Let's Talk BBQ

Cured Meats & Food Preservation => Cured meats & Food Preservation => Charcuterie: Ham, Bacon, Sausage, etc. => Topic started by: ACW3 on June 29, 2014, 12:58:12 PM

Title: Bresaola Time
Post by: ACW3 on June 29, 2014, 12:58:12 PM
I bought a nice Angus eye round at Sam’s Club the other day.  I haven’t made Bresaola in a while, so I decided NOW would be a good time.  I started with a 5 pound eye round and with trimming it finished at 4 pounds 7 ounces.  I will be using my UMAi bags after curing the eye round. 

The first photo shows the spices called for to cure the meat.  I am using about half the rub for the first few days while the liquid is being pulled out of the meat.  I will be adding the remaining rub around day 5.  I anticipate keeping the eye round in the cure for 10 days. 

(http://i1034.photobucket.com/albums/a429/acwiesemann/addtext_com_MTEwMzU3NTY3NTU_zps69f1a848.jpg) (http://s1034.photobucket.com/user/acwiesemann/media/addtext_com_MTEwMzU3NTY3NTU_zps69f1a848.jpg.html)

Here is the trimmed eye round covered in the cure rub.

(http://i1034.photobucket.com/albums/a429/acwiesemann/DSCN2155_zpsb00ed219.jpg) (http://s1034.photobucket.com/user/acwiesemann/media/DSCN2155_zpsb00ed219.jpg.html)

See you later, after I take the eye round out of the cure.

Art
Title: Re: Bresaola Time
Post by: muebe on June 29, 2014, 01:04:02 PM
Watching!
Title: Re: Bresaola Time
Post by: RAD on June 29, 2014, 01:08:05 PM
Watching!
and waiting
Title: Re: Bresaola Time
Post by: Las Vegan Cajun on June 29, 2014, 01:29:36 PM
Watching!
and waiting

For some reason the Carly Simon song "Anticipation" is playing in my mind.  ;)
Title: Re: Bresaola Time
Post by: sliding_billy on June 29, 2014, 02:58:17 PM
No more puns from me... is it done yet?
Title: Re: Bresaola Time
Post by: HighOnSmoke on June 29, 2014, 04:07:19 PM
Watching!
and waiting

For some reason the Carly Simon song "Anticipation" is playing in my mind.  ;)

^^^^^ All of the above!  ;)
Title: Re: Bresaola Time
Post by: spuds on June 30, 2014, 01:50:09 AM
Watching!
and waiting

For some reason the Carly Simon song "Anticipation" is playing in my mind.  ;)

^^^^^ All of the above!  ;)
Me too,cant wait.
Title: Re: Bresaola Time
Post by: KyNola on June 30, 2014, 11:23:13 AM
Art, I started a Bresaola last Friday using the exact same curing Rub and will be using the Umai bags as well.  I too used half of the Rub for the first application but I may go 7 days for each application for a total of 14 days.  I'll make that call on Day 5 to see how firm the meat has gotten.  My piece of eye of round is only 2 pounds so 5 days may be sufficient.

I'll be watching your progress with great interest.

Larry
Title: Re: Bresaola Time
Post by: nepas on July 03, 2014, 12:34:15 AM
Art

You and larry in the same boat  ;D
Title: Re: Bresaola Time
Post by: CDN Smoker on July 03, 2014, 12:37:42 AM
Waiting on this one, good luck ;D
Title: Re: Bresaola Time
Post by: KyNola on July 08, 2014, 12:48:59 AM
Art, how is your Bresaola coming?
Title: Re: Bresaola Time
Post by: ACW3 on July 08, 2014, 08:09:47 AM
I checked it out two days ago, drained the liquid and added the rest of the cure.  I looked last night and had a lot more liquid.  I will turn the meat and drain the liquid later today.  It's coming along, just not too fast.  I think this piece will take a while once I take it out of the cure, rinse really well and put it in the Umai bag. 

How is your bresaola coming?

Art
Title: Re: Bresaola Time
Post by: KyNola on July 08, 2014, 12:27:45 PM
Mine is coming along. Second half of cure was applied last Thursday.  Oddly enough my piece has not thrown off a lot of liquid.  It is also not quite as firm as I thought it might be but it has firmed up a little more since the second application.  This Friday will mark two weeks.  I am going to take another look at then and probably go to the Umai bag.  Like you, I suspect this one may take a while to adequately dry once it goes into the bag.

That's ok, good things come to those who wait. 8)
Title: Re: Bresaola Time
Post by: smokendevo on July 08, 2014, 01:05:45 PM
Not sure if this will help with a time line but when I did mine (in 2012) in my curing chamber I started it on May 15th. Put in the beef bong on May 27th and it was ready on July 2nd.

(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-8usdejI1xhY/T8JocX4eznI/AAAAAAAACns/SZv3sGqaU7Y/s1024/DSC_0040.JPG)

(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-XV3Vga5CzVg/T9MfrcRN26I/AAAAAAAACz4/41_-Z3GZMrU/s1024/DSC_0072.JPG)

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/--X3o27gBTnI/T_HDLJVSx9I/AAAAAAAAC6s/gaXXJZ0QAGY/s1024/DSC_0009.JPG)

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-XXj5TkYwvH8/T_HDeRpiKWI/AAAAAAAAC7Q/U8AyYHSjtVY/s1024/DSC_0012.JPG)
Title: Re: Bresaola Time
Post by: spuds on July 08, 2014, 01:24:33 PM
Devo,sure is fine meat!
Title: Re: Bresaola Time
Post by: drholly on July 08, 2014, 01:52:40 PM
Devo,sure is fine meat!

X2! Looks super!
Title: Re: Bresaola Time
Post by: ACW3 on July 08, 2014, 03:16:16 PM
Devo,
I hope mine comes out looking as good as yours.  That is some fantastic looking Bresaola.  I can almost taste it.  A little EVOO drizzled on it.  Oh, my!!!

Art
Title: Re: Bresaola Time
Post by: KyNola on July 09, 2014, 10:38:16 AM
Nicely done Devo.
Title: Re: Bresaola Time
Post by: KyNola on July 12, 2014, 11:26:50 AM
I transferred my cured beef to the Umai bag yesterday.  This is the first time I tried using the Umai bags in my VacMaster chamber vac sealer.  I was somewhat underwhelmed with the result.  The Umai bags are much too long to fit in the chamber and require cutting.  It is understandable in that the Umai bags were originally designed for much larger cuts of meat and the channel and smorkel type vac sealers handled them with no issue.  The next issue was with the sealing of the bag.  With the VP112 you can set the time that the sealer bar is activated.  I was concerned with burning through the bag so I sacrificed a bag for experimental purposes.  I needn't have worried.  I had to run the time on the seal bar to the maximum time (9 seconds) to get a seal that was ok.  Time will tell if the whole "Umai bag in a chamber sealer" worked or not.

Posted this review so those of you with a chamber vac sealer might benefit from my experiment.

   
Title: Re: Bresaola Time
Post by: ACW3 on July 13, 2014, 08:58:31 PM
Bresaola Update

I finally got the eye round into the Umai bag.  It weighed 4 pounds 5 ounces.  The key is to drop the weight in the 30 to 40% range.  I am pushing for the 40% weight loss.  I'll be checking it periodically and let everyone know.

(http://i1034.photobucket.com/albums/a429/acwiesemann/IMG_1073_zps553a545c.jpg) (http://s1034.photobucket.com/user/acwiesemann/media/IMG_1073_zps553a545c.jpg.html)

Art
Title: Re: Bresaola Time
Post by: ACW3 on August 19, 2014, 04:26:32 PM
Bresaola is ready!!

On July 13 I placed the Angus eye round in the Umai bag to make the bresaola.  At this point it weighed 4 pounds 5 ounces.  I wanted to reduce that weight by 30 to 40 per cent.  I pulled it out of the refrigerator and weighed it this morning.  Down to 2 pounds 12 ounces.  This put it in the right range at about 36 per cent loss.  Time to slice.

The first picture shows the eye round before slicing.

(http://i1034.photobucket.com/albums/a429/acwiesemann/DSCN2182_zpsf4e020da.jpg) (http://s1034.photobucket.com/user/acwiesemann/media/DSCN2182_zpsf4e020da.jpg.html)

The second picture is the pile of sliced heaven.  Really thin, too.

(http://i1034.photobucket.com/albums/a429/acwiesemann/DSCN2183_zpsf12ad81b.jpg) (http://s1034.photobucket.com/user/acwiesemann/media/DSCN2183_zpsf12ad81b.jpg.html)

The last picture are the vacuum sealed packages.  Nineteen of them, ready to be distributed.

(http://i1034.photobucket.com/albums/a429/acwiesemann/DSCN2187_zpsd4cf9ca8.jpg) (http://s1034.photobucket.com/user/acwiesemann/media/DSCN2187_zpsd4cf9ca8.jpg.html)

Now before anyone does the math, there was a certain amount of waste and “spillage”/tasting.  That is why there is only nineteen bags, not twenty-two. 

Imagination time.  When I serve the bresaola I like to put some mixed greens on a small plate with 3 or 4 slices of bresaola and some quality olive oil drizzled over the greens and bresaola.  This also calls for a good red wine like a Pinot Noir.  Good eats!!

Art

Larry,
Where are you on your bresaola?  If I can get to see Rick before he heads your direction, I will give him some for you to sample.  I hope it makes it there.
Title: Re: Bresaola Time
Post by: KyNola on August 19, 2014, 07:53:01 PM
Art, I wanted to wait until you revealed yours before I reported on mine.  A little over a week ago I hit the 36% weight loss target, remove the bag, slice it thin and...........nothing.  The beef had absolutely none, zip, nada flavor.  I asked my wife to taste it to see if it was just my taster but no, she said the same thing.  I literally threw it away as there was no reason to keep it.  Wasn't the bag's fault.

Yours looks beautiful.  Mine looked very similar to yours.  Mine just had no flavor.  I was really bummed out.

Larry 
Title: Re: Bresaola Time
Post by: ACW3 on August 19, 2014, 08:55:38 PM
Art, I wanted to wait until you revealed yours before I reported on mine.  A little over a week ago I hit the 36% weight loss target, remove the bag, slice it thin and...........nothing.  The beef had absolutely none, zip, nada flavor.  I asked my wife to taste it to see if it was just my taster but no, she said the same thing.  I literally threw it away as there was no reason to keep it.  Wasn't the bag's fault.

Yours looks beautiful.  Mine looked very similar to yours.  Mine just had no flavor.  I was really bummed out.

Larry

Really sorry to hear that.  You used the recipe from Umai, didn't you?  The only thing I did slightly different this time was to let is in the cure a day or two longer.  If I can get some to Rick (I hope it makes it there.  You know Rick...) give mine a try and see what you think.  Let me know.

Art 
Title: Re: Bresaola Time
Post by: spuds on August 20, 2014, 02:54:54 AM
Really nice Art.
Title: Re: Bresaola Time
Post by: nepas on August 20, 2014, 10:15:33 AM
Art

Really nice.

WTG

Like Larry i had to toss the goose prosciutto, its was major salty. Sometimes these things happen