Capocollo

Cabonaia · Post by **Cabonaia** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 01:29

Netting is pretty nice when it comes to hanging. I just broke into some coppa that I started out in artifical (protein lined) casings. But the casings did not shrink with the meat. So I ripped them off before something ugly started growing underneath them, and hung the coppa for the next 3 weeks just in netting. Kept the humidity higher than I normally would to try to make up some for the extra moisture loss of not having a casing. It worked pretty well. You can see some drying around the outside, but the overall effect worked out fine. So next time I'll try natural casing plus netting, like Nick.

atcNick · Post by **atcNick** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 03:57

That coppa looks really good man! That's probably what Im going to make next. Care to share any helpful details.

Cabonaia · Post by **Cabonaia** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 00:42

atcNick wrote:That coppa looks really good man! That's probably what Im going to make next. Care to share any helpful details.

Thanks! Here are some things to think about:

- Coppa is the easiest thing you'll ever make if you have a curing cabinet.

- Cut your coppa off a pork butt (it's the section at the front of the pig) and trim any fat off it, making it cylindrical. Here are the instructions I learned on, from Jason Molinari's fine site:

http://curedmeats.blogspot.com/2007/10/ ... t-one.html

- Whenever you buy a butt, you get a coppa! Nice arrangement.

- Use any recipe that appeals to you, keeping in mind that some are sweeter and some are spicier. Just different styles.

- I used a dry cure method, from Marianski's "Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages." Never have tried wet curing one. Next time I will add less sugar and more heat.

- I've never gotten artificial casings to work very well. I'd recommend either a natural casing, or netting. With netting you might want to run higher humidity - 75% or so.

- Takes about 4 weeks.

That's really all there is to it. Easier even than bacon, because you don't smoke it. Sliced super thin, it's just marvelous.

atcNick · Post by **atcNick** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 06:17

Cabonaia wrote:
atcNick wrote:That coppa looks really good man! That's probably what Im going to make next. Care to share any helpful details.
Thanks! Here are some things to think about:

- Coppa is the easiest thing you'll ever make if you have a curing cabinet.

- Cut your coppa off a pork butt (it's the section at the front of the pig) and trim any fat off it, making it cylindrical. Here are the instructions I learned on, from Jason Molinari's fine site:

http://curedmeats.blogspot.com/2007/10/ ... t-one.html

- Whenever you buy a butt, you get a coppa! Nice arrangement.

- Use any recipe that appeals to you, keeping in mind that some are sweeter and some are spicier. Just different styles.

- I used a dry cure method, from Marianski's "Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages." Never have tried wet curing one. Next time I will add less sugar and more heat.

- I've never gotten artificial casings to work very well. I'd recommend either a natural casing, or netting. With netting you might want to run higher humidity - 75% or so.

- Takes about 4 weeks.

That's really all there is to it. Easier even than bacon, because you don't smoke it. Sliced super thin, it's just marvelous.

Thanks dude. Im familiar with Jason Molinari's blog. Very helpful info there. One thing I dont get though is the wide range of drying times I see for Coppa. You say 4 weeks, Jason says 3-4 months, and others have said everything in between. Is 40% weight loss the key? Curing chamber around 75%RH the whole time?

Cabonaia · Post by **Cabonaia** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 06:47

atcNick wrote:You say 4 weeks, Jason says 3-4 months, and others have said everything in between. Is 40% weight loss the key?

Yeah his blog is great. Quite inspiring.

I'd say 4 weeks is the bare minimum. It will keep tasting better as you age it longer, but eventually it will get dry and hard. So if you go 3-4 months, keep the humidity up but check for any bad mold. My problem is first, I am impatient, and second, so far I have used no casing, just netting. That limits how long I can hang it. But I want to case it well next time and dry it longer, as Molinari suggests. I'm sure his tastes great with that kind of aging. I managed to go 2 months with a lonzino, and it was worth the wait.

40% weight loss would definitely be an indicator of "done." After you make a few, you get used to how they feel when you squeeze 'em.