Do you make your own Prosciutto?

[fullback66]

I was wondering if anyone on this forum has made their own Prosciutto?

I have helped or watched my friend make his own Prosciutto. He built a nice cellar to do this in.

I do not have a cellar and would like to make my own. I would like to make some out of pork loin. Has anyone done this?

If you make Prosciutto, tell us how you do it.

Let us know.

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[gjbingham]

Re: Do you make your own Prosciutto?

Interesting topic. I haven't a clue what's involved. I always wanted to make my own salami. Everything I read said that it's very dangerous if not done correctly, you can grow nasty bugs. Botulinum I believe.

If you want a real treat, try Andulesian (sp?) ham. Similar to prosciutto, but better in my book.

Good luck. I'd love to hear about your progress.

[asudavew]

Re: Do you make your own Prosciutto?

I was wondering if anyone on this forum has made their own Prosciutto?

I have helped or watched my friend make his own Prosciutto. He built a nice cellar to do this in.

I do not have a cellar and would like to make my own. I would like to make some out of pork loin. Has anyone done this?

If you make Prosciutto, tell us how you do it.

Let us know.

fb66

You can coat a tenderloin with Morten's tender quick and let it cure in the fridge for Canadian style bacon...

I haven't tried it, but i think it's faster and safer....

[asudavew]

Re: Do you make your own Prosciutto?

Home Cured Prosciutto Recipe

[KiwiPete]

Re: Do you make your own Prosciutto?

I have recently been thinking about doing this...

Although the lack of a decent cellar hampers my efforts, somewhat.

There is some good info here: sausagemaking.org Parma Ham Style Cure

They have also have a very good forum as well that is worth having a look at.

In particular in the section about "curing | techniques" has a lot of good information.

[DrakeRemoray]

Re: Do you make your own Prosciutto?

I have not gone that far, but I have done some curing using this cookbook.

Amazon.com: Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing: Books: Michael Ruhlman,Brian Polcyn,Thomas Keller

Let me tell you the confit pork belly in here is to die for (and it just may kill you).

Drake

[fullback66]

Re: Do you make your own Prosciutto?

Home Cured Prosciutto Recipe

asudavu,
That looks like a good way of making Prosciutto in a fridge.

Here are a few pictures of the Prosciutto I helped (watch him) make. We would like to make smaller ones out of pork loins. Pork loins will not have to hang as long.
I need to take a recent picture of the bodies. It has been about 1 year since these pictures were taken.
They are really moldy, dried up balls of goodness.

He calls them "the bodies".

The only thing he would do next time is put a heavy weight on top of the pork when he is salting them.

He also makes his own wine. You can see the bottles in the back ground.

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[asudavew]

Re: Do you make your own Prosciutto?

Those pics are awesome.

But I'm just not that brave!

[KiwiPete]

Re: Do you make your own Prosciutto?

fullback66

Any chance of prying the ingredients / preparation method / curing times etc from your friend?

[fullback66]

Re: Do you make your own Prosciutto?

I can do that. I know how he does it. I need the details. I can give you more pictures of the process as well.
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p.s. It is good stuff.

[asudavew]

Re: Do you make your own Prosciutto?

botulism bad..........

[KiwiPete]

Re: Do you make your own Prosciutto?

Yes.. botulism is bad.

It is also lethal.

What we should no forget however, is that prosciutto (and jambon serrano in Spain) has been made for hundreds, maybe thousands of years with nothing else than pork and sea salt (and time..) If the risk was of botulism poisoning was so high, than people would have stopped doing it a long time ago. Making prosciutto is nothing more or less than a time-honoured method of preserving meat, prior to the existence of fridges and freezers.

Its a bit like the time honoured design of a pizza oven. They are the shape they are, because its been proven to work (over a couple of thousand of years)..

Nitrates / Nitrites being added to the meat, are a recent phenomenon. And yes, they will kill botulism, but then again nitrites have also been shown to be carcinogenic. So it appears the choice is between a very small chance of dying from botulism or otherwise from some unspecified cancer...

Heck.. bring on the real-deal prosciutto.. I could also get run over by a bus tomorrow.

A similar argument has been going on for some time now about the use of raw milk for making cheese. Many countries, including NZ unfortunately, prohibit the use of raw milk for making cheese (commercially). But every country in europe has made cheese that way for hundreds of years, and most of those europeans look pretty healthy to me. Fact is, in Europe, 10 times more people die from salmonella from improperly prepared or cooked chicken than people die from listeria from bad cheese made with raw milk. Yet I don't see them banning chicken..

So to cut a long story short: I put a good deal of faith in food preparation methods that have been around for hundreds of years and waaay less in a bunch of bureacrats that try and decide whats good for me or not.

Coming back to topic:

Fullback66, If you could document the "recipe" and if possible add some pictures etc, that'd be great..

Cheers
Pete in NZ (making his own cheese from raw milk.. buffalo mozzarella is next..)

[BaconGrease]

Re: Do you make your own Prosciutto?

Yes.. botulism is bad.
It is also lethal.
What we should no forget however, is that prosciutto (and jambon serrano in Spain) has been made for hundreds, maybe thousands of years with nothing else than pork and sea salt (and time..)

What we really shouldn't forget is climate control, you can't hang a ham in the tropics no matter how much salt you pack it in.

[KiwiPete]

Re: Do you make your own Prosciutto?

What we really shouldn't forget is climate control, you can't hang a ham in the tropics no matter how much salt you pack it in.

You're absolutely right about that. Temperature and relative humidity need to be within certain bands for the curing process to work correctly.

[fullback66]

Re: Do you make your own Prosciutto?

That is why you do this process in the winter. Nice and cold in the basement room. Once the curing begins and you had it hung for awhile it can warm up a little.
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