Charcuterie and Curing meats

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I've tried it a few times by just hanging it either in a basement (during winter) or an extra fridge.

Long and short of it is: its a lot of work for no reward different than buying some really good stuff from a cheesemonger.

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Well we don't have basements in S. Louisiana. And i'm willing to work for it. I'm a fan of all things cured, salted, and fermented.

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That will work and you can put a glass of water in the bottom of the fridge to keep it somewhat humid.

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problem here is too much humidity

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Make a small room 4'x4' or so, insulate it well, and put a window unit and a dehumidifier in it?

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That's a little much for what i was planning. I think the dorm fridge with some humidity control and a temp controller would be the best bet.

My wife has some of those dehumidifying pouches hanging in our closet. They work pretty good.

I've been reading this one



Has a bunch of recipes for all sorts of stuff. Bacon, pancetta, prosciutto, jerky, terrines, sausage, etc...

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That is a good book. Start with the duck prosciutto to get a good handle on the process. But I wouldnt fret too much with humidity this time of year and if you have a fridge. Remember charcuterie or some form of it kept humanity alive before refrigeration.

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I know. I think i want to start with bacon, as it only requires a fridge, and maybe some pancetta. I want to work my way up to a good pork rillette or duck terrine.

Yeah the humidity control is more for pancetta, hams, etc

There are a lot of options in that book that don't require the humidity control. The duck prosciutto is fantastic in my opinion. I've also made their duck confit recipe, the rillettes, a couple of the sausages and pate, and I've stolen some other ideas from some of the other recipes.

I just bought some pink salt to use in making some duck pastrami (no recipe for that in the book) and I'm planning to start brining them tonight.

Also there is a butcher that just opened on perkins that I am planning to get some fatback from for the Lardo recipe in that book.

Personally I think there are a ton of options that go waaay beyond the prosciutto/pancetta italian charcuterie standards and I think they are worth your time.



If you get the humidity controller done I'd love to see it though... duck season is fast approaching and I've been wanting to hang my ducks to age for a few days before cleaning them, I've just been too nervous to do it without a temp controlled environment considering the temps in SELA.

A cook at Cochon once recommended a small wine fridge as a great way to control temp and humidity. I may look for a used one.