Took one out this morning, replaced it with another this afternoon. The finished lonzino was put in on 4/3 after an 11 day cure. I removed it at about 38% loss more than 2 weeks ago, but, it was nowhere near ready. I'm guessing this one to be 45-48% and is still just a touch soft, I'm a little baffled by this one. It was stuffed in a 90mm collagen casing, sprayed with the M-EK-4 mold culture and fermented in the usual fashion. It was cured using rosemary, bay leaves, juniper, salt, pepper, cure #2, sugar and garlic powder. It tastes very good, though not as good as the bresaola. Possibly a touch heavy on the rosemary, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Overall, another successful venture. My first lonzino had a bit of case hardening, showing my inexperience. By the look and taste of this one, it appears I am getting this whole thing dialed in. Thanks again to Jason Molinari for all the hand holding.
The cured-ready to dry lonzino is the finished product seen earlier in the ziploc, stuffed in a 90mm collagen(surprise).
Hi, I'm just getting started in this hobby and enjoy your and Jason's sites.
ReplyDeleteYour lonzino looks great.
I'm starting a lonzino this week.
What about yours with the 38% loss was not ready- are you just going by touch/firmness and that's what made you leave your second in until 48% loss?
Thanks
Jake
I cut it open and it was still completely raw. I'm only guessing on the 48%, may even be 50%, still even a bit soft. But, yes, I could tell it wasn't quite ready by the feel of it. I removed it anyway because the scale incated the 38%. Make a couple of these and you start to get a gauge on when they're ready(or close at least) Fell free to bounce questions, I owe after how much I pestered Jason.
ReplyDeleteDid you rehang it at this point, or was it a loss?
ReplyDeleteIs the "rawness" an issue with the cure or did you just not dry it out enough?
Thanks
Jake
Rehung. Rawness solely an issue of time(in this case). It was cured properly, so, I knew it just needed to hang a little more. I've been lucky so far and not lost anything completely. No bad mold, just a little case hardening from being green and not being able to properly regulate my equipment.
ReplyDeleteMy experience with bresaola is also that it benefits from more moisture loss than most recipes recommend. I forgot about one for quite awhile, until it had probably lost 60% of its weight, and it was fabulous, the best ever:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thislittlepiggy.us/2009/03/01/bresaola-di-toro/
The only trick is, the drier you let it get, the thinner you want to slice it.