Dry Cure
In 2005 or 2006 I took a one day class in sausage making from the CIA in Hyde Park NY, Chef LeBlanc was the instructor. You can see that we got along well, although this isn't the sausage course but one where we did a meal in the style of Paul Bocuse.
These were the other members of my team.
This is the dry cure box I built in early January, 2008 for just that purpose. The drip pans are two full sheets and the hang depth is 30". There is a thermometer and a humidity meter, 46F and 58% most of January. The side up against the concrete is open to the concrete. It is against the north wall of a basement foundation so I have hope of it staying below 60F most if not all of the summer. The box is to keep the cats out, cats named Julia Child, James Beard and Escoffier probably have an interest in sausage.
We will also use sweet Italian sausage, which I learned under Chef LeBlanc's fine hand from the pages of Garde Manger of the CIA which you will also find a link to the Amazon page on the left.
Ahhh the camaraderie between chefs is heart warming. Giggling ~ what fun!
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At least he didn't use a knife.
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I have a dry cure question for you... I got the book from "Santa" (me) but am sort of terrified of the concept. I don't have a basement - do you think that the vinotemp sans racks & wine could be used as a hanging solution for small things? (guanciale, pancetta, etc?)
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Ruhlman says a temperature below 60 F and humidity of about 60%. A wine cooler set to 55 with a dish of brine (so mold doesn't develop in the water) should be fine.
You need to be sure that one piece of meat doesn't touch another. Someplace in the book there is mention that colorful or fuzzy mold is bad but if caught quickly can simply be wiped off with brine. This worked on my dry ham last year.
Last year I didn't have a built box and used an empty smoker (to keep rodents and cats away) in a 55 degree basement with a water pan in the bottom.
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Nice pictures! I have a few questions about your box.
How do you hang your sausages inside? Is there a free-standing rack of some sort? Does your box just fit against the wall and you slide it away for access?
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The top of the box is simply a piece of peg board sitting on top of the frame.
There is no rack, but rather a strip of wood screwed to the inside of each long side of the frame, just more than1 inch below the top of the frame. This lets me put an inch dowel, cut to the right length on those two strips of wood. An inch dowel will hold a fair bit of weight.
You do have to rodent proof the box, which is not trivial, but cats help.
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I am really fond of cooking. Not long ago have found a good cookery book at http://www.rapidsharemix.com , but now cannot find time for cooking itself ( Spend all my spare time with my 6months-old daughter
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Have you ever thought of madking a video for your posts to keep the readers entertained?
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Nice info, thanks for sharing this.
Will come back again to check for updates, cheers,
Lindsay
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