Thursday, January 13, 2011

Charcutepalooza Project #1 - continued

So after a few days in the makeshift chamber, I thought I'd give the wine cooler another shot. Currently the ambient humidity in the basement is very low and keeping the humidity in the chamber a little low too. The humidity in the wine cooler is controlled 2 ways. First, by having a bowl of water at the bottom to boost the humidity and second, by cracking the door to let out some humidity. Monitoring with the indoor/outdoor sensor I got on the cheap a Lowes, I was able to switch between the two. Here are the breasts in the cooler.

I had planned to try the duck breast for the first time on Friday night, but I was asked to help out at the curling club. So I pulled the smaller breast out tonight. It had a nice smell and nice flavor. The flavor, however, was not something I would compare to prosciutto. In my opinion, the original is better but...comparing something that ages a week to something that ages a year is not exactly a fair comparison. The addition of herbs would be interesting to try in the future. I'm also curious to see how much impact a higher quality duck breast has. I bet it is significant. I am going to let the larger breast hang at least one more day and see how that one tastes. All-in-all, an enjoyable project an I look forward to to cooking with my cured duck meat. Don't know what's next, my guess is bacon or pancetta. We'll find out on Saturday.

1 comment:

  1. Hi there,

    First thank you so much for your help and research. finally I am understanding what the cure is.

    I am linking up with your blog on a post I am doing about this entire week I have had; it is incredible the road blocks but suffice to say I am pissed so much at my butcher that I will no longer be buying from him.

    I will be doing the Duck Breast - unfortunately in my own time so I cannot share in all your fun but I will be reading it no doubt.

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