"Mark D" > wrote in message
...
> Hi all,
> In past years, I have had some experience doing this, drying Italian
> Sausage during the winter season when I used to live in Chicago.
>
> Also, one Italian friend of mine there used to dry/cure about 140lbs
> worth of pork shoulder every winter, turning this into Dried Italian
> Sausage, Supersade (sp) and Cappocollo.
> He really made some very very tasty stuff.
>
> I was typically told by others, that very cool dry weather is needed to
> succeed to air curing/drying meats. I can recall, some of the larger
> pieces of meat my friend cured (Pork Butts) sometimes would spoil,
> perhaps due to their large size, and also perhaps due to inconsistent
> temperatures, and humidity conditions?
>
> I have read about some Italian Parma Hams, and have read that some of
> these "air cure" for up to 15 months! How do they do this?


Se below:

Dimitri

http://www.prosciuttodiparma.com/eng...ing/consumers/



How Parma Ham is made

The hams are made from the rear haunches of the pig; four ingredients are
essential to the production of Parma Ham: Italian pigs, salt, air and time.
Parma Ham is an all-natural ham; additives such as sugar, spices, smoke,
water and nitrites are prohibited. Making a Parma ham is a long and
painstaking process. The curing is controlled carefully so that the ham
absorbs only enough salt to preserve it. By the end, a trimmed ham will have
lost more than a quarter of its weight through moisture loss, helping to
concentrate the flavour. The meat becomes tender and the distinctive aroma
and flavour of Parma Ham emerge.

Key Production Steps:

Trimming: At the processing plant some skin and fat are removed to give the
ham its typical "chicken drumstick" shape.

Salting: A highly trained maestro salatore, or salt master, rubs sea salt
into the meat, which is then refrigerated at 80% humidity for about a week.
Residual salt is removed and the ham gets a second thin coating of salt,
which is left on another 15 to 18 days, depending on weight. By making daily
adjustments in temperature and humidity, the maestro ensures that the legs
absorb just enough salt to cure them-thereby preserving Parma Ham's
reputation as a "sweet ham".

Resting: Next the hams hang for 70 days in refrigerated, humidity-controlled
rooms, at 65% humidity. The meat darkens but will return to its original
rosy colour in the final days of curing.

Washing and Drying: The hams are washed with warm water and brushed to
remove excess salt, then hung in drying rooms.

Initial Curing: Now the hams are hung on frames in well ventilated rooms
with large windows that are opened when the outside temperature and humidity
are favourable. Connoisseurs believe that this period, when the hams are
bathed in aromatic breezes, is critical to the development of Parma Ham's
distinctive flavour. By the end of this phase, which lasts about three
months, the exposed surface of the meat has dried and hardened.

Greasing: the exposed surfaces of the hams are softened with a paste of
minced lard and salt.

Final Curing: The hams are moved to dark, cellar-like rooms and hang on
racks until the curing is completed. The hams are cured at least 1 year, and
some are cured as long as 30 months.