Charcuterie


 

Greg M.

TVWBB Fan
I bought this book/cookbook a few months ago. Very interesting. It does get into smoking - both hot and cold, which is why I felt posting it here is appropriate.

I haven't had a chance to make anything from the book yet, so I thought I'd ask here if anyone that has the book has tried anything.

Also, if anyone in the Indiana area has a source for skin-on pork bellies or Berkshire pork please, please, please let me know.
 
Yes, many things--pork confit, pancetta, pork, lamb and duck prosciutto, bressaola, lardo, many of the sausages. A few of the sausages benefit from tweaking.

If you've not seen this thread I highly recommend reading it from start to finish--over the course of days as it's very long. It will flesh out questions and answers you will likely have (and many you might not!) and is well worth the time.

I highly recommend Greg Gunthorp's farm in La Grange for pork. Contact info for him as well as other Indiana farms that raise pastured pork, grass-fed beef, pastured chickens, etc., can be found here.
 
Hey Greg.

Although I don't have the book, I know there are several members who do praise it. Do a search on Charcuterie and you'll find a few discussions that reference it. It sounds good to me!
 
I bought this book a few months ago as well. So far I have made the bacon, pastrami, cured salmon, brine-cured whiskey chicken, and will be trying the pork confit this weekend. So far everything has been outstanding. Especially the pastrami, salmon, and bacon. One thing I have noticed is that the Chicken and Pastrami seemed a little salty directly after cooking. However, once they rested for 30 to 40 minutes the saltiness really mellowed out and the flavor is excellent. The Pastrami truly is outstanding.

I highly recommend the link Kevin points out as a starting point to answer your questions. It is filled with excellent pictures and advice that really make you want to try the recipes yourself. Also, Make sure you go to the Butcher Packer website to order your curing salts and starter cultures, and casings.

Does anyone have ideas for a homemade drying chamber? I am thinking of using an old refrigerator with a large bucket of saltwater on the bottom for humidity and a fan for air flow.
 
Greg,

I've made the corned beef and pastrami from Charcuterie. I received rave reviews for each.

Kevin - Thanks for the link.

Jim
 
Shawn--That will work for a chamber though I'd recommend a tray of heavily salted water (or rather, watered salt) as opposed to a bucket for increased surface area. You might need to mod the interior to get the temp higher but maybe not-it depends on the fridge. A remote wired or wireless thermometer-hygrometer is helpful.
 
Kevin,

I'm wondering what you think about the science that the author of Charcuterie expounds on, and how sound it is? I've read the other thread (as well as multiple reviews on the net) and many people are doubting the author's knowledge of the subject. I've taken 3 microbio classes and have played with C. botulinum a lot in the lab, and I'm still not sure I'd have the guts to eat some pancetta that I cured myself. And, I still can't find a good resource to explain to me exactly how nitrates work to preserve the meat and prevent C. bot from growing. My textbooks don't even explain it...I think it has something to do with it inhibiting facultative anerobes' metabolic pathway(s), but I'm not sure. My biggest concern is that people don't realize the seriousness of C. bot. and the author isn't too big on it. I mean, we're talking DEATH if someone doesn't follow the directions properly, not just the runs!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">we're talking DEATH if someone doesn't follow the directions properly </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Details . . . details . . . .
 
Probably my favorite cook book. It isn't my most used cook book, but it is my only cookbook that gets into this type of recipe. All the recipes that I've tried have been great. I got skin on bellies by going to a grocery store that had a large varitey of meat and talked to the main butcher/slicer/department manager. He cuts it to my spec and is willing to order just about anything that I ask for.

The eat wild site that kevin recommended is a good place to start looking for a good priced berkshire or heritage pig. Honestly any farm raised pig would be better than the stuff you'll get at the store.

If you search, berkshire you can see some of the advice given on buying a whole hog from a farmer.

Best of luck and please share your successes as well as your questions and hopefully not your failures.

Josh
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by David Lohrentz:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">we're talking DEATH if someone doesn't follow the directions properly </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Details . . . details . . . . </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

So Clostridium botulinum is a spore forming, gram positive, rod shaped bacteria that is found everywhere, especially in soil. Something unique to members of Clostridium and Bacillus bacteria are that they can form spores. In other words, if conditions aren't right for growth (pH, salinity, etc.) they ball up into a protein coat called a spore. When they are in their spore coat, almost nothing can kill them...not boiling, not radiation. That's why you process low acidity products in a pressure canner...to get the temp to (i think) 220 for 15 minutes so as to kill the spore. When conditions are right, the bacteria sheds it's spore coat and comes out of hibernation. Below pH 4.5, it can't grow...that's why citric acid and other acids are added to things as preservatives. Other preservatives are nitrates...Sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite. Anyway, when C. bot. grows, it produces the most potent toxin known to man (other than the heavy metals). It has been said that 1 cup of the toxin is enough to kill the entire population of earth. It's a neurotoxin and there is an antidote, but you usually still end up on a respirator for months unless it's administered quickly. The big picture is that the conditions one creates when curing meat at room temp are almost *ideal* for C. bot growth. That's why it's so important to know what you're doing with the salts!
 
Josh-- See also Cooking by Hand. There is only a small section on curing but it's good and the whole book is worth perusal.

Phil-- C. bot in its vegetative and spore states are not generally harmful (except in infants); it is the toxin that's the issue, as you note. This toxin is a potent neurotoxin and the progression from infection to severe illness or death is nothing short of horrifying as the toxin attacts the face and eyes (usually) first before attacking lung control and making breathing difficult or impossible.

The Ph requirememt for C. bot growth inhibition is <4.6. Pressure canning raises the interior temp to 250F. There is some evidence that C. bot spores don't follow first-order kinetics which means that some spores might be more heat-resistant than others. The toxin, however, is heat-labile and can be destroyed at 176F for 10 minutes.

Usually we say the spore has to be activated by heat, so it takes cooking to greater than 130F, even 180F, to activate the spore. The spore does nothing as long as the food temp is above 125F. At below 122-125, the activated spore begins to germinate and turn into a vegetative cell. It is a time and temp relation but at 105F the time is about 2 hours. At 120F it is slow, 115F faster, and 105-100F fastest, and then it starts to slow down. Growth for C. botulinum and C. perfringens stops at 50F and 39.3F respectively. Of course the food nutrients affect this so there is no one time I can give you. We use perfringens as the worst case most of the time--the top end of the danger zone is based on C. perf. as it's the only bacteria in the group we are most concerned with that survive to higher temps, in its case temps of ~128.

Other than acid, salt is a great inhibitor and is the primary inhibitor in no-nitrate country hams, it prevents germination but the concern is mostly other pathogens and spoilage bacteria--but the salt concentration must be high enough. Nitrites are preventives/inhibitors of C. bot. outgrowth. (I'm trying to get better specifics for you, Phil, on how/why this occurs. ... This just in from Carl Custer, a former microbiologist with FSIS: 'Nitrites inhibit the outgrowth stage of sporeformers. They can stimulate germination but then hang up the bug in the vunerable "outgrowth" stage.
Salt and pH act synergisticaly in the nitrite inhibitory effect.'
He also pointed me to a set of research papers by Terry Roberts and Angelia Gibson that I will search for. I do have some technical commentary from a researcher in Cali--email me if interested.)

C. bot. poisoning is very rare (~30 cases/year in the US) and is most often attributed to improperly home-canned foods. C. bot. is generally not a concern with raw meats (C. perf. is) but can be with several vegs, especially root vegs, that might well be used in sausages or as parts of cures, and hence the use of salt and nitrite/nitrate for curing and for many items that will be cold-smoked irrespective of risk potential as cold-smoking sets up very favorable conditions for growth.

Curing under refrigeration is the norm for the vast majority of products that will be cooked (via hot-smoking or not) or cold-smoked. (I do not cure some bacons with nitrite in the mix but all bacons I cure are cured cold, hot-smoked, chilled quickly, the cooked for service. No chance for outgrowth.) Curing under refrigeration is also the norm for products that will be air-dryed. Some of these cures contain nitrite (mostly for flavor/color) if the cut is intact and some do not. Spores cannot be inside the muscle of an intact cut and the constant exposure of the surface to oxygen prevents growth as the bacteria are anaerobic. (This is also the case with large intact cuts like hams that are not refrigerated during curing but left in, often, no-nitrate salt cures for months.)

For sausages that are not going to be cooked--those that are dry-cured for weeks--both nitite and nitrate are used in the mix to prevent botulism. To reduce the risk of spoilage over the long drying time the refrigeration stage is replaced by a incubation stage. When the sausage is first mixed a starter culture of beneficial bacteria is added. Incubation takes place over a period of 1-2 days at ~85F with high humidity. This period is obviously prime for bacterial growth and that is why starter culture is used. Though the nitrite/nitrate will handle C. bot. the added culture grows and helps to prevent spoilage by both 'taking over' the meat (providing competition for spoilage organisms) and by creating lactic acid which lowers the Ph further helping to prevent spoilage/bacterial growth. The long drying time lowers the water content of the product further preventing spoilage and when drying is complete the sausage need not be refrigerated.

I do not have the book in front of me but I do not recall the authors deviating from this at all.

Obviously there are key things to remember but the most important is to follow recipes precisely. This is especially important in regards to quantity of salt to meat and quantity of curing salt(s) to meat. One does not want to deviate here and it is best to weigh everything for accuracy. Recipes for large amounts of sausage can be safely re-wriiten for other quantities but do the math accurately, check your work, then use a good scale. Of course, follow sound safe food-handling guidelines.

And one need not make dry-cured sausages nor do anything cold-smoked if one isn't comfortable. It's possible to enjoy the fruits of curing and charcuterie just as well by sticking with making pastrami, bacon (of various types and flavors), and fresh and hot-smoked sausages. For most of these items curing salt is more for color and flavor if it is used at all. Safe handling practices (cleanliness, cold) during prep and during and after cooking (food cooked to proper internals, cleanliness, food cooled quickly and stored properly) means there is little need for concern.

Hope this helps.
 
Shawn--For you--if you don't have this already. Note that he suggest a humidifier though I (and others) have done fine with a tray. It depends on your environment--but a humidifier is more precise.
 
Kevin,

Thanks for the reply (and Greg...sorry for the thread hijack!).

I should also state that I confused C. bot with Bacillus cereus. I have not worked with C. bot...that would require a higher level biohazard lab than I get to work in.
icon_smile.gif
But for all intents and purposes, the two are pretty similar--except the production of botulin toxin!

I should also state that my assumptions about the book are based on nothing more than my thumbing through it at Borders. But, I did read the author's treatment of C. bot and (in my opinion) it wasn't very extensive...at least not as extensive as (I feel) it should be.

One interesting thing I have seen with my own eyes is that spore formers are *not* inhibited by high pH conditions...two weeks ago I grew B. cereus on tryptic soy agar with a pH of 10.5 (+/- .5). I know it's probably not of interest to most people here, but a lot of people in my area cure their own olives with NaOH and think it's safe to can them without any processing (after repeated water washes, incidentally, which I'm sure lower the pH) because the caustic soda has "killed" all the germs. Then again, the brine is usually pretty saline...

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> Usually we say the spore has to be activated by heat, so it takes cooking to greater than 130F, even 180F to activate the spore. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I've never heard of this before? I know that other spore formers will germinate without exteme heat treatments...C. bot is unique in that respect?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> I've never heard of this before? I know that other spore formers will germinate without exteme heat treatments...C. bot is unique in that respect? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Apparently. Though my studies of B. cereus shows heat required for many strains as well--but not all--some strains grow at fridge temps. Exposure to heat (as low as 86F) may activate spores but may also damage them. Germination occurs only if the damage is repaired.

B. cereus outbreaks are more commonly associated with starchy foods, because in the presence of high carbohydrate content B. cereus's growth rate is optimized. For proteinaceous foods, B. cereus typically grows too slow to be the principal hazard, but C. perfringens's growth rate is optimized.

One finds B. cereus in rice and pastas quite frequently. Rice that is cooked and temp abused (not held hot) is often a culprit in outbreaks as is sushi rice that is not properly acidified. I believe a Ph of <6.7 inhibits germination but don't quote me on that number. Sodium chloride in concentration of 2-4% also inhibit growth but this affect is greater at lower temps. I have a list of papers if you're interested. B. cereus can cause illness but isn't anywhere near as dangerous as C. bot. poisoning as you're aware.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> But, I did read the author's treatment of C. bot and (in my opinion) it wasn't very extensive...at least not as extensive as (I feel) it should be. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>I'm not sure I'd agree. I don't think the authors need to present microbiologies but state, simply, that THIS is an issue, this is WHY and WHAT can happen if the issue is not addressed and THIS is HOW to address it.

They do state (p. 178) that the C. bot toxin is considered on of the most poisonous toxins around and then answer the question 'How likely are you to get it?' with 'Not very.' This is true. However, more importantly, they mention C. bot. in their introduction to dry cures (p. 38) where the recipes first start and say that nitrite does many things to meat including preventing bacteria fron growing, 'most notably those responsible for botulism poisoning.' And, farther down the page, 'It's most important function is to prevent botulism poisoning from sausages and other foods that are smoked.' (I think that the sentence might have been better as, '...to prevent botulism poisoning from sausages and other foods that are cold-smoked or cured over time by air-drying.')

The authors do state the problem and do state the solution and I think asking them to expand on that would do nothing more than frighten readers. C. bot. toxin is frightening but it can be prevented. And they state how to do so.

Apologies, Greg. [/hijack]
 
If I recall correctly. The author also writes to not mess with the portioning of the salt cure recipe as to avoid messing with the curing properties and making someone sick.

After reading the book I felt pretty confident that the author had a grip on what was right or wrong and kept up with traditional methods of curing.

On that same note I didn't end up eating the pancetta I made, but that was becuase I developed fuzzy green mold and by the time I learned out how to clean off the meat with some vinegar it was past the point I was ready to try it. This had nothing to do with the curing process or the book.

Enjoy,

Josh
 
Carry on with the botulism discussion at will - it certainly was discussed in the book and is relevant to the post.

I spent an entire day, at work no less, a few months ago reading the thread on eGullet. I bought the book before I finished the thread. Don't worry, I sign my own checks.

I purchased the non-spoilable food and the equipment to begin making sausages and bacon. Specifically, I planned to try the summer sausage. Unfortuantely, I started finishing my basement before I could find some back-fat. The basement is about done, so I'm starting to think more about getting started on the bacon and sausage.

I'll post my winners and losers as they happen. It sounds like there are a few people who've been there.
 
I ordered this book along with the 4 Weber grilling books last Saturday mainly because of a couple discussions on a Canadian bbq/grilling board I read several months ago. 4 of 5 books are here as of today including the Charcuterie book. This book looks very well written and should prove invaluable in my collection. Can someone do their best to explain how "Charcuterie" is pronounced?

Thanks,

Bill
 

 

Back
Top