Kasseler Ripchen - An Ode to Dittmer


 
Rich G

Rich G

TVWBB Honor Circle
Kasseler Ripchen is a brined, smoked pork loin, and was a favorite of mine at Dittmer's Gourmet Meats & Wurst-Haus in Los Altos, CA. My dad and I would go to Dittmer's together when I was (much) younger so my dad could get his German rye bread, pickled herring, and some of Dittmer's fabulous sausage. When they had Kassler, it was a whole bone-in pork loin, all smoked up and looking delicious on top of the deli case, under a plastic dome. Dad would always get us each one when they had it. Dittmer passed away 3 years ago this month. HERE'S the thread @Chris Allingham created about Dittmer's passing.

Long story short, I have intended to make Kasseler Ripchen for a LONG time.......I finally got around to it. Two weeks ago, I got a rack of pork from Wild Fork Foods, and I butchered it up in to chops and a 3-bone roast:

1649093728180.jpeg

I made up an 8% brine from THIS RECIPE, dropped in the 3-bone roast, and forgot about it in the fridge for two weeks:

1649093885142.jpeg

Yesterday, I got the pellet grill running at 180F, pulled the roast from the brine, rinsed, and she was ready to go:

1649093919501.jpeg

I have a side "smoker-box" on my pellet grill which runs about 30 degrees cooler than the main section. I put my Kasseler in the box, and let it run for two hours at about 150F, then bumped the temp 10 degrees every hour until I was running at about 185'ish. After six hours, she looked like this:

1649093985155.jpeg

At 9pm, the Kasseler hit my target temp of 152F, so I pulled it out, cooled it, and wrapped it to rest in the fridge overnight:

1649094027827.jpeg

This morning, I separated the roast into chops, and had a little nibble.....DELICIOUS! That taste brought back so many memories of my dad, and Dittmer's awesome shop....

1649094093805.jpeg

I want to be sure that I don't dry these out, so I think my plan for dinner is to drop one in a sous vide bath (165?) just to get it hot, and I'll serve it with some roasted potatoes and sauerkraut (and good German mustard!) I can't wait! :)

Rich
 
Rich, you lucky guy!!!!!!

That is the best looking pork I have seen in a long time. Please let us know how it tasted.
 
Sorry you couldn't get here in time, Timothy! It was delicious! I did a sous vide bath at 155F for an hour, then a gentle sear in butter with some garlic powder, black pepper and paprika for color. Smoky, tender, and delicious. I love it when food brings such great memories back to life! Best part, there was about 15 minutes of active "work" involved in making the Kasseler!

1649126037494.jpeg
 
Over the top amazing Rich. Question, after the roast is done smoking it has the rich red outside crust, but then you show the inside of the chops on the cut. Do you/did you leave that smokey external edges if you do how they taste/compare to the center cut?
 
Michael Richards said:
Over the top amazing Rich. Question, after the roast is done smoking it has the rich red outside crust, but then you show the inside of the chops on the cut. Do you/did you leave that smokey external edges if you do how they taste/compare to the center cut?
Click to expand...
Michael, I did keep the two end cuts, but last night I only made the center cut one. The end cuts will definitely be smoky, and if I think the first one is too smoky, I'll do a thin trim on the other. I actually think I over smoked this one. Next time, I'll limit the time in the smoke to about 6 hours, and then finish in the oven. The flavor profile is just what I remember from when I had these as a kid/young adult. And really, the process is simple. Just make a brine, forget about it for a couple weeks, then toss in the smoker and forget about it again. This could easily be done with a boneless loin (I like to buy the whole loins at CostCo, and butcher them up into roasts and chops. Usually I'll make CB with those, but next time, I think I'll do at least 1/3 of the loin in the Kasseler style.

R
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top