I decided to make some different types of bresaola for the winter holidays. Since I love coffee, and I love cured meats, this has been an experiment that has been a long time coming; coffee cured bresaola.
Curing (2 weeks):
I decided to experiment with a coffee cured bresaola, using coffee and other winter spices to cure a piece of eye round roast. The eye round was mixed with the cure and allowed to sit in the refrigerator vacuum sealed for 2 weeks or so.
Casing (1 hour):
After the meat had cured for about 2 weeks, I took it out of the cure. I rinsed off the spices and patted it dry. I then cased the bresaola in beef bung casings, and used butcher netting to tie it up.
Drying (1 month+, until 30% of weight is lost):
Temperature: 54F/12C, Humidity: 70-80% RH
The bresaola was put directly into the curing chamber and allowed to lose ~30% of its initial weight, and was pulled from the chamber.
Tasting:
This one was interesting. I took off the casing first. Even at over 30% weight loss, it still seemed to be more moist than my usual bresaola.
I used white vinegar to clean off the outside of the bresaola. The coffee flavor was subtle, but complimented the meat.
After the initial tasting, the bresaola was vacuum packed for a mini vacation and will be re-tasted again soon!
Disclaimer: Meat curing is a hobby that comes with inherent risks. We can all do things to limit this risk by educating ourselves about the process and the utilizing the safest known methods to create our products. This website is for educational purposes only, and all experimentation should be done at each individuals own risk.
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