Coppa


 
Rich G said:
Not only is today Christmas (merry, merry!), but it's also meat weighing day (Meatmas?) Since this is my coppa thread, we'll focus on that.....I think I'll only update the Lomo thread when I'm done (less boring). Anyway, the Coppa are doing their thing, and are down to 20% and 22%. I can feel a difference in the firmness, though they are still definitely squeezable! In my completely amateur opinion, I'd guess these have 8 weeks to go. Here's the tray of meats:

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Legendary! You inspire me to try harder!!
 
Bruno said:
Legendary! You inspire me to try harder!!
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Not so sure about that, just a guy trying to spoil some meat in a controlled manner.... :)

The Coppa are looking like they are supposed to at about 36 days in. Great layer of beneficial mold (a penicillium), still soft, but just a bit firmer than last week. Unfortunately, the Coppa witnessed the demise of their neighbors, the Chorizo's that I had going. Those were a failure (texture, taste, mouthfeel), and now that I have a pH meter, I was able to determine that my pH was not in a safe zone, so they had to be tossed. Working on figuring out where I went wrong. However, a couple of new neighbors moved in, in the form of some Finochionna (Fennel Salami.) With my pH meter in hand, I feel better about those having achieved proper acidity levels during fermentation. Fun stuff! ;)

.....a current pic (you can just see a smidge of the pancetta hiding back there.....)

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It's like weigh-in before a prize fight!!! Well, ok, it's not even close to that exciting. I do like the weekly weigh in, though, as it gives me the chance to closely inspect the curing meats to ensure there aren't any "bad" molds growing on them in addition to the "good" molds. It's also beneficial to get a close up whiff of them as their aroma can give you some clues if something is going awry. Anyway, all good on the check in today. The Coppa have started to firm up pretty nicely, and are both at 27% loss in weight from when they went into my curing chamber. My target is 35-40%, so we have a ways to go (at about 4% per week, we might get to see the inside of one of these in a couple of weeks!

Since they are in the pic other stats are: Lomo (7%), Pancetta (5%), Finochionna (21%). I'm pretty excited about that last one, the fennel aroma was crazy good when making it.... :)

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Oh man.....I missed this thread so many times apparently.
Looks like you are doing a great job, I know nothing about this but my mouth n tummy wish I knew what you do.
If you need someone to test out the Pancetta to make sure it isn't poisoned or anything like that I am your man.
 
So, for post number 3,000, here's the latest update on the "controlled spoilage" of meat at my house! :) I've been getting a bit more ammonia in the drying chamber recently, so some advice I got elsewhere indicated I could reduce the amount of mold on everything (most beneficial in the first few weeks), and also drop the temp a couple of degrees. So, this am, the coppa (and their friends) got a bit of a rub down to get a good amount of the penicillium off, and I dropped the temp on the drying chamber to 53F. The Coppa are now at 30% weight loss (target is 35-40%), are just a bit firmer than last week, and seem to look like they are supposed to. 3-4 weeks to go is my guess.....we'll see.

Thanks for continuing to ride along with me on this journey!

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Happy Friday folks, and welcome to Coppa-thon Day 48!! Ok, so this curing thing is either going to teach me patience, or it's going to drive me crazy! :) Everybody came out of the curing chamber for a weigh in today, and the Coppa are at about 31% weight loss. There is still softness to them when squeeze, so, while my initial target weight loss was 35%, I'll play that by ear when we get there in terms of whether they have reached a firmness that I want (says the guy who doesn't really have a basis for knowing what firmness he likes!) :) The rest of the products seem to be doing what they should. I expect the Finochionna should be ready to pull from the chamber in the next few days (they are approaching 40%, and getting nicely firmed up.)

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I'm glad some of you are still checking in on this one......it had better be good after all this time!!! :) Ok, so I just weighed the Coppa, and they are both at 35% weight loss, which is the lower end of my target range. They still have some give when squeezed, so I'm going to hold out for 40%, when I think they will be at a more appropriate level of firmness. The rest of the products still seem to be doing what they are supposed to be, and the Finochionna is done (more on that elsewhere when I get a chance.) Anyway, here's a pic, even though things don't look much different from week to week anymore......

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Rich,
I almost wrote a post an hour ago saying I was looking forward to our weekly update. Thanks for letting go on this ride with you. I am looking forward to hearing more about the Finochionna.
 
Well, the coppa is ready, folks! I thought the reveal belonged in the Photo Gallery, so I posted my update HERE.
 
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