Considering taking a class in charcuterie

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Mike9

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There is a custom meat fabiricator/charcuterie an hour south of me that offers a full day class in sausage making from scratch. I'm going to inquire about the cost. Has anyone else done something like this? Is it worth while (within reason) as opposed to learning the hard way?
 
Home - No desire to work in another kitchen - ever.
 
PM me your email and I'll give you some info for free. I do charcuterie professionally. Sausage is easy and just involves some basic concepts. Be glad to share.
 
Grab a copy of "Charcuterie" By Ruhlman. Really good stuff in that book that's easy to follow.
 
I'm interested in this too. Mike please do share your experience if you take the class. Your post got me looking for a class here in the Seattle area.
 
I'm interested in this too. Mike please do share your experience if you take the class. Your post got me looking for a class here in the Seattle area.

I'll extend the same offer to you sir. I'm typing up a little course for Mike, and I can easily cut'n paste and send it in your direction. Maybe I'll start a charcuterie thread with some basic instructional info...
 
Grab a copy of "Charcuterie" By Ruhlman. Really good stuff in that book that's easy to follow.

Ruhlman and Polcyk's book is fun, but my only issue with it is that they don't use parametric recipes, which is very important with charcuterie. It's far more efficient to have base ratios to work off from than constantly cutting all your proteins to set weights and trying to find a use for scraps. They're also a bit salt heavy if I remember correctly.
 
So far the recipes I've tried in Charcuterie and Salumi (Ruhlmans second book on the topic) work really well with out a ton of tweaking. I'd highly suggest owning Charcuterie even if you only have a passing interest on the subject.
For those interested in wild game there's also Websters "The Venison Sausage cookbook.
 
I could be mistaken. It's been about three years since I referenced that book. I was using multiple books/online resources back then. I do agree that they are solid recipes. But maintain that they're a bit difficult to resize.
 
I'll extend the same offer to you sir. I'm typing up a little course for Mike, and I can easily cut'n paste and send it in your direction. Maybe I'll start a charcuterie thread with some basic instructional info...

I think that is a badass idea, count me in :D I already make my own cheese, Can't wait to have my own prosciutto with it :D
 
I think that is a badass idea, count me in :D I already make my own cheese, Can't wait to have my own prosciutto with it :D

Here's a link for the Duck Proscuitto recipe. It's well worth trying. Mucho Bucho posted a link here in the past about making your own drying/curing chamber so I'll leave a link for that as well. Oh and a +1 to the other +1's for starting a Charcuterie thread!

http://ruhlman.com/2009/03/duck-prosciutto/

http://www.sausagemaker.com/tutorials/chamber/curing_chamber.html
 
Charcuterie thread would be awesome! My limited attempts (mostly from the Ruhlman book) have come out pretty good, but most are overly salty.
 
+1 for me as well. I've noticed that some of the recipes in the Ruhlman book have an unusually high salt ratio, the Guanciale in particular is at 7% salt in the cure.
 
If the hardest thing we have to do is adjust salt in a recipe then we certainly are off to a very good start. Adjusting any seasoning or cure is going to be a part of the process to get to a result each that fits each individuals taste.
Here's Ruhlmans Duck Proscuitto;

2 Cups/450 grams Kosher salt or ** as needed
Boneless Duck breast -about 1 pound-skin on, split
1/2 teaspoon/1.5 grams white pepper
Cheesecloth

1) Put 1 cup/225 grams of the salt into a nonreactive baking pan or dish that will just hold the duck breasts with out touching and nestle the duck breasts skin side up on the salt (the snugger the fit, the less salt you'll need to use, but be sure the pieces don't touch each other). Pour enough additional salt over the duck breasts so that the pieces are completely covered. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 24 hours.
2)Remove the duck from the salt, rinse thoroughly, and pat completely dry with paper towels. The flesh should feel dense, and its color will have deepened. Dust the breasts on both sides with the white pepper.
3) Wrap each breast in a layer of cheesecloth and tie with string. Hang the duck breasts for about 7 days in a cool humid place (about 50 to 60 degrees F./8to 15 degrees C. is optimal). The flesh should be stiff but not hard throughout; the color will be a deep rich red. If the breasts feel squishy (raw) in the center, hang for a day or two longer as needed.
4) Remove the cheesecloth, wrap the duck in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until ready to use. The duck will keep for several weeks.
 
The masses have spoken! I'll bang out some basic sausage guidelines for the guys who said they were interested, and then start working on a basic curing outline for a thread- along with those sausage facts. I know there's a couple other guys on the forum that do this in a pro setting(Tkern, Chuckles, JohnnyChance, to name a few), so it should be a fun constantly evolving thread.
 
i've only mostly followed ruhlman's book charcuterie. so basically all i know is what's in there.

this should be interesting.

i would love to learn more about salumi, more on italian type stuff.
 
Thank you Josh - I'm glad I started this thread.
 
i am thinking about the same thing. i actually asked for the class for a Christmas present..well, i asked for the half cow class. a butchering class. i think you have to do a butchering class first before you take the Sausage class.

i am definately keeping a hog head for head cheese next pig butchering day. this doesnt look that difficult. haha.

i am hoping to get the class in San Francisco.

(my wife got me one flying lesson instead..this happens on the 24th, could be my last day here on earth :))
 
Can't wait to read what's bout to be posted here soon, really looking forward to all the advice. Thanks guys
 
Home - No desire to work in another kitchen - ever.

Very, very samrt man :)

I trained under Polcyn and do a good amount of curing professionally. And I think if you are trying to cut the learning curve, a day class could be a good idea.

Charcuterie seems more complicated and fickle than it really is, at least until you get into the dry-cured stuffs. It's more about having a few good pieces of equipment (grinder, stuffer, butchers twine) and the confidence to give it a go. I think the class would be great for familiarizing yourself with the basic principles and the equipment.

Are you just looking to do fresh sausage or the dry-cured/fermented types? I'll be honest, the book Charcuterie by Polcyn leaves a bit to be desired. Some of the ratios are off, culture, salt and spice mix wise. But the book covers a lot of ground and is generally a good reference. Bertolli's Cooking by Hand is a great resource, one I prefer to Charcuterie.

Fresh sausages are super easy compared to their dry-cured cousins. I'd start there then move into basic curing like the duck breast recipe posted about. Then maybe into fermented sausages if you have the setup for it.
 
I'd love a copy of the guidelines. It's been a while since I've made sausage, I still do a few pastramis every year. Not Katz's but not bad. Thanks Brainsausage.
 
I'd love a copy of the guidelines. It's been a while since I've made sausage, I still do a few pastramis every year. Not Katz's but not bad.

Care to share your Pastrami recipe? :hungry:
 
maybe it's time to make the charcuterie recipe thread? =D
 
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