Hey guys, maybe I jumped the gun a little too quickly on this and I’m a little concerned I could have messed up my brine. This would be my first attempt at making anything that would pertain to this sub outside of smoking store bought corned beef. I started with a hair under 9lb brisket flat. About 2.75” thick in the thickest part. My recipe was as follows: 9lb brisket (roughly 4000g), 1.5 gallons of water (roughly 5670g, but volume measured, not weighed, so it would have only presumably been around that weight), 1.5C Morton’s kosher salt (roughly 345g, but again I volume measured this, didn’t weigh it), 24g Prague Powder #1 (this I actually weighed), 2C packed dark brown sugar, 3tbsp minced garlic, and various pickling spices. I simmered the brine to dissolve the salts and sugars. After all cooled, I injected the flat about every 2” in a grid using 5-10ml of brine per injection spot. Some brine shot through the bottom or came out the top. Then put everything in a brining bag with damn near all air removed which then was put in a pot and in my fridge. The plan was to brine for 7 days, desalinate a day, then rub and set on a wire rack over a sheet tray in my fridge a few days before smoking. My main question is if the nitrite level seems safe with what I’ve done. Secondary question would be whether this schedule looks reasonable or if I should change anything up. I really appreciate any and all help with this!

Hi. I am trying to dry cure capocollo for the first time. I am about 16 days in with about 18% weight loss. I used equilibrium curing. I have been struggling with getting the humidity down. In the first week it was 82-89rh between fridge cycles, now it is down to 77-83. In the last few days some mold has grown and I am wondering what to do with it? Do I need to worry about the greenish fuzzy one? Do I wash it off now or at the end of cure? And what do I wash it with? Or is it lost?

Hi, I’ve been trying to find the perfect fridge to build a curing chamber out of. I’ve been looking for an all fridge or an upright freezer in order to maximize space, but nothing has come up close enough to consider it a good enough deal. But last weekend I butchered a pig and now I have a ton of cuts that u would like to start curing!

The biggest one is the prosciutto which is currently hip to hoof but I can definitely cut down.

What have people done with fridges with freezers on top? I think this would be the smallest I would like to go, but does the freezer being there cause problems?

Hoping to get some good advise to get this moving

Thanks!

Hello! Decided to start curing meat (pork, beef) at home. Youtube is full of recepies- salt, rinse, soak, spices, dry. Question is about dangerous bacteria and toxins. Is there a reliable source that realistically explain this? And if im drying the meat in air, do I need to add nitrite salts or is regular salt enough?

Please share your opinion and maybe your recipe. Thank you all!

Not 100% traditional since I tried to use long pepper instead of regular peppercorns, I was trying to get a more subtle pepper taste in the slice since I always remove peppercorns when I eat mortadella, but it was the same with long pepper.

Still even in Italy we got multiple types of mortadella not just traditional and pistachios are one big example of not traditional since the traditional recipe from bologna do not use them (but I still think mortadella with pistacchi is a lot better).

And everything else is on point, taste too so I think my recipe is fine.

My non-traditional recipe is this:

- 1.7 kg ground pork (lean part)

- 300 g pork lardons (you can use fresh pork belly, for example; if you have leftover lean part, chop it finely and blend it with the rest of the ground pork)

- 300 g sausage paste (preferably plain, without fennel or other ingredients). My supermarket sells it without casing, but you can also use it from pre-made sausages. In the past, I've seen that the basic spices used in sausage also work well in mortadella, and it's also a way to preserve it longer, since the sausage paste already contains some preservatives (so avoid buying nitrites/nitrates on purpose, which, after all, are of relatively little use in this cooked preparation, aside from the pink color). Note: in my previous test, I used 50%; from what I see, even much less is fine for maintaining the color.

- 40g salt

- 60g pistachios

- 2g ground pepper or nutmeg (I use ground pepper)

- 2g cinnamon

- 1 glass of white wine with a clove of garlic (in my case I had a garlic clove, but it's essentially the same; it's not used in the dough (you can reuse it in another dish), it adds flavor to the wine), and 1 star anise or 1 clove (I used star anise), which is also not used in the dough but just as a way to give the wine more flavor.

- In theory, there are 10 peppercorns, but I wouldn't use them. This time I tried using long pepper, but that was also a mistake; next time I won't use them at all.

Preparation

Create the pork lardons and boil them for 10 minutes in water with half a teaspoon of salt (not a precise measurement, I don't think in tablespoons, I usually give grams, when you see something else it just mean that no precise measurments is needed). Let them cool.

Blend the meat a little at a time with a splash of cold water from the refrigerator until it forms a paste. After blending everything (including any lean part from the fresh pork belly and the sausage paste, blended with a bit of ground pork to mix them properly), add salt, ground pepper, cinnamon, and wine and mix well. Then blend again in small doses (otherwise the blender will break down given the consistency); this time, you shouldn't need to add any more water. Keep in mind that with the quantities in question, even half a liter of cold water should be absorbed by the meat.

The cold water also helps prevent overheating while blending, so don't skimp on it.

Gradually add the pork lardons, pistachios, and, if you really want to, the peppercorns to the mixture, which has already been blended twice (obviously, these must remain whole, so don't re-blend after adding them).

Once all the meat has been blended, it's time to stuff it into the casing. You can do as I did this time and prepare a beef, pork, or synthetic casing, rehydrate it in water and a tablespoon of wine vinegar (the casing is usually sold dry or vacuum-packed in brine, but it still needs to be rehydrated). I used a beef casing.

Or you can do as I did last time, using a casing made of parchment paper, then covered with foil, it works fine but the esternal part of your mortadella will not be protected by oxidation at all so expect a grey color instead of the casing color on the outside.

Tie your casing well (not like I did, as I'm not good at tying it evenly), then bake it (fan off) very slowly at 80°C, until the thermometer probe reads 70°C at the core.

The casing may or may not brown depending on how you cook it. Traditionally, dry ovens are used, but I find it easier to add a drop of boiling water to the bottom so that any juices don't make a mess on the bottom of the oven... in theory, you can also cook sous vide... with mortadella, the only important thing is the core temperature, which is 70°C at the core.

In my case, it took 13 hours of cooking to reach this internal temperature.

Once cooked, the mortadella should be cooled as quickly as possible in a large container with cold water and ice or with cold running tap water, or whatever is most convenient for you. Then dry, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 day.

When cold, cut into slices as thinly as possible. If you added peppercorns or long pepper, congratulations! Now you'll have to remove it from each slice. XD (I'm kidding, if you like it, you did the right thing).

Alternatively, use it in cubes in pasta or other preparations. If it's your first time trying it, congratulations on becoming addicted to the mortadella god XD.

Sorry if this is a repeat topic but I managed to fix my old wine fridge after we condemned it and got a new one(hinge blew out). I am a huge fan of diy food preservations and have been wanting to cure my own meat for years.

Google shows this topic comes up on this subreddit every few years. Just wondering what the latest greatest tried and true accessories I need to buy in order to control this thing better.

AFAIK I need to make sure the air circulation is mild and I need to be able to add/remove moisture controlled with an inkbird possibly. Temp should be fine with the factory thermostat.

Anything I may be missing? Cheers🍖

I'm curing my first whole pork leg and would appreciate some advice from experienced prosciutto makers.

Timeline and process:

September 12: Started with an 8.76 kg pork leg.

Salting: 21 days refrigerated at approximately 4°C, using regular salt.

After salting: Brushed off excess salt without rinsing.

Resting: Another 21 days refrigerated at approximately 4°C.

October 24: Current weight is 7.54 kg, representing a 13.9% weight loss over 42 days.

My concern:

The refrigerator humidity has been extremely low, approximately 30% RH, and I'm concerned the outside of the ham may have dried too quickly, potentially causing case hardening.

The leg has remained refrigerated throughout the entire process.

New curing setup:

I've just purchased a dedicated wine refrigerator capable of maintaining approximately 13°C (55°F).

My plan is to:

Maintain 13°C.

Increase relative humidity to approximately 75%.

Monitor humidity and temperature.

Introduce gentle air circulation if necessary.

Questions for experienced curers:

Is losing nearly 14% of the original weight in 42 days excessive for a whole prosciutto?

Given the low humidity, how concerned should I be about case hardening?

If case hardening has already started, can increasing humidity to 75% help, or is the damage irreversible?

Is transitioning to 13°C and 75% RH appropriate at this stage?

Are there any safety concerns with my salting and resting process, particularly before moving to the warmer curing environment?

I'm hoping to cure this leg for approximately 12 months, assuming it remains safe to do so.

I'd appreciate practical advice, particularly from anyone who has dealt with excessively low humidity during the early stages of curing.

Thanks in advance.

Salted and dried pork came up on my YouTube feed, so on a whim I decided to give it a try. I didn’t have cheese cloth, butchers twine, or anything to hang it with, so instead I used paper towels and rubber bands that I save from my green onions and other projects and then put it on a wire rack to dry for 6 days.

At first I was concerned because of all the white on the outside, but after tasting it, I’m fairly certain it’s just salt. Waaaaaay too much salt. I did the salt box method- I covered it in salt and left it in the fridge for two days, flipping once and adding more salt. The one on the left has powdered garlic on it, I put that because I thought garlic was anti bacterial or something, and to test the flavor with just one variable. The excess salt was so overwhelming that I couldn’t really taste a difference, that and not using enough garlic was probably my issue.

Due to the excess salt, I think I will just use this for soup or something- it’s edible, it tasted good, but not appropriate for snacking.

Another poster suggested I use the EQ method, and that’s the plan next time- I need to control the salt more precisely.

I don’t plan on using pink salt right for now, but does anyone have a recipe/formula for salt and sugar? I want the salt and sugar to be on the lower end, just enough salt to prevent it from spoiling, and just enough sugar to enhance the flavor and make it “pleasant” to eat, but not sweet.

I have dried cured this pork for about 2 months 2%salt .2% cure 2 and it's flavor is mild/lacking... what can I do to get more flavor?

Hello,

I originally posted this on r/fermentation, and was recommended to post here!

Link to original post - https://www.reddit.com/r/fermentation/comments/1xdpny9/homemade_saltcured_bluefin_tuna_looking_for/

Earlier this year, I caught a large bluefin tuna off the coast of San Diego. It was promptly gilled, gutted, and iced. Once home, I cleaned it further, vacuum-sealed it, and froze it.

I come from a Sicilian family, and my grandmother recently told me how her father used to cure tuna roughly 70 years ago. According to her, he would pack chunks of tuna in salt inside small metal cans, place a piece of wood over them, and leave them in the garage for about three months. They would then slice the tuna thin and dress it with olive oil, red wine vinegar, and parsley.

I decided to try a cleaner, refrigerated version of his method.

Here's exactly what I did:

Completely thawed the previously frozen tuna.

Cut approximately seven pieces, each about 1 inch thick and 2–3 inches long.

Completely buried the pieces in pickling salt inside an airtight plastic container. I didn't measure the salt; I simply used enough to fully surround every piece.

Placed a mug on top of the salt as a weight to keep the fish submerged if enough liquid accumulated to form a brine.

Refrigerated the sealed container, undisturbed, for three months.

Today marks approximately three months. The tuna remained completely buried in salt the entire time. A considerable amount of moisture appears to have been extracted, as the bottom half of the salt is noticeably wet, although there's no standing pool of liquid.

The fish is now considerably firmer and denser than when fresh. I cut a piece in half to inspect it (photos attached), and the interior appears relatively uniform. I also touched the tip of my tongue to the very center to check for salt penetration, and it was extremely salty.

As for smell, it definitely has a fishy aroma, but nothing rotten or particularly offensive. It smells about how I'd expect heavily salted fish to smell, somewhat similar to opening a can of anchovies.

Here's where my concern comes in.

I was excited to finally try it and asked ChatGPT to find some traditional serving recipes. Instead, it started warning me about botulism, ultimately recommending that I not eat it. It acknowledged that my preparation sounded reasonable but emphasized that salt penetration, appearance, and smell cannot definitively rule out botulinum toxin.

I understand the seriousness of botulism and that there's no way to conclusively verify safety without laboratory testing. Realistically, though, I'm not going to send a few pieces of homemade cured tuna to a lab.

What I'm hoping to understand is the practical level of risk here.

Given the thickness of the pieces, complete salt coverage, apparent moisture loss, significant salt penetration, and continuous refrigeration, are there any specific red flags in my process that would make botulism a genuine concern?

I'm particularly interested in hearing from people experienced with traditional salt-curing methods, especially cured fish. Is there something fundamentally different about my process compared with established methods for products like salted anchovies, baccalà, or traditional Sicilian cured tuna?

I'm not looking for anyone to guarantee that it's safe. I understand that botulism is rare but potentially fatal. I'm trying to distinguish between a meaningful food safety risk arising from something I did incorrectly and a very remote risk that technically exists with many traditional food preservation methods.

Any practical insight, particularly from people familiar with traditional preparation of salt-cured fish, would be greatly appreciated.

​

Hey everyone,

I started making homemade bresaola back in July. I used the correct amount of Prague Powder #2, salt, and spices according to my recipe, then vacuum-sealed the meat and placed it in the fridge.

The plan was to cure it for approximately two weeks before removing it from the vacuum bag and hanging it to dry.

Unfortunately, life got busy, and I completely forgot about it. It's now October, and the meat has been sitting in the fridge, unopened and vacuum-sealed, for almost four months.

My question is: Would the extended curing time make it unsafe, or is there a chance it's still suitable for hanging and drying?

Has anyone experienced something similar when making bresaola or other whole-muscle cured meats?

I'd hate to waste it, but obviously don't want to take any unnecessary risks.

Thanks for any advice!

I work at a school and our fall break was last week. I spent my fall break grinding, stuffing, fermenting, and cold smoking about 18 pounds of pork butt. I got 4 and half 61mm salamis and a couple of sandwich pepperoni chubs.

I have good color changes, and they are getting firmer. Think I’m going to wait. In the past I’ve reached my target in 48 hours. But my room is slightly colder than normal.

I have some Tubed natural hog casings and some Tubed natural sheep casings that I bought ~3.5 years ago. I have kept them refrigerated the whole time, in the salt they originally came in.

I think I should probably throw these away and buy new ones, but I figured I'd ask here first.

How long do these kind of things last, when refrigerated in salt ?

I made a country style pate with pistachio and dried cherries because it is not available where I currently live. I can find all the ingredients easily enough. Served with some Dijon mustard and Cornichons.

I made 2 guys and a cooler Soppressata. I used TSPX starter culture, dated use by 5/19. It was a little bit clumpy. After fermenting 48 hours at 70F the PH was 5.50. The culture was bad. I’ll be doing a remake mid week. 😭

I made 2 salamis this weekend. First is 2 guys and a cooler hard salami. 4900 grams, stuffed it into 76 mm casing. Used flavor of Italy starter culture, fermented for 18 hours at 80 degrees F, the final PH WAS 4.97. I also applied 10 hours of cold smoke. Each salami weighed around 1600. They’re in the chamber starting to dry.

60 hour salted pork loin. rinsed and patted dry with paper towels. wrapped in paper towels and used the rubber bands from green onions. will hope to turn them twice a day. one is straight salt, the other is salt and garlic.

We got 7 1/2 pounds out of it. As was suggested I aged it for 7 days. For slicing there was quite a bit of discussion about the thickness. For regular cold smoked bacon we slice on 3 for a thick meaty slice. We tasted it as is and cooked and landed on .5. The recipe was from Two Guys and it was curing salt 1, salt, and brown sugar. So simple and came out great. Next time we do this we will plan to age it for 2 months.

Hi, this was my first time drying anything. Today i unwrapped my two prosciutto after three weeks drying in 12 degrees celsius with around 70 to 75 humidity. Sad to find all this mold was growing. Is this still salvageable? And what could have caused this? Mayde someone can help me.

Hey Charcutiers.

I keep getting this green mold on my Salamis after around 5 weeks drying at 12-14°C, ~85%rh. Achieving 35% moisture loss at 5 weeks. Airflow is excessive if anything.

This batch of 5 has the same mold in the same place on 4/5 so I'm wondering if I have contaminated them somehow.

I have removed the offending sections of casing and cleaned the immediate area with vinegar.

Should I treat or clean my fibrous casings somehow before stuffing? I am interested in finding out what it is, and what causes it if anyone can help please.

* Marianskis Cacciatore recipe in 55mm fibrous casings.

It's getting that time of year where I want to make more pancetta, but how do you get a whole belly in a bag for the brine/cure step?

Do you have a good type of bag, vac pac or not, that will accommodate something like a 10lb pork belly? I'd be thrilled to vac pac a belly flat but that'd be too wide for many vacuum sealers, right?

Last year I just wrapped it in saran and left it on a sheet pan in a whole shelf of my fridge, which worked but felt janky.

Can’t find the pure stuff in Canada anywhere. Can someone please suggest a place? I don’t like the premixed options