Homemade Culatello

Course: Appetizer, dinner, lunch

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: culatello, cured meat, cured solid muscle, fiocco, prosciutto

Prep Time: 2

Total Time: 315

Servings: servings

Calories: 122kcal

Author: Victor

How to make amazing culatello at home using a traditional Italian process.

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Ingredients

1000 g pork leg culatello part - see video in the post
27.5 g Salt 2.75%; medium grain sea or kosher
2.5 g Cure #2 0.25%
2 g fresh garlic about 1/4 clove; liquefied in a mortar
1 g black pepper 0.1%

Instructions

Debone and trim the ham into a uniform shape as shown in the instruction video in the post above.
Weigh the meat in grams. Calculate how much of each ingredient you will need. If the meat weighs 1,650 grams, you will need 27.5 x 1.65 = 45.4 grams of salt, etc.
Tie the meat with butchers twine as shown in the picture to give it a nice, rounded shape.
Rub the meat with the liquefied garlic. Mix the salt, Cure #2, and black pepper together and apply evenly to the meat. Vacuum seal. Alternatively, you can place the meat and all the extra salt and pepper in a Ziploc bag and expel as much air as possible.
Refrigerate for 14 days flipping the bag daily or so and givng it a quick massage.
After 2 weeks in the fridge, remove the meat from the bag, scrape the surface with the dull side of a knife.
Insert the meat into a pig bladder or a similar large natural casing (e.g. salted veil), prickle small holes all over with a sterilized needle, and truss with butchers twine.
Weigh the meat and write it down on a tag. Add the date and attach the tag to the meat.
Hang and dry in the curing chamber for about 7 days as per the schedule below in the notes section.
Mature in the curing chamber at 55F - 57F (13C - 14C) and 78% - 82% rH for 10-14 months.
When the meat is ready, remove the twine and the casing, don't forget to remove the twin that was under the casing, slice paper-thin and enjoy.
If the meat is too dry, which most likely it will be, remove the outer twine and wash the meat under cold running water to remove mold, then let it dry. Next, soak it for two to three days in dry white or red wine. Remove the casing and the twine (the one under the casing) from the part you want to consume. Then slice it very thinly and enjoy.

Notes

Stage	Duration	Temp	RH
Fermentation	14 hours	75F (24C)	< 99 %
Drying	17 hours	73F (22C)	75-85 %
Drying	24 hours	71F (19C)	68-78 %
Drying	24 hours	68F (18C)	65-75 %
Drying	24 hours	64F (17C)	68-78 %
Drying	24 hours	61F (16C)	72-82 %
Drying	24 hours	59F (15C)	75-85 %

Nutrition calculations are per 50g serving.

Nutrition