Tour of Curing Facilities and Other Cured Meats
At 15:21 in
Cutting into a Traditionaly Cured Country Ham after 22 months!
What happens here
The team then showcases additional cured meats and the facilities at Hand Hewn Farm. This includes a cut 'copa' (capicola) muscle, which demonstrates the ideal fat-to-meat ratio and marbling found deeper within the shoulder. They explain that this is the money cut in dry-curing. They reveal their cool room, a repurposed 1920s walk-in cooler, outfitted with a 'coolbot' to regulate temperature (currently 37-38°F). This cooler is where hams are initially cured in salt and kept in vacuum-sealed bags. Finally, they enter the curing chamber (also known as an aging chamber), which is filled with hanging salamis, pepperonis, pancetta (which the host helped tie last year), boneless hams (stuffed in bladders), and other large dry-cured hams (legs). This chamber is where the meats develop their distinctive flavors and textures over many months.
Goal: Demonstrate a professional curing setup and variety of aged meats.
Tools and materials
- Coolbot CoolBot — Temperature regulation in the cool room
- Copa — Demonstrating an ideal cured meat cut
- Curing Chamber — Long-term aging of various cured meats
- Various Cured Meats — Examples of finished or aging products
- Walk-in Cooler — Initial curing and storage of meats