Wine Salt Bresaola
A great recipe from the blog of Tasmanian Artisan
Ingredients
- 1 kg beef girello trimmed (100%)
- 30 g Course red wine salt (3%)
- 2.5 g Prague Powder #2 (0.25%)
- 25 g Raw sugar (2.5%)
- 5 g Cracked black pepper/course pepper (0.5%)
- 4 g Freshly ground rosemary (0.4%)
- 4 g Dried thyme (0.4%)
- 3 Juniper berries, coarsely crushed
Directions
- Weigh out the ingredients, then combine and grind them in a mortar and pestle or spice mill.
- Put the meat onto a plate and rub the cure into the meat, making sure you do not miss any cuts or folds, and making sure the cure is evenly distributed. You should spend a couple of minutes doing this.
- Place the meat and any seasoning that is still on the plate, into a snap-lock/resealable plastic bag, squeeze out all of the air and then seal the bag. Place in a dish and then put in the fridge. Each day turn the bag and give the meat a little massage to ensure an even distribution of the cure. You will note that the cure becomes liquid during the brining period. Refrigerate for 8-15 days. When the meat feels firm it is ready.
- When the brining period is finished, take the meat from the fridge, remove it from the bag and rinse it under cold water to remove any excess cure mix – there will be some herbs left stuck to the meat which is fine.
- Pat the meat dry with paper towel, place it on a rack and leave to rest, uncovered, on a baking rack at room temperature for two to three hours.
- Weigh your meat, record the weight and date; this will help you keep track of how the bresaola is progressing.
- Wrap the meat in muslin/cheese cloth and hang it for around 6-8 weeks, or until you have reached at least 30% weight loss.
- Once fully cured, the bresaola should feel firm to touch with a slight give in the middle.
Notes:
- As in the recipe on the Tasmanian Artisan’s blog, the ingredients used are shown as a percentage of the starting weight of the meat. The percentage is noted next to each, so you can adjust what you will need based on the weight of your meat. Click here to view the recipe of the Tasmanian Artisan.
- Prague Powder #2 also known as Insta Cure # 2 or Cure #2 is a special combination of Salt, Nitrites & Nitrates required for safe long term slow processing of AIR dried meats that will be eaten RAW, such Salami, Prosciutto etc.
- The temperature range for hanging meat to cure should be high enough for the meat to cure properly and dry, but low enough so bad bacteria and mold doesn’t grow. Ideal temperatures are between 50-60F (10C-15C). Humidity is equally as important as temperature. The humidity of your hanging environment needs to be between 65% and 80%.
- Given that we were approaching summer when I hung the meat, I chose to hang it in a fridge that is used for drinks only. To try and manage the humidity issue, I placed trays with chunks of himalayan rock salt underneath the meat.
- I checked the meat every week to ensure that there was no bad mould appearing.
