Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Basturma - Into the Cure

I've done Basturma twice before... First one turned out a bit salty, but tasted great.. second one wasn't cured all the way through and smelled like rotten meat. ( imagine that ).

Here's my next attempt at this low fat, easy to make treat.

2-2lb Eye of Round Beef Roasts.



















Pretty nice looking meat, eh? Fubonn quality.

2/3 cup kosher salt
2-TBSP sugar
1/2tsp cure #2
4TBSP Cayenne
4TBSP chili de arbol
2TBSP red pepper flakes
1TBSP Garlic
2TBSP black pepper
4 TBSP -mix of wild fennel seed, cumin, coriander, Anise, Grains of Paradise, Cardamom.

Rubbed it down very good and put it in a plastic bag.. I'll come back and check on them every 2 or 3 days to roll them over and make sure the liquid is contacting all sides of the meat..










I'll pull them out in about 7-10 days, or whenever they "feel cured"... after that, they'll go into 105MM casings, tied up, and hung to dry for 2-4 weeks.

5 comments:

  1. So, is Bastuma a latin version of bresaola? It looks like the process is similar.

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  2. Hi Jennifer:

    Basturma is actually Armenian ( or some Eastern European Country), but yes, it's almost the same, with the exception of using Eye of Round instead of Filet.

    It's super easy, works great, and is actually a lot lower in fat than the pork products I make.

    I would definitely suggest this one as a good way to start the hobby.

    Welcome to my blog!

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  3. HI! I know you did this a long time ago, but I'm planning my first attempt at making Basturma in the next couple of days. I'm a little wary of keeping meat out of the fridge for that long, but well...if it smells bad, I'll just not eat it.
    Can you tell me, once I salt it, and set it in the bowl for a few days...does this bowl go into the fridge? Next, do you have any ideas on where is a good place to hang it? I've got a cold room, but I'm afraid I'll attract all kinds of critters. Any beginners advise would be very much appreciated, I'd like to not poison my friends. :)

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  4. hi lyse... follow the general recipe for the cure ( don't forget the cure#2 )and put it in a bag or bowl in a refridgerator for 7-10 days immediately.

    As for hanging, if your cold room is closed off ( for the big critters ) then it should be safe in there.. my suggestion is to turn a fan on in the room which should limit bugs ability to land on it.

    good luck and let me know how it goes.. this is a really easy charcuterie to make and it tastes fantastic

    don't forget to rinse the salt off after curing.. and if you want any spice to it, rub more back on before you hang it.

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  5. My recipe is slightly different than mine.

    I cure it with just salt.

    After curing with salt you need to rinse it, air dry it for a few hours, wrap it tightly with cloth towels , put under a heavy weight and let it press for 12 hours or so, changing the towels a few times as they get wet.

    Only after that I apply the garlic and the spices and hang it to dry for 2-3 weeks without any casting.

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