Lonzino Da Diavolo

My first Lonzino was such a hit with my wife and friends that I'm going to make it a regular in the rotation ( and alway try to have one ready, or close to ready ).

Whole pork loin is relatively inexpensive... I got this 6 pounder at QFC for 6 bucks on sale. 

Now if you know me, you know that I prefer to buy my meat from a farmer who has raised the pig humanely and healthily(is that even a word ? ).  But, I happened to see it on sale and thought of a post I saw on Jason's Cured Meats blog Lonzino recipe, and thought "what the heck?".  Now, after a getting such good kudos, I'm going to try again.

On March 2nd, I started my newest creation, Lonzino Da Diavolo ( my apologies to my readers who actually speak italian )

This one is going to be spicy.. I'm talking SPICY...  ( sorry Harry.. there's always bacon ).  You'll notice that I left the fat cap on it.. turns out that stuff tastest pretty darn good when it's cured.

I took the rest of the blue light special pork loin ( 3lbs ) and applied this cure to it. ( slightly tweaked the basic recipe after starting to read Ruhlman's Charcuterie book and learning a bit more about ratios.

3 Tbsp salt
1/3 tsp Cure # 2
1 tsp Black Pepper
2 Tbsp Cayenne
2 Tbsp dried Annatto pepper
2 Tbsp dried Chile de Arbol
1 Tbsp Red Pepper Flakes

I took the entire amount and rubbed it into the loin for about 1 or 2 minutes, really making sure it had permeated every possible bit of surface area. 

I then placed it in a gallon size ziploc baggie ( I would normally use a reusable container, but my man fridge is a bit full of lamb and beer.)  I poured the rest of the spice mix in there and packed it on to the lonzino the best I could, with the rest of it sitting on the bottom of the bag.

Today ( March 4th ), I checked out the Lonzino when I got home tonight and noticed that quite a bit of liquid ( looks like 4-6 oz's ) has already come out of the lonzino.    My plan is to keep it in the bag for a total of 10 days or so, then hang in the curing chamber for 2-3 weeks.

Stay tuned.. my next post about this topic will include "how to tell when your meat is done with the dry cure and ready to hang", as well as a discussion about "curing chambers" ( Sometimes known as an old fridge, unfinished basement, garage, or man cave.).

Thanks for reading,