

Parsley Chopped And Ground

Ground Onion & Green Pepper

Tomatoes Added 

 (These were diced up pretty small so no grinding)

Grinding The Pork

Gave It A Good Mix

(the idea here is not to make a paste, just till it starts to bond)

Lets Make Sausage 

Just Over 10 lbs. Of Pizza Brats

All Vac Sealed And Off To The Freezer

Country Ham

What is the difference between country and city ham?


Country hams are produced using traditional dry-curing methods. The cure is applied to the surface of the ham in dry form and is allowed to penetrate into the ham naturally over time. The result of the drying and aging process creates a robust, pronounced flavor and a firm texture. Some people who are salt conscious may find the saltier nature of country ham to be objectionable, but to the enthusiast, there is no substitute. Country hams may be purchased cooked or uncooked and may or may not be smoked.

City hams are produced using modern moist-curing methods. The cure is injected into the ham in a brine form. The process takes much less time compared to that of country ham. The result is a moist and tender ham that is characterized by its sweet flavor.  Although milder than country ham, the flavor of the city ham is not bland and may actually be considered bold compared to a water-added grocery store ham. City hams are cooked and smoked using natural hickory sawdust.

So today I picked up the kosher salt and brown sugar that I needed for the salt sugar cure for the ham. Along with that I found a roll of table paper. I needed that to wrap the ham up with after salting it down. Earlier this morning I removed the aitch bone. Never did that before but watched a couple of youtube videos on how its done and its a piece of cake. Made sure I had lots of room to get the salt cure down inside the shank(hock). This is a must or you will get bone sour.
This will cure inside my little bar fridge for 20 days and than get another layer of salt cure for the rest of the time. (40 total)
Hams should be cured for seven days per inch of cushion depth , or one and a half days per pound of ham. So this is what I am going for.
I have this web site which pretty much is what I am doing but I am mostly following this youtube video. One is from the Food Science and Technology, Virginia Tech and the video is a 4H video done by the UK College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment.
They added pepper and some hot pepper which is what I did also.

Reference:
Dry Curing Virginia-Style Ham

Here is the youtube video.

My ham (17.5 lbs.) and 10 lbs. of back fat 

After removing the aitch bone. And pumping out any left over blood in the Mian vain

Got my paper rolled out. Funny I worked in a paper mill for 38 years and I had to go out and buy paper.

Applying the sugar/salt cure 

Wrapping the paper around the ham

All netted up

Testing to see if it will hold.

Off to the cheese fridge down stairs. The little crisper will serve as a catch tray when it starts dripping.

After 12 Hours We Have Liquid 

Too Be Continued

Second Salting

After Unwrapping

Getting A Fresh Layer Of Salt

34 days later

So now its time to remove the ham and clean up the ham. It has lost 21% over the curing stage. 

Getting unwrapped

Still a  lot of salt on the skin sides 

This was packed an inch deep with salt and you can see most is gone now

All nice and cleaned up, love the color of the meat

Off into a bucket of cold water and into the fridge for 24 hours to help remove some salt. 

Cure Equalization

After cure removal by washing, the cured product

should be stored in a 40˚F environment for

approximately 14-21 days to permit the cure adjuncts to be

distributed evenly throughout the ham. 

So after that it will get a 24 hour cold smoke and then hanged at 50-60˚F till next Christmas. Wish me luck, so far things have been going good but that can all change real fast

Three Weeks Later

So now the equalization stage is over it is now time to cold smoke the ham. This will be a two day process.

Day one

And now day two and you can see it is taking on a nice smoky color. This will be the final smoke. Next stage is to hang them for the rest of the year. Thats the hard part.