Capicola with dry bags (WARNING: not smoked!)

Plan2build

New member
So I took a stab at making capicola using UMAI dry bags.  I used these to hone in on the spices and taste prior to moving to the added complexities of natural casings and humidity chamber drying.  Anyway, I used the recipe from UMAI as the baseline.  My Pork Shoulders were purchased in January at $0.99 per pound so I made a bunch....over 4kg starting weight.  This was started the first of February.  I dry cured for 2 weeks vs the 1 week recommended by UMAI.  I used the bags and vacuum sealed the coppa.  It took exactly 6 weeks on a rack in the fridge to reduce in weight 40% (many folks pull at 30%, but I wanted additional aging for a more mature flavor profile).  Today was the day I pulled them and sliced it up.  They really taste great!!!  Really fresh, and fragrant, perfect saltiness, and great texture.  If I would change one thing, I would reduce or remove the bay leaf from the recipe as it is a prominent flavor in the profile....I cannot stop eating this stuff!!!

You can see the slices, the coppa cut in half and one of the uncut coppas!  The UMAI technology is really simple if a bit pricey...but if you make a big batch it is definitely cost effective....

Check it out!!

 

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Nice Gregor! I see you left the "skin" untrimmed. No funky flavor with that? I have been wanting to do one of these.
 
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