Reddit reviews Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing (Revised and Updated)

OP's book/media suggestions, formatted with links:

• People start with Ruhlman's Charcuterie, but quickly learn it's heavy on salt.
  
• For some slightly more esoteric recipes, check out In the Charcuterie by Taylor Boetticher and Levonia Miller. I absolutely "butchered" those names, btw.
  
• Also, get a book called Pig Perfect by Peter Kaminski... Not a lot of recipes, but it will enamor you with all things pig.
  
• Show... There's a series on BBC called <Time Period> Farm]... Edwardian, Victorian, Jacobean, etc... Where a group of historians run a farm for a year by the standards of the time period. It's cool and they do some pig stuff.

If you move the decimal over. This is about 1,000 in books...

(If I had to pick a few for 100 bucks: encyclopedia of country living, survival medicine, wilderness medicine, ball preservation, art of fermentation, a few mushroom and foraging books.)


Medical:

Where there is no doctor

Where there is no dentist

Emergency War Surgery

The survival medicine handbook

Auerbach’s Wilderness Medicine

Special Operations Medical Handbook

Food Production

Mini Farming

encyclopedia of country living

square foot gardening

Seed Saving

Storey’s Raising Rabbits

Meat Rabbits

Aquaponics Gardening: Step By Step

Storey’s Chicken Book

Storey Dairy Goat

Storey Meat Goat

Storey Ducks

Storey’s Bees

Beekeepers Bible

bio-integrated farm

soil and water engineering

Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation

Food Preservation and Cooking

Steve Rinella’s Large Game Processing

Steve Rinella’s Small Game

Ball Home Preservation

Charcuterie

Root Cellaring

Art of Natural Cheesemaking

Mastering Artesian Cheese Making

American Farmstead Cheesemaking

Joe Beef: Surviving Apocalypse

Wild Fermentation

Art of Fermentation

Nose to Tail

Artisan Sourdough

Designing Great Beers

The Joy of Home Distilling

Foraging

Southeast Foraging

Boletes

Mushrooms of Carolinas

Mushrooms of Southeastern United States

Mushrooms of the Gulf Coast


Tech

farm and workshop Welding

ultimate guide: plumbing

ultimate guide: wiring

ultimate guide: home repair

off grid solar

Woodworking

Timberframe Construction

Basic Lathework

How to Run A Lathe

Backyard Foundry

Sand Casting

Practical Casting

The Complete Metalsmith

Gears and Cutting Gears

Hardening Tempering and Heat Treatment

Machinery’s Handbook

How to Diagnose and Fix Everything Electronic

Electronics For Inventors

Basic Science


Chemistry

Organic Chem

Understanding Basic Chemistry Through Problem Solving

Ham Radio

AARL Antenna Book

General Class Manual

Tech Class Manual


MISC

Ray Mears Essential Bushcraft

Contact!

Nuclear War Survival Skills

The Knowledge: How to rebuild civilization in the aftermath of a cataclysm

A great starting place is Rhulman's Charcuterie. It breaks down equipment and technique and has some really solid recipes.

I cure in a wine cooler.

People cured meats for thousands of years in their basements and barns using little more than salt, and it worked out pretty well overall. The problem is that every once in awhile, a whole family died.

And these were people who routinely preserved their own food and passed down their techniques from parents to children. Here in the modern world we don't enjoy that advantage. So unless we undertake to study the risks in food preservation, we're taking into our hands our own lives and possibly those of our friends and family.

The short of it is that it's likely not a good strategy to base your curing process on the advice of a couple of anonymous internet people. Pick up a good book on the subject, such as Ruhlman's Charcuterie. Thanks to the modern world, you can download that in seconds and read up on food safety this afternoon.

Thank you for the shoutout.

/u/StanMikitasDonuts should start out with some light reading. Get yourself Charcuterie, by Ruhlman and Polcyn, In the Charcuterie by Boetticher and Miller, and maybe a simple recipe book like Cured by Charles Wekselbaum. That will give you a really strong foundation of recipes to work with.

Most people will start off making Duck Breast Prosciutto (Prosciutto D'Anatra) because it requires only duck breast, salt, and 7-10 days of waiting... and does not require a curing chamber. Beyond that, bacon is a popular and fairly foolproof early project. Fresh and hot-smoked sausages are a good foray into charcuterie as well.

Once you get into whole muscle curing (like OP's pork loin idea) and fermented sausages like salamis, et al, you start needing to account for more ingredients, more processes, and more equipment. A curing chamber is essential for anything that is going to hang for long periods of time. You'll need lacto cultures and mold starters. None of it is difficult or particularly expensive (especially compared to buying these products retail)... but it does become a more immersive hobby once you've got appliances dedicated to making meat logs.

Straight outta the Charcuterie book

>I know we've got a lot of hobbyists here. Anyone skilled in curing these types of meats? Where do you find curing nitrates and when do you find the best time to cure the meats? Especially interested in your opinion if you're from KZN, the Eastern Cape and other parts of the country that aren't dry

I've built a drying cabinet that's large enough for me to stand inside and I'd suggest anyone who's serious about Charcuterie to do the same, but a biltong box and your refrigerator will be fine for smaller batches.

As far as ingredients and supplies, I buy everything online, and for my recipes, I use Michael Ruhlman's Charcuterie, which is more or less the bible of meat curing.

Books. You need them.

http://www.amazon.com/Charcuterie-Salting-Smoking-Revised-Updated/dp/0393240053

http://www.amazon.com/Salumi-The-Craft-Italian-Curing/dp/0393068595

http://www.amazon.com/In-The-Charcuterie-Sausage-Confits/dp/1607743434

http://www.amazon.com/Great-Sausage-Recipes-Meat-Curing/dp/0025668609

You can't go wrong with Michael Ruhlman, here's a revised version that has excellent recipes and everything you need to know.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393240053/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0393240053&linkCode=as2&tag=primalcajun-20&linkId=36e3d3f53527c4493068a33f323534a0

In The Charcuterie: The Fatted Calf's Guide to Making Sausage, Salumi, Pates, Roasts, Confits, and Other Meaty Goods
Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing

Can recommend both.

I'm a fan of [this] (http://www.amazon.com/Charcuterie-Salting-Smoking-Revised-Updated/dp/0393240053/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420214600&sr=8-1&keywords=Charcuterie) and this

Absolutely, if you are a complete beginner this book is great to start with. As you progress this other book will be a good next step. The salt cured pig blog on Facebook has a ton of info on it for home curing. So I’d start with the first book and go from there, you can hit me up with any questions!

Charcuterie is a great book for learning how to make sausages and cured meats of all kinds, with a nice hot dog recipe. The batch I made took a while (grinding, stuffing, smoking) but they were damn good. The recipe uses beef short ribs if you're curious.

no worries - hit up Hank Shaw at http://honest-food.net for tons of info

Also the book Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing

https://www.amazon.com/Charcuterie-Salting-Smoking-Revised-Updated/dp/0393240053/ref=sr_1_1

Well worth your money and time to read!

I do not have experience with the two books you mentioned, however I own “Charcuterie” which does go in depth with sausage making, and has some great recipes. I highly recommend it.
Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing (Revised and Updated) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393240053/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_QevPDbWDMND63

This is a solid start, I highly recommend!

Charcuterie

Bacteria need lots of things to grow, and one of them is moisture. Salting draws out the water to the surface, where it can evaporate, and the meat no longer has enough for bacteria to live.

Not sure about the exact timing of making jerky, but I'm sure there are tons of books. Ruhlman has a book that would probably tell you everything you need to know: Charcuterie

OP, as a New Orleans native, I highly recommend these two:

http://www.nolacuisine.com/2006/03/19/dragos-style-charbroiled-oyster-recipe/

http://www.gumbopages.com/food/seafood/bbq-shrimp.html

So good it'll put you into a food coma or get you laid.

EDIT: Rhulman's book has a recipe in it for a sausage that's seafood based. If you have a meat grinder, it might be worth attempting because it can be done on the cheaper side.

Great! Every time someone asks for advice on books or references (common on r/homestead) my answer is always the "Storey's Guide" to whatever animals they have, this one, and the ball blue book. Those are required reference books for everyone I think. Another good one that would be fitting for this sub is Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing

I've mostly been making corned beef, bacon and sausage. Even if things don't turn out perfectly, it's hard to make things that are actually bad as long as you're careful to keep everything clean and use the right ratios of salt, sugar and nitrites. I haven't moved to air drying or smoking meats yet because I don't have the space or equipment. For what I'm doing, I just need to be able to save space in my fridge for a week or so at a time.

This book is a great resource for anyone who is interested in learning more about the craft.

Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing (Revised and Updated) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393240053/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_9JbiDb82S780M


This book is amazing, i have a 15lb ham hanging in my dining room drying. I used their basic dry cure, pulsed about 5 ancho Chiles in a magic bullet until they were powder put the cure on the belly flipped every other day for 5-7 days pulled it out of the bags, cut a piece rinsed and fried it to check my salt level(at this point you can let it cure longer they say up to 10 days but it gets super salty. After you’re happy with your salt level rinse thoroughly and pat dry let sit in fridge(or the garage if it’s cold out, hence why i like doing it in January/February) over night suspended and uncovered. Then cold smoke for about 16 hours on applewood(I’m a big fat cheater and use the masterbuilt cold smoking attachment about $50 on amazon and cut a hole in a 55gallon drum absolutely perfect setup) if you’re afraid it’s gonna get too warm keep a tub of ice in the bottom.

Steven Rinella recommended this book, Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing (Revised and Updated) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393240053/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_qQV4xbMW0041F

Maybe try a book on charcuterie?

I haven't read that one in particular, but that kind of book is quite fascinating in general.

If you're new to sausage making I'd recommend this book, it's got good sausage recipes and lots of tips. Only deviation I make is I only use maybe a quarter of the ice cold water they recommend putting in the sausage, otherwise it comes out a bit crumbly I find.

Thanks, i'll end up picking that up. What are your thoughts about... Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing (Revised and Updated) ?

http://www.amazon.com/Charcuterie-Salting-Smoking-Revised-Updated/dp/0393240053/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0SX7GN8QX81S3J2HTGE1

When people say "Ruhlman's" recipe, are you talking about https://www.amazon.com/Charcuterie-Salting-Smoking-Revised-Updated/dp/0393240053/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8? Should I just ignore the bad reviews of it?

I used the recipe out of Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman & Brian Polcyn. I let it cure for a few days longer than the recipe due to an unexpectedly busy weekend. The end result was too salty but as per the recipe it's fixable by blanching slices right before you fry them and it worked like a charm.

I love the stuff but I've never made it. I've been to dozens of nice restaurants that will have some version of it on a charcuterie plate.

This is basically the cured meat bible, I'm sure it addresses head cheese.

Bonus: Rosemary bacon gugelhupf and home cured bacon.

Hash, Eggs, and gugelhupf recipes taken from Das Cookbook and the bacon from Charcuterie.

https://www.amazon.com/Charcuterie-Salting-Smoking-Revised-Updated/dp/0393240053

I really enjoyed this book and learned enough from it to adjust recipes more to my taste. I hear it recommended all the time and my chef buddy said every chef he worked for owned this book.