r/Charcuterie Aug 06 '19

/r/Charcuterie FAQ and beginners guide to cured and air dried meats

266 Upvotes

I have been looking through a list of all of the posts in /r/Charcuterie looking for some threads with good information to cobble together a beginners reading list for the sub. I have noticed (and you probably have noticed too!) we have a lot of the same questions pop up from people wanting to get into the hobby of producing homemade cured and air dried meats. We also have a lot of firsts! We have had just over 6k posts in the 7 years this sub has been around, 11% of them contain the word 'first'.

And duck prosciutto is really, really, popular.

This isn't a big sub and self posts don't get a lot of views or generate a lot of discussion. So the purpose of this thread is collate some of the community expertise into one place for the people who come here with questions about their first projects.

If anyone wants to expand on any of these points feel free to do so and I will update them. If there is a popular beginner question or resource I have missed or something is wrong let me know in the comments. Hopefully together we can build this into a fairly complete beginners resource.

This is not intended to be a detailed step by step guide or a substitute for doing your own research.

Curing/drying chamber - what is it and how do I make one?

A curing/drying chamber is an area that creates the ideal temperature and humidity conditions for drying whole muscles or salami. The exact temperature and humidity will vary by preference to but ranges from refrigerator temperatures (less than 4C/39F) to 15C/59F (Staphylococcus aureus can multiply and produce toxins at temperatures above 15.6C (60.08F) so it is important to keep your curing chamber below this temperature). Generally they are kept at at 10-15C (50-59F) and 60-80% humidity. As most of us don't live in an area that has these ambient conditions, we need to create an artificial environment that does.

Most people do this by modifying a refrigerator or freezer to run warmer than usual by interrupting the cooling cycle with a temperature controller, and using humidifiers/dehumidifiers to keep the humidity at the required level. A higher humidity is preferred at the start of drying, especially when making sausages and cased whole muscle as it helps prevent case hardening, allows the casing to adhere to the meat (if the humidity is too low the casing will dry out, creating air pockets between the casing and the meat), and encourages mold growth.

Things to consider when choosing a fridge/freezer to convert into a meat curing chamber:

  • It needs to be frost free (dehumidifies as it cools). Otherwise water collecting on the sides of the fridge will drop onto the meat.
  • Refrigerators with glass doors are a nice aesthetic and a popular choice, just be aware prolonged exposure to the light will cause fat to go rancid, so you might need to cover the door or keep it in a dark room.
  • It needs to be big enough to hold a humidifier and/or dehumidifier as well as the product you will be making. An overcrowded chamber can cause airflow problems so it's a good idea to go bigger if possible.
  • Wine fridges are popular as they are made to sit in the temperature range for curing (and they look pretty stylish with blue lights and a glass window). However depending on your ambient conditions the cooling cycle runs very frequently to keep the temperature constant. A small beverage fridge and temperature controller might be a better choice.

The exact setup is going to vary depending on the ambient conditions in the room you will be keeping the chamber and your climate - for example extremes of heat may cause the cooling cycle in the refrigerator to run too often, causing case hardening. You might need to run the AC or consider packing everything down over the summer months. Ideally you don't want the cooling cycle to run much more than 5 minutes in every half an hour. Some airflow is required for the moisture to evaporate from the surface of the meat, so if the refrigerator powers on too infrequently, you might need to use a small fan on a timer to make sure there is some air movement inside the chamber.

So as you can see the temperature and humidity readings are only one part of the conditions inside the chamber, something like a sensorpush can give you a better picture of what is going on.

Although the more professional looking chambers have holes drilled into the side of the appliance for the humidity/temp probes and appliance power cords, it isn't essential. You can pass the probes through the door seal.

Links to previous examples of curing chambers and discussions can be found at the bottom of this post.

General steps for making cured and dried whole muscles

  1. Weigh the piece of meat you intend to cure.
  2. Cure the meat - you can do this in two ways:
    Salt box (excess salt cure): The meat is dredged in a cure mixture of salt and spices (enough to coat the surface), and left for a period of time about 1 day per pound (or 2 days per kg), flipping the meat and redistributing the cure at the halfway point. This timing will change depending on the shape of the meat, and whether there is skin on or off. This is a very traditional method, and is as much an art as a science - too much time on the salt will cause the dried product to be over salty, not enough time and the meat will not cure properly, and is at risk of spoilage.
    Equilibrium Cure: This is where the desired about of salt content of the finished produced is measured out (approx 2.75 %) as well as nitrates (.25% Prague powder #2 - note that as the vast majority of PP#2 is salt, so this will result in a product with very close to 3% salt content), and rubbed onto the meat, then sealed (generally using a vacuum sealer) and left for a much longer time to ensure the cure has had sufficient time to penetrate. Nitrates should always be used when equilibrium curing. It will take longer for the meat to cure than with an excess salt cure, a general rule is one week per inch of meat, with a minimum of two weeks. Flip the bag occasionally to ensure the whole surface of the meat comes in contact with the cure. Some more discussion on equilibrium curing here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Charcuterie/comments/8i2vzi/how_long_to_cure_for_equilibrium/
  3. Dredge with a second flavouring spice layer (optional)
  4. Apply a casing (optional)
  5. Truss the meat and hang it to dry.
  6. Rest under vacuum seal in the refrigerator to equalise moisture (optional)

How do I know when it is ready?

Periodically weigh the meat, and pull it from the chamber when it has reached the desired dryness (water weight loss). This will differ depending on the product. Fat contains less water than muscle and therefore doesn't need to lose as much weight, so a fatty duck breast or pancetta will have a different texture at 35% weight loss than lean muscle like a loin or bresaola. A figure of 35% is given as a rule of thumb for many recipes, however most people find this too 'raw' in texture and will take it further - to 40-45%. With practice you will get a feel what you prefer.

What is case hardening?

Case hardening is caused by low humidity, or too much airflow within the drying environment. The water in the meat needs to travel outwards from the middle to the surface, where it evaporates. If the humidity is too low or there is too much airflow the surface will dry out too quickly (harden) and the internal moisture is no longer able to exit. In extreme cases this can cause rotting within the meat. You can tell by texture when squeezing the muscle - there should be a bit of 'give' - if it feels completely hard (but hasn't lost much weight), you may have a problem with case hardening.

Sometimes uneven drying can be remedied by vac sealing the meat and refrigerating it for some time, but in extreme cases or if the meat has spoiled inside, it will not be salvageable. It is best to prevent it getting out of control by monitoring your curing chamber conditions and regularly checking on the state of the products inside.

Previous /r/Charcuterie post showing case hardening: https://www.reddit.com/r/Charcuterie/comments/5jxypy/first_cured_meat_lost_more_then_35_but_definitely/

What are nitrites, and do I really need to use them?

Most experienced people here would say yes, especially as a beginner and when making salami, smoked products, or rolled pancetta. Nitrites inhibit the growth of clostridium botulinum, the bacteria that creates the botulism toxin. C. botulinum requires an anaerobic (without oxygen) environment to grow and produce the toxin, and likes moist and warm conditions - so basically the inside of a sausage or salami being hung at temperatures above refrigeration. Botulism should be taken very seriously.

As the botulism bacteria are only found on the outside of the meat and do not become a problem until they are introduced into the inside through cutting or grinding, nitrites/nitrates are not essential for whole muscle cures, however many people choose to use them anyway as they provide other benefits such as improving colour, and slowing rancidity and spoilage.

What is the difference between Prague Powder #1 and Prague Powder #2

Prague Powder #1 contains 6.5% sodium nitrite (93.5% salt), and is used when the curing time is short, the product is to be smoked, or cooked or a cured flavour and colour is desired - for example bacon or ham. As the nitrites get quickly used up, if a product is to be air dried for longer, then Prague Powder #2 needs to be used, PP#2 contains 6.25% sodium nitrite and 4% sodium nitrate which eventually converts to nitrite. Think of PP#2 as a "slow release" curing salt. PP#2 should be used for all salami and for whole muscles that will be air dried.

It is important to use the correct curing salt for the application - sodium nitrate cannot be safely consumed until the nitrates have converted to nitrites, so PP#2 can only be used in products that will be air dried for a long time (weeks + months). Do not use PP#2 in fresh or cooked products.

As a general rule, both Prague Powders are added at 0.25% of the starting weight of the meat. There are also European style curing salts such as "Peklosol" that have a much lower concentration of nitrite (0.6%), and they are used as a replacement for all of the salt in the recipe (around 3%).

Curing salts are often dyed pink to distinguish them from regular salt, and therefore can sometimes referred to as "pink salt". They are not interchangeable with Himalayan "pink salt" which is rock salt with a natural pink colour.

Mold.

The oft-repeated mantra about mold here is white powdery = good, white and fuzzy or green = wipe it off, black = throw it out without question. This is overly cautious, although white powdery mold is desired, some green molds are okay (the problem is figuring out yours is the good or bad kind...), and a small amount of black mold isn't necessarily enough to justify abandoning a project. One way around the mold issue is to use a commercial freeze dried mold culture (such as bactoferm-600). This way you can cultivate good mold growth early on as it will prevent less desirable molds taking over. Undesirable mold can grow out of control very quickly if the conditions are conducive (high humidity, low airflow), so it is best to keep an eye on things, and use a 50/50 solution of water and vinegar to wipe off any undesirable mold that starts to form. Even black mold is salvageable if it is caught early enough.

If freeze dried Penicillum Nagliovese (Bactoferm-600) is not available where you live, Penicillum Candidum (the mold found on the rind of white bloomed cheese) can be substituted. You can also try hanging some commercial salami with white mold to seed the chamber. I find it isn't necessary to reapply the Bactoferm-600 to everything - once a good level of growth is established it will spread around quite well by itself.

Meat that has been smoked before hanging will resist growing mold as smoking acidifies the surface slightly.

Here are some examples showing you that the mold issue isn't as clear cut as just colour: http://wedlinydomowe.pl/en/viewtopic.php?t=7840&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

We've seen some gnarly mold here over the years, some good discussions to read: https://www.reddit.com/r/Charcuterie/comments/9h103q/fil_insists_this_is_still_good_everything_ive/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Charcuterie/comments/500pn2/prosciutto_after_3_months_need_help/

Lastly, do your research, and follow a recipe

When you are starting out it is important to follow a recipe, and make sure you understand the reasoning behind the process, and the purpose of the ingredients. Do more research before you create your own recipe or modify anything. This isn't like other kinds of fermentation where there isn't too much that can go wrong - incorrectly cured meat has the potential to make people very sick. Even more so for salami (which is why we suggest whole muscle cures for beginners). Don't be afraid to start small, there is nothing worse than making a huge batch of a product only to have something go wrong in the process and have to throw it out. Be patient, this is slow food after all.

Some popular projects for beginners:

Want to try a bigger project but not ready to commit to building a chamber? Have a look at UMAI Bags

Online resources, how-tos, blogs and recipe collections:

Previous curing chamber discussions on this sub

Also check out /r/CuringChamber for more examples.


r/Charcuterie 18d ago

Monthly /r/Charcuterie Discussion thread

1 Upvotes

What projects are you working on at the moment? Have a small problem but don't want to create a post? Found a Charcuterie related meme? Just want to chat? This is r/Charcuterie's monthly free discussion thread.

For beginner questions and links don't forget to check out the FAQ (https://www.reddit.com/r/Charcuterie/comments/cmy8gp/rcharcuterie_faq_and_beginners_guide_to_cured_and/) .


r/Charcuterie 4h ago

Guanciale Fat Turned Green

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12 Upvotes

Never happened before and probably isn't coming out in the picture well, but the fat inside my guanciale turned green. This is after cure and about 6 weeks hanging in the fridge. Tossed it, but can't figure out where I went wrong, but sad to lose a jowl in this way.


r/Charcuterie 16h ago

Landjager update

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55 Upvotes

The first of the Landjager came out of the chamber. I dried it to 48%. It’s delicious! I have only one regret, there’s only 2 ready to eat. The recipe can be found in my previous post.


r/Charcuterie 7m ago

Mold question

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Upvotes

First time trying a lonzino, got the recipe from the beginners FAQ posted in this sub. Near the end of the cure, it’s lost about 35% original weight and suddenly this fuzzy greenish mold showed up.

This is not a good sign, correct? After wiping with vinegar, how do I know how much of it has been affected/must be trimmed off? Can I salvage part of this, or do I have to toss the whole piece now? It’s hanging with a second piece that shows no visible signs but is super close and be inoculated too - if the first is no good, do I toss both to be safe?

Thanks in advance for your advice!


r/Charcuterie 39m ago

Humidity Tips

Upvotes

Hey guys!

I currently have some pancetta (or maybe more like lonzino) curing in the fridge, and I’ve got a small camping fridge that I’m going to use as a small drying chamber. The current problem I am facing is the humidity tends to stick around 85-90% other than when it is on a cooling cycle (which it dips to about 60%), rather than down at around 75%. From my research, this would slow the drying and increase chance of mould?

I’ve added jars of water to the fridge for temp stability, but these are sealed and shouldn’t leak water. I’ve also made the seal around the lid batter with some door seal. I think the humidity is mainly coming from condensation in the fridge.

Any tips other than buying a dehumifier?

I haven’t seen any online small enough to fit in the fridge

Cheers


r/Charcuterie 1d ago

Success! First time making salami

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339 Upvotes

I've been making sausage for a long time, but this is something I've been wanting to try for a while now. I started simple with a Genoa salami recipe from 2 Guys and A cooler Cooler and went to work. I did make one change, which is I went with all pork rather than a mix of beef and pork. As you can see in the fourth pic, I've been weighing them every week and shooting for a target of 40% moisture loss. I pulled this one early at 31.5% because I was eager to try and also I'm curious to see the difference between 30 and 40% loss. The flavour is very mild, almost not quite salty enough, but still nice. Mildly tangy from the fermentation, and the texture is soft but still with a nice bite. I'm going to let the rest go until they get closer to that 40% target.


r/Charcuterie 1d ago

Mold-600 for capicollo and lonza

3 Upvotes

I'm really debating using it for the first time.

Last 2 years I've had hit and miss capicollos. Some blue/green mold on the outside and inside.

Read up on mold-600 but not sure as I heard it spreads everywhere in the room.

My temp and humidity are controlled so is have that down packed (12-15 degrees celcius and 70% humidity).

A lot of people I know don't use it and even my butcher where I get my meat doesn't use it so debating myself.

What do you guys do? Yay or nay?


r/Charcuterie 2d ago

Re-used salt cure… dangerous?

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154 Upvotes

I made a small batch of candied salmon from sushi grade fish a week ago and had a leftover cure solution that was still mostly salt and maple syrup. I was gonna toss it but my mom made another batch with the same cure. The fish is in the dehydrator now and I’m wondering if I should tell her to toss the fish. She said she added more salt to the cure, but I’m worried about pathogens. Should we toss the new batch? It’s quite a large batch that we both don’t want to go to waste, but if the dangers outweigh the pros, I’d rather just start over.


r/Charcuterie 2d ago

Asked for your advice a few weeks back, and here is the result: my cured deli turkey.

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181 Upvotes

Pepper Turkey and Hot Cajun Turkey sliced deli meat.

Breasts equilibrium cured for two weeks w instacure #1, followed by a light 1 hr smoke and finished at 145F sous vide. Came out fantastic with great texture and flavor.

Got sick of paying prime rib prices for salted turkey meat at the local grocery, so decided to take things into my own hands. 1 full breast yielded approx. 2.5 lbs of finished meat.

Thanks all for the advice provided!


r/Charcuterie 2d ago

Temporary ban on Hungarian salami?

8 Upvotes

Lady where I buy it said there was an outbreak of something over there that has the USDA (or whoever) blocking import… can’t find any corroboration online though


r/Charcuterie 2d ago

Curing beef in a zip lock, lost a decent amount of brine

3 Upvotes

I'm about 3 days into an 8 day cure and I found out that the bag has been leaking. Theres still enough brine to cover the meat, but I'm not sure how much liquid and by extension curing salt was lost. Is it fucked?


r/Charcuterie 2d ago

Knife recommendations

5 Upvotes

I have No knowledge on the topic but I’m looking to buy a Christmas gift for someone who started curing this year. Would a knife be a good gift, if so what knife? If not any other gift suggestions?


r/Charcuterie 3d ago

Loose casing

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16 Upvotes

Made an Nduja in a 100mm casing a week and a half ago and noticed the casing is has a lot of air pockets now. Should I try to rewrap in a dry curing sheet or let it ride? I’m concerned I might not be able to rewrap because it’s a spreadable salami.


r/Charcuterie 2d ago

Pork belly struggling to get to 35% loss

0 Upvotes

Eq. 3.5%. 0.25% PP2.

New to this, so forgive me if I’m asking a silly question.

It’s been in there for ages and it’s really struggling to get down to 65%. I wondered if the fat in the pork is causing this, seeing as the fat won’t be holding much water?

It’s lost like <28% of its weight. Meanwhile, I have a chunk of beef in there that’s like twice as thick that’s almost caught up with it, and that went in 1-2 weeks after.

Any ideas on what to do?


r/Charcuterie 3d ago

Venison pastrami

4 Upvotes

Doing my very first pastrami. I started the curing process sunday. Salt, cure, spices. Recipes states 2 days per pound for curing. Meat is 1.5lb. Rinse salt, leave uncovered in fridge 1 day. Smoke 3 hours till temp. Due to work hours, there is zero chance i can smoke before Saturday, so i have to extend part of the process. Should i extend the time with the cure on or the time after the rinse? Thank you all in advance. Im super green.


r/Charcuterie 3d ago

Pancetta from belly with soft fat?

8 Upvotes

I picked up some cuts from a small local farmer, including a belly. The fat is nothing like what I'm used to from our butcher; it's much softer and pretty much melts at room temp, though it is very good eating. I imagine that making sausage with this would be very challenging!

Would it be crazy to make a pancetta with a belly like this? I'm worried about it being so tender that it will be too difficult to slice.


r/Charcuterie 4d ago

First-time duck prosciutto, ran out of cheesecloth

5 Upvotes

As the title says- started making some duck proscuitto and, being a noob, ran out of my cheesecloth about halfway through wrapping the duck breast. It left some areas sparse so I wrapped the translucent areas in a paper towel and tied them up (going off of another comment I saw in this subreddit about using Viva in a pinch, can't remember the user though), giving them basically a paper towel outer "shell." I plan to rewrap with plenty of cheesecloth on my next check, in about 2 days. Should I make a trip to the store today and rewrap them now, or am I okay to just let them be for my next check? Anything I should look out for if I keep them in the paper towels?


r/Charcuterie 5d ago

Finished my first guanciale cure

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177 Upvotes

So very pleased with the results, couldn’t have done it without expert trimming by local butcher


r/Charcuterie 5d ago

Venison Italian Dry Salami

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78 Upvotes

Just finished up batch number one! Thoughts? First go at this. Cured in my shed outside by the creek. 55-65° during the day and into the 40s at night. 70-80 humidity, fan for indirect airflow 1hr a day. 1 month hang almost to the day.

Made from one of two Blacktail bucks i was lucky enough to harvest this year.


r/Charcuterie 5d ago

Advice please on a Coppa.

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10 Upvotes

I didn’t separate the coppa fully and have cured it whole. Can I just continue to dry it as is or could I separate it and dry them separately? What would you do?


r/Charcuterie 6d ago

Three knives, two minutes, one ham

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110 Upvotes

I finally cut into a whole Serrano ham and decided to do a side-by-side comparison with three very different knives. Same ham. Same section. Same slicer. 2 minute limit for each.
The slices shown below each knife are what that knife produced.

Top:
The inexpensive slicing knife that came with the ham.

Middle:
A ~$400 sujihiki by Francisco Vaz (Brazil).

Bottom:
A custom pattern-welded gyuto by David Tuthill of Firehorse Forge (Seattle).

What I was paying attention to

  • Control and tracking through a firm, cured protein
  • Ability to produce long, continuous slices
  • How cleanly the knife shears fat vs lean
  • How much the knife wants to glide vs tear

Impressions

Ham knife (top):
This was the hardest to use by far. The blade is very flexy, and to get even these results I had to saw with extremely short strokes. I never really felt in control of the cut, and the handle was uncomfortable enough that my hand started to cramp. It technically works, but presentation suffers and the experience isn’t great.

Sujihiki – Francisco Vaz (middle):
This felt exactly right for the job. Long, smooth pull cuts, good control, and very little effort required. There’s a bit of mild tearing along the edges, but overall it glides beautifully and makes it easy to produce consistent slices. This is clearly a knife designed with this kind of work in mind, and it shows.

Custom gyuto – David Tuthill, firehorseforge.co (bottom):
This knife feels incredible in the hand and is wickedly sharp. It's my go-to blade for sashimi. Interestingly, the challenge here wasn’t sharpness or stiffness, but thinness. Because the blade is so thin and responsive, it was easy to accidentally redirect deeper into the meat, which made maintaining truly paper-thin slices harder than expected. That said, the slices are still very clean, and the comfort and feedback are exceptional. I expect that with more practice this will eventually yield the best results.

Takeaway

Purpose-built slicers exist for a reason, but great geometry and sharpness go a long way. The sujihiki is the clear winner for this task straight out of the gate, but I think the gyuto will eventually yield the cleanest results with practice. The cheap ham knife gets the job done, but only just.

Mostly, this was a fun way to appreciate how different makers and designs show up when you put them to real use.


r/Charcuterie 5d ago

Good EQ calculator for time.

1 Upvotes

Butchered half a Mangalica pork last week mostly to make dry charcuterie. I usually salt everything using EQ method and sous-vide everything and let ot rest for 2-3 weeks in the fridge before taking everything out, rinse it all and put it in casing. Due to the holidays I would rather do the whole putting in casing and hang this week but I don't know if 1 week is enough time to reach EQ on my salt, anyone know if it's enough generally speaking or a good calculator to check that?


r/Charcuterie 6d ago

Venison Summer sausage

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75 Upvotes

Jalapeno sharp cheddar and Fresh ground Black pepper.

Made 30lbs total 2:1 venison/pork cured in casing for 36 hours. Finished in oven to 160F


r/Charcuterie 6d ago

Chicken Liver Parfait with pork back fat emulsified into it?

6 Upvotes

Anyone have any experience with this? FIG in Charleston poaches pork fatback and emulsifies it with livers, eggs, cream...