Homemade Sausage Making

Update on my Bresoala!

I have been recording the weight loss, so I can compare that with the super scientific "squeeze test" and figure out my bresoala was ready.

I pulled my coppa yesterday, and I checked the bresoala.
It was nice and firm but still had a nice give if I squeezed really hard.

Starting weight on the bresoala was 1,804g and I pulled it yesterday at 1,294g, so weight loss was 28.3%

This one was started on 1/8/16 with 50% dry cure, then second half of dry cure was added on 1/15/16, then out of cure, rinsed, rolled in corriander, and stuffed/netted on 1/23/16 and into drying chamber.

Pulled on 2/29/16 at 28.3% WL at just shy of 6 weeks drying.

I pulled the casing and net off, and wrapped it in dry wax paper and put it in the fridge to get cold and harden up a bit for slicing. 4 hours later I pulled it out and sliced some on my Hobart 410, along with my coppa.

Man, I remember why I love bresoala soooo much!!

Color was great, the corriander was subtle and fantastic! The inside was a beautiful deep red! I could see thru the slices!

I think I like bresoala even better than coppa, and I REALLY like coppa!

This bresoala is very complex, beef, then floral corriander, then peppery, absolutely great!
Can't wait to put some of this on a bed of fresh greens, with a squeeze of fresh lemon, a nice drizzle of EVOO, and some light shavings of aged parmesan!

The corriander is perfect, not too heavy, not too light, spot on!
I think I will roll one of my next ones in Sumac, just to see how that tastes, since Sumac is similar to corriander IMHO.

Very happy with this first bresoala, definitely one of the best cured meats my chamber has put out to date.

Middle is about perfect, maybe another 2% more weight loss and it would be spot on!
But I can get there in the fridge, so all is good!

Obligatory pic of the slices.

Jason
Olathe, KS

Both the Coppa and Bresoala look great Jason!! Along with the weight loss to judge when they are "done" don't forget that cured meats also benefit in flavor and complexity by aging over time.
It will be interesting to see what the culture contributes in the meats you have drying now.

harleykids wrote:I think I like bresoala even better than coppa, and I REALLY like coppa!

Me too! I like Bresoala and Lonzino more than Coppa due to tender chew .

Thanks Bob!

Yep, I plan on aging both this bresoala, and my coppa, in my fridge in butcher paper until the Coppa gets to about 38% and the bresoala gets to around 35%, then vacpak and let equalize for a couple of weeks, then try them again.

They repeat in butcher paper unitl 40%, then 45%, repeat until gone!

Hopefully that will give me a better sense of aging taste + aging firmness.

What is the exact cut of meat I ask for if I want to male one? What casing is used?

I used a beef "eye of round" for the bresoala. You want the leanest beef you can get, which is the eye of round. Looks like a log of meat, around 4-6" in diameter, and about 12-14" in length. No fat, solid lean muscle!

You just trim all the silver skin off the log of meat, cure for 14 days (50% of the total cure mixture for 7 days, then the remaining 50% cure for another 7 days). You can add whateve spices you want to the cure. I can give you the recipe I used, if you want to try it. It turned out great!

After 14 days, take it out of the fridge, rinse spices off, give it a rinse with dry red wine, and roll in the ground spice(s) of your choice. Then stuff it into a cleaned and soaked beef bung, tie it up, prick it all over to facilitate even drying, and hang it at 13C @ 82% RH as long as you like!

Its that easy!

If you happen to get any green or black spots on it, don't sweat it, just wipe them away with mixture made from a little sea salt, some vinegar, and a bit of distilled water. Just wet a paper towel with your solution and wipe the spots off. Once the white M600 has taken hold on the surface, it will stop any other molds from growing. Plus the treasure inside is protected from the outside molds by the beef bung.

When you cure it in the refrigerator, do you vacuum pack it? If not, can you vacuum pack it?

I vacpak, but you can simply put it in a zip lock bag, works just as well.
Either way!

Vac pac it Lou, no chance of spilling and easy to massage without the bag opening.
With the VP 215 you can even do brine's if you want.

Looks great, I need to try mine in casings. I've been hanging with no protective barrier and yours look amazing!