Taylor's Ham (aka Pork Roll)

Post by **Bob K** » Fri Apr 07, 2017 17:05

Looks good! If you care to try a lactic starter instead of ECA the tang is not so harsh, The original is made with one.

Pack the mince tightly into your stuffer with your fist as you add it to eliminate air pockets, also stuff the casings as tightly as you can, you can put a lot of pressure on the fibrous ones. The large diameter ones can be tough to do without air pockets

You could also order a Bologna sized stuffing horn from Butterbean!!

Post by **Butterbean** » Fri Apr 07, 2017 22:31

Bob K wrote:You could also order a Bologna sized stuffing horn from Butterbean!!

You are a bad man!

For those wondering this is an inside joke. I once had a guy I was mentoring to call me asking where he could buy a bologna stuffing horn saying he didn't have a horn big enough to fit bologna casings. And I was told there is no such thing as a dumb question. I don't believe this is true anymore.

In all fairness, I have asked some doozies myself.

Sometimes when you get blinded by the small details you just have to laugh at yourself and move on.

SMR · Post by **SMR** » Fri Sep 07, 2018 20:38

Bob K, I am going to try your tweaked version of the recipe early next week since I want to use the culture to get the tang. All of the ingredient percentages are based on the pork fraction, not just the salt percentage where you have that written, since the bacon is already cured...correct?

Have you further tweaked the recipe since your 2017 post? Your photo looks like the real deal.

Post by **Bob K** » Fri Sep 07, 2018 22:23

Nothing's changed. To be honest I base all the ingredients on the total. If you are sensitive to salt content omit the bacon weight on what you add for salt and cure. I make that stuff on a regular basis its really good!!!

It freezes well so make plenty

Let us know how it turns out for you!

SMR · Post by **SMR** » Wed Sep 12, 2018 21:46

Thanks for the reply! I followed your advise and used the full meat weight to calculate the salt. We made 24 lbs., plenty for the freezer. I fermented for 18 hours, cold smoked for 7 hours and then sous vide to 152 IT. The fibrous casings split in the water bath and I lost a bit of fat. The test patty that we made before stuffing was a little juicer than the finished product. Nevertheless, this is a delicious recipe. Thinking that the casings split due to expanding gas pressure from air bubbles trapped within the casing. Next time I am going to use 3' diameter casings and vacuum seal them before dropping them into the bath.

SMR · Post by **SMR** » Thu Sep 13, 2018 00:19

And here is the final product.

Post by **Bob K** » Thu Sep 13, 2018 13:58

Looks Great! If you use smoked bacon you can probably skip the smoking process as it also dries out the sausage quite a bit,,,the Original Taylors Ham was not smoked.

bobrap · Post by **bobrap** » Mon Dec 31, 2018 17:51

Bob K wrote:Looks Great! If you use smoked bacon you can probably skip the smoking process as it also dries out the sausage quite a bit,,,the Original Taylors Ham was not smoked.

Just ground and mixed this and I used store bought smoked bacon. It's your recommendation to skip the smoking and go straight from stuffing to poaching? I used the recipe in the first post. being from Jersey and having some friends here in TN that are from Philly, I'm really hoping to get this close! Thanks

SMR · Post by **SMR** » Mon Dec 31, 2018 18:01

Hi Bob, if you used smoke bacon dont bother smoking again. As Bob K said, it dries it out a little more than the real Taylor Ham. You may also want to vac seal them before you poach to seal in the juices that come out during poaching. Our batch made it to all of the Giants tail gates this season and everyone loved it! Good luck!

bobrap · Post by **bobrap** » Mon Dec 31, 2018 18:16

SMR wrote:Hi Bob, if you used smoke bacon dont bother smoking again. As Bob K said, it dries it out a little more than the real Taylor Ham. You may also want to vac seal them before you poach to seal in the juices that come out during poaching. Our batch made it to all of the Giants tail gates this season and everyone loved it! Good luck!

Thanks for the response. So, mix in the eca and stuff. How long should they hang before poaching?

Post by **Bob K** » Mon Dec 31, 2018 18:17

bobrap wrote:It's your recommendation to skip the smoking and go straight from stuffing to poaching?

Yes it is as the original is not smoked.

Post by **Bob K** » Mon Dec 31, 2018 18:19

bobrap wrote:How long should they hang before poaching?

With ECA you can poach right away

bobrap · Post by **bobrap** » Mon Dec 31, 2018 18:20

Great, thanks. No smoke it is!

SMR · Post by **SMR** » Mon Dec 31, 2018 19:01

Case's is the other manufacturer that is synonymous with pork roll in NJ. This is the one that is hickory smoked.

bobrap · Post by **bobrap** » Mon Dec 31, 2018 21:20

Last couple of questions. do you think it's best to leave the fibrous casing on or off when vacuum sealing for storage. Lastly, if I can't be around to bring the rolls to temp in the water bath, is it ok to take them out and finish to temp tomorrow? Thanks again.