New Ruhlman/Polcyn Book "Salumi" Comments

Tips and tecniques on dryng drying, curing etc.

New Ruhlman/Polcyn Book "Salumi" Comments

Postby Salami Student » Wed Sep 05, 2012 10:07 pm

Just wondering if anyone has tried or read the new book? I am enjoying it, although, I haven't tried any recipes yet.

I notice that they use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment to mix salamis. I have been told by other salami aficionados to never mix it in this method. Does any one have any comments on this?

They also stress the use of high quality pork which is treated in a humane way and not factory farmed. I totally agree with this! But this got me thinking; has anyone ever noticed a difference in amounts of sinew (or useable meat) in factory farmed pork vs heritage breed animals?

Thanks
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New Book

Postby ericrice » Fri Sep 07, 2012 12:27 pm

I got and read it last week. Not awful but frankly I was disapponted More of a recipe book plus discussion on quality of pork and butchering. I was hopeful there would be more information around "troubleshooting" issues such as case hardening as well as more in depth discussion on humidity, temp ranges. Said another way more "meat" around the actual curing process. Let's be honest, most of us can follow a recipe and have the equipment already - our struggles are with consistency and the actual end result for a variety of reasons. There is no discussion on the different fermentation cultures available and the resulting taste differences. They still recommend humidity of 60%-70% which based on my experience is way too low, especially initially.

All in all I would say this book would suit someone with a solid knowledge of curing already and then only as a reference for either butchering a hog or recipes, nothing more.

I would rate this a 2 out of 5 stars overall.

On the other hand I woudl rate this site 5 out of 5 :D
Occupation?? Part time Butcher, Chef, Microbiologist, Scientist and Meteorologist – does what pays the bills really matter?

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Re: New Book

Postby BriCan » Fri Sep 07, 2012 4:20 pm

ericrice wrote:On the other hand I woudl rate this site 5 out of 5 :D


I am truly disappointed with you on this as this rating is not consistent with the overall content of this forum

In all honesty I would rate it as 10+ out of 5 --- just my umble thoughts :wink: :lol: :lol:
But what do I know
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Postby JerBear » Sun Sep 09, 2012 7:19 am

I'm not all the way through the book yet but I'm tending towards ericrice's comment that it's mostly just a recipe book. I'm also going through the marianski book on fermenting sausages and finding that it's over-the-top scientific when it doesn't necessarily need to be. Frankly, I've been a little bored with Salumi and having trouble finding cohesion with Marianski. Just my .02.
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Postby Chainsaw13 » Sun Sep 09, 2012 8:34 pm

As a newb to salumi, I've found it a nice resource for getting started. But then I'm not using it as my only source (this site being a tremendous help) of information. For me, the recipes are helpful in that I've found new salami's that I've not known about and look forward to trying. I can see how for the seasoned salumiere (sp?) it might not be anything new.
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Postby JerBear » Mon Sep 10, 2012 2:39 am

Chainsaw13,

I definitely consider myself a noob having never fermented or long-term cured/dried a meat product, but I'd like more information on setting up and maintaining a curing chamber. I get most of my information here as do you.
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Postby Chainsaw13 » Mon Sep 10, 2012 2:56 am

JerBear wrote:Chainsaw13,

I definitely consider myself a noob having never fermented or long-term cured/dried a meat product, but I'd like more information on setting up and maintaining a curing chamber. I get most of my information here as do you.


True, it would have been nice to include more information on that subject. I stumbled across Jason Mollinari's blog and copied his setup. Got it up and running just overp a week ago. I've got a spicy guanciale and a pancetta hanging right now. Was at B&P Friday and they were out of Mould 600 otherwise I would've started on my first batch of salami. Of course I don't buy the Bactoferm since I figured I'd wait for the mould to show up and buy it then. Then I read the sticky here on how to harvest your own mould from a commercial sausage.

Bob
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Postby JerBear » Mon Sep 10, 2012 3:20 am

I'm so jealous that you can just get in the car and go to B&P. That's where I currently purchase all my gear from, great group of guys.
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Postby DiggingDogFarm » Mon Sep 10, 2012 3:23 am

JerBear wrote:I'm not all the way through the book yet but I'm tending towards ericrice's comment that it's mostly just a recipe book. I'm also going through the marianski book on fermenting sausages and finding that it's over-the-top scientific when it doesn't necessarily need to be. Frankly, I've been a little bored with Salumi and having trouble finding cohesion with Marianski. Just my .02.


I definitely agree on the Marianski book, it's sadly disorganized.
Some other things that bother me about the Marianski books are the lack of proper attribution for much of the information, all that info didn't pop out of thin air! There's, seemingly, very little information relayed from practical experience (unlike the Alchemist's book as an example). I also find it irritating that there's such an emphasis on commercial equipment and methods in books that are supposed to be geared toward the home enthusiast.

As far as Salumi, it is, first and foremost, a cookbook, not unlike Charcuterie.
They make no promise as to any level of technical information, although more tips and trick, etc. would certainly be welcome!

~Martin
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Postby JerBear » Mon Sep 10, 2012 3:29 am

Good call Martin,

I noticed that there was a great deal of technical info and it did niggle in the back of my grey matter a smidge that these guys didn't seem the scientific sort. They did attribute information on the molds and cultures to Chr. Hansen but that's about it.

I'm about half-way through the blog posting Bob mentioned from the Cured Meats blog. I've been trying to figure out how I want to set up my curing chamber. Idea one is to go with a basic fridge and Johnson Controls for temp and humidstat for the humidifier but I don't know why I want to do more of it myself so I'm looking into programming my own Arduino unit for the curing chamber. Probably not a good time investment but should be a great learning experience.
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Postby Chainsaw13 » Thu Sep 13, 2012 12:28 am

One item I've noticed in the book that has me concerned is the time the meat is in the cure. They say 24hrs for every 2lbs/1kg of meat weight. Is that right? I only ask as all the recipes I see online seem to call for longer times.
Bob
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Postby Chainsaw13 » Thu Sep 13, 2012 1:58 am

Ok, I reread the one section in the book about curing times. The 1 day per 2lbs/1kg is if you use the salt box method. If you use 3% salt to meat weight they don't give specifics. Just to give it enough time to reach equilibrium.
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