Lamb Prosciutto

story28 · Post by **story28** » Mon May 09, 2011 17:23

Armandino Batali developed a lamb prosciutto. They vaguely mention that they had to "Tweak the curing system" from that used in pork preparation. What issues beside surface to mass ratio and therefore curing time would need to be addressed?

Chuckwagon · Post by **Chuckwagon** » Wed May 11, 2011 10:36

Hi story28,
The man to talk to is our own DaveZac (Dave Zacarias). That guy makes his own everything... and he does it very well! He is a pro. His lamb prosciutti looks "good enough to eat". Here's a link:
http://wedlinydomowe.pl/en/search.php?s ... d&start=30
He's a mighty busy buckaroo but you might get a response to a PM.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

story28 · Post by **story28** » Tue May 24, 2011 15:16

Well, I decided to just speak right to the source and give them a call but as with what seems like all salumi/charcuterie shops, they were not willing to share ANY information. I was thinking though that it may come down to trying to lower the melting fat temperature of the particular lamb used, since that seems like the biggest difference from pork (aside from flavor). They lady did let it slip that the farmer even plays a role so I think they are trying to find feed that softens the lamb fat at slaughter. Maybe even the lambs age to ensure a certain ph at slaughter? Or perhaps a young animal that has a softer fat. In Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausage it says that the melting point of lamb fat is higher than body temperature BUT the solidifying temperature does fall into a range lower than body temperature so maybe....

Does anyone have any other ideas?

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Tue May 24, 2011 21:46

The Australian lamb fat is much softer than the fat from older American lamb so of which sometimes starts to taste like mutton. Of course on small spring lamb there isn't much fat.

story28 · Post by **story28** » Thu May 26, 2011 03:41

ssorllih wrote:The Australian lamb fat is much softer than the fat from older American lamb so of which sometimes starts to taste like mutton. Of course on small spring lamb there isn't much fat.

I think you might be on to something. Having the softer fat AND a lesser proportion of fat... Two birds with one stone.

Chuckwagon · Post by **Chuckwagon** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 02:03

Hi Guys,
Did you know that the distance from the interior centerpoint of an animal makes a huge difference in the hardness or softness of its fat? Yup, it`s true. The further the distance from the midpoint of any critter, the softer its fat becomes. The hardest fats are taken from around the animal`s inner organs such as the kidneys. And what about that very thick fat layer we see around hams and other parts? The same principle applies - the outside layers are softer than those inside.
On a cattle ranch, we didn`t always have access to flavorful pork fat, so we often purchased it for use in sausages. Whenever we did use beef fat in sausage, we took it from the interior parts of an animal for use in dry-cured salamis. Sausages requiring softer fat were always made using the outer parts of a hog. We were also very much aware that seasonal diet made a big difference in color and flavor of not only meat, but fat as well. Summertime grass-fed, grazing animals produced fat that was a bit more yellow in color and it tasted quite different than fat from steers fed hay, corn silage, or dried n` processed feed during the winter months. Whew! Cattle fed with too much hay, can produce meat that just reeks of the stuff and tastes stongly of hay. Yuk!
Still, soft or hardened, pale yellow or creamy white, pork or beef, all the fat we used was frozen before it was folded into the sausage's primary bind.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

story28 · Post by **story28** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 02:11

I totally forgot about fat density when it comes to location on the animal and didn't even consider that aspect of it all.

Although, you did elaborate much more than the one, maybe two sentences that slipped my mind.

So what do you think they do Chuck? Or better yet, how would you go about it if you had to?

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 02:16

The rancher I worked for while I was stationed in Oregon liked to take his deer shortly after the wheat harvest. He said that they were grain fed that way. A couple of months later they had moved into the canyons and had been browsing sage brush and tasted of it.
I find the softest beef fat to come from around the brisket and for barbeque beef there seems to be no substitute for briskit.