Some Dry Cured Chorizo!!

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bratrules

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I finally got around to making some dry cured chorizo. and man did this stuff come out good so good that i wanted to show it off!! :rockin:
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Yeah sure!!! all it is smoked paprika, sea salt, fresh black pepper, dry oregano, a pinch of dextrose, cure#2, and some bactoferm f-lc. as for how much i add of each i only measured the bactoferm f-lc which was 1/2 teaspoon and the cure#2 which was 3/4 teaspoon. for 3 pounds of meat!! the rest of the stuff i just eyeballed. and then i just fermented it for 30 hours around 75 degrees. then dry it for 3 weeks at 55-60 degrees and 75-80% humidity.
 
Where did you dry it at? Could it be hung in the basement?

Am sure you can as long it doesn't get to hot keep it around 55-60 and try to get at least 75% humidity. i dry mine in a cheap mini fridge that was given to me and is to small to ferment my brew in. so i made a curing chamber.
 
The Chorizo looks delicious- I really like the large diameter fat chunks++ :) I just got a 10mm disc for my grinder to be able to do the fat separately from the meat. Was yours hand chopped? That is probably the best way to do an authentic style sausage, but the electric grinder is so helpful. I have been doing pork belly bacon quite a bit (salt, cure #1, brown sugar, black pepper, thyme, juniper berries) and am trying to do some hams prosciutto style- i have no idea how they might turn out- a year is a long time to wait to find out!

Did you have any mold growth (the unwanted kind)? The first (and only) fermented sausage that i tried got some icky stuff on it, i kept washing it with vinegar and everclear- still turned out OK.

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Nice setup SaccharoVices!! and yes i did most of the chopping by hand but i did put like about a pound through the grinder just to hold everything together better. As for mold i just been getting the good stuff all white and it does add i bit of flavor. so i wont get the bad stuff i clean the hell out of everything with star-san you got to love that stuff!!! and you also need airflow a small computer fan with the door cracked a bit works wonders!! Here is a pic of my latest batch.
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Holy Heaven that looks good! FWIW I have been getting my casings and supplies from sausagemaker.com - their casings are the best - they are often in lengths of 20 feet or more, which makes for an impressive string.i tried the LEM brand and they would make a good football! but way too tough for a fine sausage, and are usually very short. sm.com also has 5# pails of the pink salts for cheap cheap. i got some of the mold culture but haven't tried it yet, been covered up with other chores and projects. What size casing are you using for the chorizo? you get a lot of shrinkage i have found, so starting big is a good idea.
 
Am using 38-40 hog casings they do get a little dry but i usually wont eat the casing just peel them away!! i actually want to order some beef middles to start stuffing in those am sure they will take longer to dry out but what the hell am in no hurry.
 
I have used a 'beef bung' and it was large enough to stuff a whole beef tenderloin inside. Unfortunately, the spicing choice i made was not that good- used the Walkerswood brand jamaican jerk spice paste (which is verry good for doing fresh griling)- it just didn't end up tasting good in this application- a big disappointment, considering the time required to dry and age, the anticipation of a culinary treasure, and the high cost of a whole tenderloin. Hog middles have made a good salami for me, but they even shrink to about 1.25" when fully dried.

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Wow that Capicola look amazing how long did it take to dry? And am sorry that you were disappointed with the taste. That's the reason i always make my own rubs/cures for everything i do!! i really want to do a Spanish lomo next i love that stuff.
 
wow, how did i miss this thread?
sooo hungry now.

To the op, i've been interested in dried chorizo since i saw the reference to in on "mexico on plate at a time", but i've never even heard of a recipe/method til now. thanks. and thanks for the bumps, fellahs, keep me updated on the results.
 
I'll have to check my notes on the drying time, but i believe it was about 5 weeks. The process went perfectly, no problems at all- no mold, moisture content and texture were perfect, but the blessed spicing was no good. I do normally mix up my own spices, using fresh when possible, but i had such good luck with that jerk spice paste before- used it on fresh beef ribs, marinated overnight and then grilled on an open fire of red oak- amazing.

Just didn't taste right- kind of like the smell and what i imagine the taste would be of a fresh basketball !?

This type of thing is called bresaola, in italy. Only beef is used, usually sirloin, but tenderloin was on sale for a reasonable price (relatively speaking, 8.99/lb), so i figured it could only be good using a premium cut. Traditionally spiced with salt, pepper, cloves and garlic.

From Home production of quality meats and sausages, Marianski :

Bresaola-

beef sirloin 1000g
salt 28g
cure#2 6g
pepper 6g
sugar 5g
cloves, ground 1g
garlic powder 1.5g


1. remove all fat, connective tissue and silver skin
2. mix salt, cure #2 and all ingredients together. take 1/2 of the mixture and rub into the meat. place in zippered bag and put in refrigerator for 3 days.
3.remove from bag, apply second half of mixture, drain liquid, put back in bag and return to refrigerator for 3 more days.
4. brush off excess mixture from th meat, stuff into synthetic or collagen casings.
5 hang for 4 weeks at 54F to dry and mature.
 
Yeah Capicola is made of pork!! sorry i didnt see it was beef well that bresaola looks really good!! i got to try it some time.
 
Pork really is the tastiest animal- it's hard to believe that so many people shun them for religious reasons-- seems like a God given gift to me!! Here's the oinker that the hams are from- lots of other goodies too-

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Hey i worship the pig lol hahaha Can you imagine a world with out bacon crap i think i'd go f**ken crazy lol or pulled or spare ribs god damn am getting hungry!! well i got the cushion meat to make that carne salata. ill keep posting as things come along. one thing i wonder if it will dry out since am not going to put it in any casing. maybe ill rub it with lard after a week.
 
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