I got a couple of these mega speck back in April from Michael Clampffer. I cured and aged these exactly as I did these. Only difference is the quality of the meat. Totally different ballgame, as you can see by the marbling and the fat cap. As far as tasting is concerned, I am completely flabbergasted. I am delighted that I write everything down in my little notebook. Had I done this by the seat of my pants, I would be beside myself. This is awesome in every sense of the word. I'm sure 95% of it is the sheer quality of the product, but, I certainly didn't do anything to get in it's way. The smoke is perfect, not just in a smoky way, but, a tinge sweet, perhaps? Sliced thinly enough, the fat melts on your tongue, pretty amazing. Perfect smoky, hammy deliciousness. There was a bit of concern during it's drying. My old chamber is so well inoculated with mold, the speck developed a really thick layer of white mold. I'm talking 1/8" worth. I left it due to it being mostly white, however, about 2 months in, some green spots moved in. No biggie, I just gave them a pretty thorough bathing in a vinegar bath. Then, I realized there was some standing water in the bottom of the chamber of which I was unaware. It was hiding under the Styrofoam on top which I place the humidifier. This contributed to a somewhat musty smell in the chamber. I removed all the salumi and cleaned out the chamber with a bleach and water solution. Smell taken care of, but, there goes all the mold I developed in there. I noticed a bit of the smell on the speck as well, and was a little apprehensive that I ruined them. So, after 4 months of drying I took it out to see where it was. I split it right down the middle and out poured the most incredible smoky, pork perfume I ever smelled. Unbelievable. This is most likely the best salume I have produced to date.
That looks and sounds so good.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious, I followed your link to the Mosefund Mangalitsa web site, but I couldn't find anywhere on their site where one could mail order some of their Mangalitsa raw pork products. Do they sell via mail order, or only in that farmer's market mentioned on their page?
Thanks!
nothing can beat the flavor of some well fed Mangalitsa pork
ReplyDeleteWOW. this looks incredible. I just had to bleach my chamber too. I hate having to do that. Years of mold development down the pan! Glad this speck turned out, it looks fantastic and sounds incredible. What do you use to smoke with?
ReplyDeleteJP: I spoke to Michael, he said they can mail order. I think there's a contact email at that website.
ReplyDeleteWilhelm: this is certainly well fed and delicious.
Matt: for these, I used 2 different cold smokers. One is the proq and the other the a-maze-n smoker. Used hardwood sawdust from pss seasoning.
Thanks, Scott. I didn't expect you to go to so much trouble on my behalf, but I sure do appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteI will email Michael sometime in the near future to see what I can order. I'm still working on getting what I need to build a curing chamber, but I could always use some pork belly for bacon and some fat back for sausage.
Thanks also for your blog, from which charcuterie rookies like me can learn so much.
Mmmm, looks good. I have not made speck, but regularly make lardo from our Mangalitsas. The unique quality of manga backfat makes it ideal for these sorts of thing.
ReplyDeleteWent through the chamber bleaching process myself and redevelopment of mold was not a huge problem. I may be wrong, but unless you bleached your fan unit as well the white mold is probably still living in there. The turnaround back to having a prime white mold in my chamber did not take long.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I am glad to see you the fennel pollen back in stock.
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